Next week’s blog posts will all be “Top Five” lists. In preparation, here is my “Top Five Things In Praise of Work.”

5. Getting Ready. I love getting ready for work. Putting on lingerie and earrings, choosing an outfit and dabbing on red lipstick and spraying on the perfume that suits my mood for the day. It’s lovely being a woman.

4. Coffee and its haunting aroma.

3. Quiet offices in which to wear my outfits and sip my coffee. I love sitting in the quiet faculty offices of teaching campuses, sipping my coffee and hearing the muffled quiet hum of the hallways.

2. Colleagues. Brief professional dalliances in the hallways, stolen laughs between classes, dashed-off emails to check-in.

1. Work. Because how privileged am I to live in a country that allows me to do what I love, to reside in a body that has the strength to propel me through a work day, and a profession that humbles me on a daily basis.

Value your ability to work. Here’s Hozier’s video “Work Song” which has nothing to do with work, but it’s super sexy. Have a weekend to brag about.