BREAKAGE

So last week I went on and on about my routine and how nice it's been nice to have a schedule to adhere to lately. The problem has been, well, adhering to it. Maintaining a discipline to achieve certain goals is challenging, much more so than formulating the plan. In any week given week, I'm usually able to accomplish the majority of what I set forth for myself, but usually find that something slips through the cracks somewhere.

Perhaps this is akin to what record companies used to call 'breakage.' Within the complex jargon of the contracts they slid across the table their artists to sign, a record company would often include a provision to withhold approximately 10% of the royalties due to said artist as a result of inventory that was damaged via distribution to the record stores. That was 'breakage' more or less. This policy was established during the days of vinyl due to the fragile nature of the material, but was also sneakily applied to the era of the much more-durable cassettes & CDs, which was seemingly a scam cooked up by the labels to squeeze out more profits.

Nonetheless, breakage in regard to vinyl did occur. Even though it most likely never occurred anywhere near the 10% for which those old contracts demanded compensation, it is conceivable that a fraction of inventory was damaged in transit. Shit happens. As much as you plan and plan and plan for a specific chain of events to play out according to your personal preferences, somewhere something will inevitably go awry.

But maybe this isn't really a problem. If anything in this world is routine, it's the element of imperfection. So why should I be frustrated when I don't accomplish everything that I had hoped I would? Should I be surprised? Do your best, they say. But I can't always do that. Who can? For all the effort, some things still just fall apart. Perhaps the lesson is in putting the pieces back together...