Two years ago, Neal bought me a t-shirt that really made me feel seen. It reads “Steady Habits USA”and is from Hartford Prints. Connecticut, if you don’t know, is nicknamed “Land of Steady Habits”. As a person who believes deeply in the Flaubert quote “[b]e regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work,” I have cultivated many habits. Some stick for a long time, others develop and shift. Today I’ll share three of my current faves.
- Yoga. I practice some days for 10 minutes, some days for 90. Most days I do a home practice with Yoga with Adriene videos. I invested a few years ago in a membership to her site, and I’m so happy to support her work. I have practiced every day for over 1,500 days. I know my chain will one day break, but I love and crave time on my mat every day.
- Five-year journal. With the nice round number at the start of the year, I figured I’d keep a little record of how the decade unfolds. It’s been fun to jot down thoughts about the day before I go to bed every night. Since the journal is pretty big, when I go away, I just write my entry in whatever notebook I have with me and transfer to the “official” journal when I get home. I think this will be pretty cool to review in 2025! (ok, can I just say typing that number seems SOOO futuristic?!?)
- Morning Pages. Over the last 20 years, I’ve done this practice, habit, ritual–it is a bit of them all– on and off, primarily on. It’s a great brain dump on waking up and a helpful way to work out problems in my writing, teaching, relationships–any part of my life, really. After a different morning writing practice for about 18 months, this year I’m back at the morning pages and enjoying them.
- Ok, this is one more than three (and it’s Thursday, not Friday, which would alliterate with four and be far more clever than, say, Four on Thursday), but I’ve got the picture up there, so I have to connect to it, right? Hand stitching. I’ve been embroidering every day since the start of the year, but I have also been trying to add in some other daily stitching–knitting, crochet, hand sewing…anything to give me a moment of creative peace as I finish out my day.
How about you? What rituals, habits, practices do you find yourself enjoying?
Love your hand stitching – in fact, I want to adopt all of your habits!