“A Void” by Georges Perec – Why You Should Push Your Limits

Push your limits now and again. Do things your family and companions would mark as “crazy”. Your day to day acts, your habits, and doing what’s typical isn’t your only option.

A Void is a lipogrammatic book by Georges Perec. In a narrative consisting of 300 strips of pulp (from fir, larch, birch, and additional woody plants), this wordsmith told a story without using a particular symbol within typical jargon – this symbol follows D in stating our 26 symbols from A to Z.

Why? You may ask. For what point would an author do this?

It’s fun! It pulls you from your formulaic way of living. Doing so can assist in your growth and ability to ask “Is this action or way of doing this apt or can I boost my skills and approach?”

Many of us go through ours days habitually. “Why modify what works?” “It’s all good now so I don’t want to adjust anything.”

To that I say, “That’s boring!”. Who knows what you’ll find if you only push your limits? It could show you an amazing ability you didn’t know about prior to now. It can form cool thoughts, form opinions that contradict your original notions, and light a match that sparks your motivation and passion.

Don’t simply follow a script. Strain your brain with trials and tribulations. Add additional fun to your day to day tasks and goals. What can you accomplish if you go against the flow of what’s “normal”?


At this point, you probably know what I just did. Similarly to A Void, this blog consists of 381 words, but all without that singular symbol that follows D (minus my stating this author’s first and last. That was obviously hard to work around.)

This blog is a fraction of what A Void is. In typing this post, I took many days and hours trying to form a blog that sounds natural and still has a call to action. It was not without hardships. I did it though and for that I am happy. Will I do it again? Probably not, but I’m glad I did.

If you ask why I did this, I’ll simply say “Why not?” Push your limits now and again. Don’t simply follow your habits and do what you always do.

11/30/2022

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