habit
patterns of behaviour which become established as ways in which a person operates, both individually and socially. According to social scientists, they may genetically inherited, family induced, or culturally copied, and it is likely that we will be more conscious of some than others. They include such features as how we walk and how we greet others, the sequence with which we begin or end the day (even, within that, how we wash, dress, undress), the TV programmes we watch and how we position ourselves whilst watching them. Habitual routines, as with the habits worn by monks, give shape to our identities. As such, they are capable of being aids to survival or oppressive routines. They can be stimulating or dulling, authentic or deceiving. Like the praying for which they usually provide the medium, they can tune to deeper engagement or
reinforce a state of being that is oblivious to its own isolation.