creative mornings and rituals
Friday, June 3, 2011 at 2:57PM 
I've been daydreaming about this idyllic schedule since before I left the day job. And it's suppose to go something like this:
6:45 the alarm goes off and by 7:30 I'm up and moving...getting my daughter dressed and out of the house by 8 and arriving at daycare/camp/school by 8:30 (And with a strong-willed 5yr old this is an accomplishment in itself). At 9am my creative morning begins at the cafe of my choice. I spend 2 hours with a pot of tea by my side drawing, where the ideas start flowing the moment I put pencil to paper.
Well, up until this point it has only been an imaginary idea in my head. I'm still up to my elbows in Surtex follow-up, but decided that this week I would at least try to introduce some of these creative rituals and habits into my daily morning routine. I was able to attempt this schedule twice this week, and let me tell you it took me some serious time to actually settle in and start drawing. I was feeling anxious and rusty. I spent the first chunk of time procrastinating checking my email, twitter and facebook messages on my iphone. And then once I actually started drawing I intermittently checked the clock, even thought I had the alarm set. Sheesh!
I'm hoping that as soon as this starts to become second nature the anxiety will dissipate and I will quickly lose myself in my drawing. So, how many times do you have to repeat something before it becomes automatic & second nature? I heard everything from 21-66 days. My fingers are crossed that I'll be able to get into a grove in a month or so making it easier to enter into "the zone" each and every morning.
If you want to learn more about creative habits and rituals pick up a copy of Twyla Tharp The Creative Habit I'm almost finished reading it and it's been very insightful.