October: Ritual

I took this image walking in our neighborhood on a foggy morning.

“Like your bedroom, your writing room should be private, a place where you go to dream. Your schedule—in at about the same time every day, out when your thousand words are on paper or disk—exists in order to habituate yourself, to make yourself ready to dream just as you make yourself ready to sleep by going to bed at roughly the same time each night and following the same ritual as you go. In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational thinking of our daytime lives. And as your mind and body grow accustomed to a certain amount of sleep each night—six hours, seven, maybe even the recommended eight—so can you train your waking mind to sleep creatively and work out the vividly imagined waking dreams which are successful works of fiction.”

– Stephen King

Things I love about October - EVERYTHING. This is my favorite month of the year. I love the smell of wet leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, cinnamon candles, squashy dishes, and gloomy days.

Fall is the perfect backdrop for discussing rituals this month. The definition of a ritual is a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. I like this definition, because it distinguishes between ritual and routine. Routines are things we do as we go about our days, usually because we have to. Rituals are ceremonious. They don’t exist on their own, but as part of a higher experience. Whatever your religious affiliation, most of us can agree that making art connects us to a source beyond ourselves, so this definition fits.

Beyond the ceremonious aspect, rituals serve a practical purpose. For artists, they support the creative process. They can exist around the time we make art, or during other parts of our day to support our creativity. Rituals can range from the very mundane to the very odd. The odder the better, in my opinion. To some people, rituals can even be superstitious. For example, some artists have a lucky tool they like to use when they work.

One of my favorite reads was Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. After reading that book, I realized there’s no one size fits all ritual for artists. We each need to find rituals that work for us. One of my favorite rituals from the book was Georgia O’Keeffe’s.

So why do rituals matter? Because they prepare our minds and our bodies for the work ahead. And I’m always making the most work in the fall. That’s why rituals are special to me this time of year. For me, it’s easier to sit down to a cup of tea than to sit down and get straight to work. Rituals are my body’s way of easing my mind into the work ahead. They signal to my mind, “we’re going to work soon, so get ready.”

Rituals can even trick us into working when we don’t feel like it. And that’s what makes them so magical. I don’t always feel like working, but my rituals ensure that I show up anyways. In fact, I credit much of my productivity as an artist to my rituals. Rituals should be enjoyable. They should feel like a reward. We should look forward to them enough to make the work feel worth it.

Rituals don’t only work as a way of leading us into our art practice. They can also tell us it’s time to stop. It can be helpful to reward yourself at the end of a successful art session.

Rituals can be daily practices, or things we do at the start and end of a big project. It’s good to have both types in place.

My challenge for you this month is to assess your art rituals. In the same way you probably have a bedtime ritual that helps you fall asleep quickly, establish an art ritual that helps you turn your creativity on (and off) on command. This month, try out different ideas to see what works. I think you’ll find your productivity skyrockets as a result. And don’t be afraid to appear silly. No one needs to know what your rituals are. As long as they work for you, that’s all that matters.


Video: talk about my past rituals, new ones I’m implementing, why they’re important for productivity (convincing/tricking your brain to sit down and work)

Journal Prompts:

  1. What are my current art rituals? Are they working for me?

  2. In what new ways can I trick myself into sitting down to make more art?

  3. Imagine the most successful, productive artist in your mind. What rituals do you see them having?

  4. Write down a new set of rituals to try out this month for stopping and ending your work.

Sketchbook Prompts:

  1. Map out and illustrate your current art ritual.

  2. Map out and illustrate your desired, upgraded art ritual.

  3. Illustrate a still life image of one aspect of your art ritual.

  4. Illustrate an object that plays a significant part in your art ritual.

Assignment:

Start a discussion with another artist on rituals, whether it be online or in person. If you have a chance to talk to more artists, even better. Find out what their art rituals are, and write down anything that resonates with you.

Fun Finds:

Nicole Cicak