Backsliding, by Meghan O’Gieblyn
archive.today webpage capture Saved from history←priornext→ 24 Jun 2026 08:29:58 UTC Redirected from history←priornext→ All snapshots from host harpers.org WebpageScreenshot sharedownload .zipreport bug or abuseBuy me a coffee SIGN IN Get Access to Print and Digital for $25.99 per year. SUBSCRIBE FOR FULL ACCESS ABOUT ARCHIVE AUTHORS NEWSLETTERS SHOP PODCAST EVENTS SUBSCRIBE DONATE 175 YEARS CURRENT ISSUE SECTIONS THE LATEST SEARCH Man on the Moon, 2017, ink on rice paper, by Matthew Wong © 2026 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Cheim and Read, New York City [Memoir] Backsliding On the paradox of willpower by Meghan O’Gieblyn Adjust Share T here’s a woman I see each day on my walks along the bike path, a runner who can barely run at all. She has the small, limp forearms of a kangaroo. Her legs are like taffy stretched to the breaking point. There has been a woman like her at every gym I’ve ever belonged to: limbs of rag