Intro. to Architecture:

first year of college, first class of the day.
there are a bunch of "wacky" things that stick in my head from this class (mostly the weird singing/chanting from "Atlantean"- or at least Steve's comedic impression of it), but there was one lesson in particular i tried to incorporate into my life as a habit.
Never leaving the same way you came?
Never take the same route twice?
i'm sure Patrick Quinn had a more eloquent way of phrasing it, but you get the general idea.

i put this lesson into practice for years, keeping my senses "stimulated" in my daily patterns, forcing myself to re-experience the "familiar" as "new", when viewed from a different angle.

this habit changed when i decided to "go green" and not own a car (for safety and financial reasons more than environmental ones). it just faded away (rather quickly) as the daily routine of walking to and from work became just that: routine.

it's been 8 years (2 at my current job).
i walk the exact same route every day.
i know when to step over buckles in the sidewalk and where puddles will appear in rainstorms.
i can tell whether i'm running early or late by the traffic patterns at key intersections.

my pedestrian commute has become everything Prof. Quinn warned against.
my brain focuses inward rather than outward.
while walking to/from work, i am almost completely unaware of my external environment.
instead i'm planning my day, thinking deep thoughts and giving my neuroses some structured time of their own.

as a result, my insomnia has disappeared and, in reasonable weather, I get in about an extra hour of reading a day.