I arrived at modal editors via Helix. I had bounced off (neo)vim multiple times, primarily due to the verb-object editing scheme, and initially found Helix to b

I arrived at modal editors via Helix. I had bounced off (neo)vim multiple times, primarily due to the verb-object editing scheme, and initially found Helix to be a godsend. That said, I had an editing paradigm too opinionated even for Helix, so I mangled my Helix config into what I thought at the time was my dream editor. Over time, though, I started to "see the light" of Vim's ways. I'd run into this or that use-case, realize that I had mapped the key for it to something that fit my custom paradigm ideas, and one by one, switched back to the defaults. Eventually, my Helix config became more Vim-y. So I switched to Neovim and didn't look back. I got really into the plugins and customization, and while yes, I still do have a good bit of plugins and a somewhat large config, it's become more and more stock with time. It took me a long time to get it, but the Vim model really is truly brilliant. I still appreciate Helix (and by extension, Kakoune), and I'm happy I went through the weird twisty road that I did, but ultimately I found that the ways in which those two differ from Vim were indicative of me "clinging" to old editing habits from more "standard" editors. It took truly diving in and accepting that maybe, just maybe, I didn't have better ideas than a 50-year old editor that's stood the test of time, to see it.