Most mornings, I find myself circling the same themes: show up, stop overthinking, trust the process. I've written them before.

And still, I return.

Sometimes I wonder: should I really be writing about this again?

The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Because repetition isn't laziness. It's craft.

Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.

Repetition and re-exploration in the context of writing—or of any art—is a medium of intimacy. Coming back to something again and again, time after time, is what allows us to truly know it.

So I choose to repeat, even when that nagging voice says I should reconsider.

And I remember two people who were incredible at repeating themselves: Marcus Aurelius and Picasso.

Aurelius’s Meditations repeats the same truths over and over. Repetition was how he digested them.

Each variation is a new entry point. Sometimes a line hits you just right when the last one didn’t.

The same principle applies in the world of art.

I’ll never forget seeing the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. One exhibit showed dozens of his reinterpretations of Las Meninas—the famous Velázquez painting of royal children.

Some were full cubist renditions. Others focused on individual figures. Each version was different, yet they were all anchored in the same original.

It taught me that repetition isn't redundancy—it’s exploration. A way to deepen understanding through form.

So when you catch yourself thinking, “I already said that,” or “I just built that”—

Build it again. Say it again.

You’re not going in circles. You’re going deeper.

Repetition is part of the process, and each repetition is a step further.

You will never build the exact thing twice. And variation is the means to progress.