I Like Repetition

There are multiple ways in which repetition is a feature of my life.

Society tells us that repetition is a bad thing. Then again, society is dominated by neurotypical people. I’m neurodivergent, autistic, and thus my relationship with repetition is more complex than what society tells us.

My choice of clothing shows a desire for repetition rather than variety. My parents have tried to get me to be more “stylish.” However, if I am left to my own devices, my clothing choices will include only a small set of clothing styles, and brands. Now, I’m not like the stereotypical movie character who opens his wardrobe to reveal 10 identical sets of clothes. However, nowadays, when I find a brand that works with me, I tend to stick to it. I’ll buy the same article of clothing from a single brand, but in multiple colors.

When I described it on Mastodon, I joked that it makes me sound like those color-code monsters in Dungeons & Dragons: Blue Dragon, Gold Dragon, Platinum Dragon. The same goes for me. I come in multiple colors. Some colors are more fearsome than other colors, maybe?

It is more of the same with my shoes, my belts, my suspenders, etc. The one concession I make to style is my hats. I go to specialized stores to get my hats, but that is it. I don’t see much point in trying this and that style-wise. I dress for utility, and comfort, not for style. For instance, I hate business suits. They feel too constrictive. When I’m home, I quickly get into sweatpants and a t-shirt. Comfort comes first!

I have a very similar attitude towards cooking. Oh, I know how to cook. I’ve cooked rather elaborate meals in the past. However, I’m trying to stay away from elaborate meals now. For health and money reasons, I still cook, but the set of recipes I make my meals from is pretty restricted. When I find a recipe that I like, I don’t want to take it out of my rotation. There are some recipes I’ve made so often that I can make them now with barely a glance at the instructions.

My attitude towards music is a bit different. I do like novelty in my music, but also like repetition. A good example of this is that I hate it if YouTube plays my playlists or my albums in a random order. Once in a while, I hit the shuffle button by mistake, the music starts playing in a random order, and I get irritated. For me, any curated list should be played in the order that the curator chose, be it a playlist or an album.

However, I also like novelty. Otherwise, I would still be listening to Pink Floyd, and the Beatles. The novelty I seek is a controlled novelty. I don’t usually go out of my way to listen to bands that are new to me, but I let YouTube pick new tunes and I sometimes land on a band that I like, like Gorillaz or Siamés.

As far as TV shows or movies are concerned, I do like repetition there too. I’ve watched a few superhero movies, but after a while they all seem to be more of the same to me. A lot of the newer TV shows start with interesting premises, but then they fall flat after a while. I’ve never been able to get into The Mandalorian, or Ted Lasso. I stopped watching Succession in its last season, and Firefly Lane because they seemed to have lost their initial spark. On the other hand, I’m quite fine with rewatching Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or Airplane. Even ancient movies like Metropolis or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

I’m sure there are more ways in which repetition is a feature of my life, but I’ll tell those stories in other articles.