Ritual

{Chapter 2: Rituals of Preparation}

"It's vital to establish some rituals ... at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way." 

"A painter I know can't do anything in her studio without propulsive music pounding out of the speakers.  Turning it on turns on a switch inside her.  The beat gets her into a groove.  It's the metronome for her creative life.

...there is no one ideal condition for creativity. What works for one person is useless for another. The only criterion is this: Make it easy on yourself. Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn't scare you, doesn't shut you down. It should make you want to be there, and once you find it, stick with it.  To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that's habit-forming." 

"This, more than anything else, is what rituals of preparation give us: They arm us with confidence and self-reliance."

"When I walk into the white room I am alone, but I am alone with my: 

body

ambition

ideas

passions

needs

memories

goals

prejudices

distractions

fears

These [are] at the heart of who I am.  Whatever I'm going to create will be a reflection of how these have shaped my life, and how I've learned to channel my experiences into them.  

Distractions and fears [are] the habitual demons that invade the launch of every project."

"When you have selected the environment that works for you, developed the start-up ritual that impels you forward every day, faced down your fears, and put your distractions in their proper place, you have cleared the first hurdle.  You have begun to prepare."

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{Exercises}
1  Where's your "Pencil"?
What is your pencil?  What is the one tool that feeds your creativity and is so essential that without it you feel naked and unprepared?

2  Build up your tolerance for solitude

3  Face your fears

4  Give me one week without