This morning, as the coffee finished perking, I looked in the cabinet for my favorite mug. Coffee would surely taste just as good in any other cup or mug but I really like this one. Why? It has a blue stripe and a blue flower, is larger at the bottom than the top, isn’t too large and isn’t too small.
When I write checks or the occasional letter or sign a book contract (thank you, Pen-L Publishing) I like a certain pen. The ink is black, the color is silver and black and the point is very fine. My name would still be my name in blue ink or a medium pen tip but I wouldn’t feel good about it. Funny, isn’t it?
My morning routine is: I feed Nemo, start the coffee, sit down at the computer and write. Habit.
A friend of mine said when she swept her sidewalk, she always counted a certain number of swipes with the broom. Habit or compulsion? This thing with habits can be carried to the extreme.
In Sunday School, I usually (not always) sit at a certain table with people I’ve known for a few years. I like that table; I feel comfortable there. I’ve noticed other people in the class doing the same thing. 
It would be good if some Sunday we played musical chairs and everyone got up and shuffled and limped to different tables. We’d get to know other people and get out of that groove.
Habits make us comfortable. They are security blankets in a changing world. They are the warm spot behind the kitchen stove. We all have them. Habits, however, can become boring. Worse, they can make us boring! And, habits, when carried to the extreme become obsessions or compulsions. (I could never tell the difference between the two.)
If we aren’t careful, those comfortable old grooves can become ruts or ditches which hem us in. Some ditches are hard to climb out of. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start using a pen with blue ink and a broad tip.
I just had a thought! Could writing cozy mysteries be a habit? Heavens! Perhaps I should branch out into romances or westerns or really, really scary stories! That’s reaching a little but tomorrow, I will drink coffee from a large, green mug.
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