On the net and what it catches
“A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days.”
Dillard is not praising discipline for its own sake. A schedule is scaffolding, and its value is entirely in what it holds up — the days that would otherwise pass without leaving anything behind.
The second sentence is the warning. A net catches only what it is built to catch; a schedule shaped around the wrong things will hold those very faithfully. Chaos is not the only way a year gets lost.