I don’t think of habits and joy in the same sentence. Habits are things you do, often out of health or obligation. I don’t get a sense of joy in brushing my teeth or doing a load of dishes.

There is one habit, though, that I get joy out of, and that is going to sleep. I love sleeping. It’s like a reset for my mind and body. My dreams are sometimes annoying (I have a lot of ‘not being prepared for class’ sorts of dreams) but often they’re interesting and pleasant.

I smile as I fall asleep. It’s a relief and an experience.

Describe one habit that brings you joy.

I try to write, or at least do something that pertains to writing, every day. Writing, like any flow activity, gives me joy.

I love playing with words, finding the right words, using my skills to eliminate extraneous words. I love using special words, exact words. Creating worlds, making characters realistic, building conversations — all of these are parts of writing.

Sometimes it’s challenging to build in writing time. In the summer, where I have responsibilities but freedom in scheduling them, I have written daily after my daily “day job” tasks. So after I have worked on my new class for the day, and after grading for my internship class, I have time to write. This fall (which starts in a couple of weeks for me), I will not have that early afternoon time. So most days, I can write after work; other times it will have to be early evening. But it’s important that I write, because I need a little joy every day.