Tag Archives: routine

creative work, Process, Writing

Light a Candle

What I want to remember about ritual.

The difference between ritual and routine has nothing to do with the task and everything to do with how I approach it.

Rituals help me feel safe and connected. They also remind me that the unknown is everywhere—around me and within me.

Light a candle.

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I may never know why or how rituals work. I don’t need to know. I should do them anyway.

Sometimes I need to act ‘as if.’ As if I am committed. As if I believe in magic. As if I know what I’m doing.

Doing the same practice over and over again leads to limitless creativity and possibility.

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Move my body. Call this a ritual. Worship the movement.

Use magic instruments liberally. If rose water, massage oil, beeswax candles, prayers, crystals, or the Tarot turn routines into rituals then use them. Shrug at the part of me that thinks this is silly

Write everyday. Call this a ritual.

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Craft, Process, Sketchbook

Lessons from 100 Moons

I’m participating in The 100 Day Project organized by Elle Luna and The Great Discontent. The idea is simple: do something every day for 100 days and document the process. The inspiration for the assignment comes from designer and teacher Michael Bierut.

I love this project because it is about routines, collective creation, and revealing the tiny steps behind finished pieces of work. I love this project but I’m not good at following the rules. There’s something about a routine that magnifies my learning. Participating in The 100 Day Project, however badly, is teaching me. Here’s some of what I’m learning:

Perfection Kills Creation

I went to AC Moore and bought a tiny sketchbook to use for the project. It seemed meaningful that the notebook I wanted had exactly 100 sheets of paper. I had this vision of filling the notebook with a moon on every page. On day 2, day 4, and day 5 I made moons I didn’t like. Since I had only 100 pages and wanted to make 100 moons I had to save the “mistakes” and keep going.

Compliment Strangers

When I click on #the100dayproject my screen lights up with beautiful work. Liking other people’s pictures and commenting on their process inspires me to keep going with mine. It makes me feel like I am part of a network of people who are thinking, making, and sharing.

Just Start

I’m behind on this project and I never know what day I’m supposed to be on. My day 100 will probably be everyone else’s day 152. Sometimes, I feel like I’m too busy, too tired, or too uninspired to sit down for 10 minutes and draw a moon (which is truly just a circle!) The trick, that I have to learn over and over again, is to put the little notebook down on the table and pull out some supplies. If I can get that far I’ll get to work.

Take a Daily Dose of Magic

I wanted to make moons for this project because it’s a mysterious planet that inspires so much poetry. On the days when I sit down and look at the moon’s phase, leaf through my books for words that I love, and play with pen and paint, I get a daily dose of magic.

I’m on Instagram as @heidisistare.

 

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“I am not yet in the world, and there is a certain risk involved in talking: the night spins a fine membrane, like the film inside an eggshell. It seals you off from the world, but it’s fragile, easily pierced.” – Roxana Robinson from “How I Get to Write”

Process, Writing

Morning Routine

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