FM fm

Anne Lamott warns that the single biggest obstacle for writers is listening to 'Radio Station KFKD'.

'Radio Station KFKD' (ie. Radio Station K-F**ked) is her term for the negative self-talk to which we are all prone. "If you are not careful", she says, "station KFKD will play in your head twenty-four hours a day, non-stop, in stereo"*.

Of course she is right that the things we repeatedly tell ourselves risk becoming the only things that we can hear.

I expect that most of us cannot turn that radio off for any significant duration. But we can at least change the channel.

At first that requires constant conscious acts of will. And maintaining it probably always necessitates frequent and regular mindfulness. But as it becomes a habit, like all habits, our subconscious does most of the work for us.

One of my preferred channels tells me about how I am both physically and mentally. It gives me topical tips on how to move and how to think. It tells me the time (the real time) all the time. It's a channel that reminds me what I have learned through studying Alexander Technique: a suite of practical methodologies originated by FM Alexander (who was known as 'FM'). I like to call this channel 'FM fm'.