Great piece. It touches upon matters that I have been contemplating. The attachment to being a writer for one. I know that I have not written a poem in a several days and that that will tumble me down the ranks--do I care? I don't know. Probably not, but aware that I am thinking about it and if I don't feel like writing one, do I need to impose will power over it and do it anyway--I don't know. Sebastian Purcell wrote of Epictetus: "What Epictetus is saying, effectively, is that

1. one part of willpower concerns the ability to do what is disagreeable,

2. another part concerns willing not to do something, and

3. a final part concerns knowing what you truly want in the first place." I linked to Dr. Purcell's fine piece on Stoic and Aztec philosophy here https://medium.com/channspirations/the-serenity-prayer-df758d99c956. So, as I'm typing this I'm wondering if I should be at point #1 and make myself write a tanka, yet I know the question comes down to #3 and regardless, I understand my creative process and if there is a tanka meant to come out of me, possibly to Diana's weekend prompt, it will when it should. Your piece also has me thinking about a substitute I have avoided for nearly 6 months that I find myself thinking about lately and will likely indulge in a few weeks. I discussed it with one of my spirit guides and the advice was to make sure I remember what I do and what happens and how I feel afterwards. I do not feel from the talk that he knows what the outcome will be. I think he is as curious as I am. Free will over determinism in this instance. Life is neither all free will or all determined, except, date of death, that cannot be cheated in either direction. Quality of life though is very much the product of the interplay between free will and predetermined tests, but even those tests can be altered by how we do with preceding tests. This response very much also ties into your scuzzbucket poem today.