Daily Rituals for the Creative

Having some sort of daily ritual may be the most important part of the creative process. It took some time to actually figure out what works for me. With my eldest in school full time until late in the afternoon and my youngest in preschool until after lunch 4 days a week I have those four days to work. Twice a week I need to drive out to the burbs in the morning for an appointment, but I am able to bring more portable work with me and I don't lose much productive time outside the driving time. The daily ritual mostly stays intact.

Morning Rituals:

1. Coffee + Morning Pages
2. Blog 
3. Light Breakfast
4. Shower
5. School Dropoff
6. Exercise/ stretching/walking/biking/activity
7. Studio Core Hours 
8. Lunch/ Social Network
9. Tidy
10. Preschool Pickup

After the preschool pickup I am try to squeeze art or reading in whenever possible but I can't schedule it in. Some days are better than others and it is important to wake up each morning with a fresh perspective. That is where the Morning Pages become so useful. When I wake up in a funk I can often write myself out of the negativity and salvage my mood. So many days I wake up without a plan about what I am going to make and I just get going and something happens. 

Back to School

Vacation week is over and the kids are back as school and I need to get back into my regular routine. The routine that I just started just this month when the youngest started preschool mid-year. Yeah, that routine. Break wasn't awful, it was actually a lot of fun at times despite some pretty poor weather. But it had some really hard moments, especially during the last day and a half when the kids were exhausted, I was exhausted and we were just done with each other. The weekend was a time to recharge for the week of dropoffs, pickups and afterschool lessons. And time for me to get to work and get to printing. I finished carving the block I have been working on since November and I will be ready to print once I have my paper torn to size. Probably my least favorite part of the art making process. I make a day of it and do it all in one big chunk so I don't have to do it again for many months.