My new book project is about the inclusion of ritual iin creativity.
At times it feels as if I am rehearsing previous arguments on the importance of letting creativity take its course in our lives. At other times though, it feels as if something 'magical' is going to happen.
Today I am at a cafe, writing this, and thinking how I need certain rituals to inspire my creativity. This is not my idea. The choreographer Tharp (2006) talks about morning rituals of waking up, taking a taxi and arriving at a studio, warming up and then letting practice take over.
My rituals of writing are now becoming both routinely predictable and unique. I sometimes wake up with the urge to write something (like today). I perform my ritual of arriving at the cafe, setting the computer up, starting to sip an espresso and then opening a document or two. Then the brain takes over. I want to write something that lingers in the mind in abstract form. I want to put it there, make sure that it links somehow with what I wrote before. I stop. I go for a walk or sit on a bench. Tomorrow or the day after I know I will change a bit of this routine. Maybe I still do not see myself as pursuing my own authenticity.
My drawing is taking a similar path. Arriving at a studio, listening to the teacher, and then wanting to put something on paper. Doing so, correcting, and then perfecting. Experiencing anxiety when not seeing at least some clear, understandable or basic form or written ideas. Deleting. Moving. Re-drawing (rewriting). Forgetting to breathe. Starting to think I am a failure. Stopping and breathing.
I think the path goes back to my old days of software coding...long sitting and typing hours, not wanting to give up (there was peer pressure and the belief I was part of an engineering elite). Short bouts of sleeping. Compiling. Running. Detecting bugs. Commenting with peers. Starting again (asking myself: what is the purpose of this piece of code?). Seeing how finally a piece did (not) work. Moving on. The life clock accumulates miles, as my car.
Perhaps these activities and thoughts are also unique. We as creative individuals tend to think that what makes us authentic is the final product, rather than the process we go through. We adopt certain patterns or routines. Mixed with thoughts or beliefs about ourselves, we carry on. The rest of life disappears from the view of time.
And we become so used to see our rituals as 'normal'.
