In late spring (2013), Becky Kolsrud and I applied for a collaborative grant to facilitate my desire to go to Paris. We titled the project "The Habit of Being" after a book of Flannery O'Connor's letters. We didn't receive the grant-money until I had already arrived, but I began writing anyway, and upon returning, had difficulty curbing the habit. O'Connor's mother compiled and edited her letters. I, on my end, edit my letters for you: