i recently read an article about commuting. it was about the benefits of commuting; about how people who used to commute and now do not are missing it. about how it provides a buffer in between home life and work life, and is a kind of signal to shift into the work mindset on your way there and into the home mindset on the way home. this is helpful, and we are not surprised - we who have ever tried to get work done at home. yes. yes, we need a buffer. we do. otherwise it all mushes together and gets stressful and overwhelming and nothing gets done properly. or maybe i am just speaking for myself.
i do not have a commute, as my studio is in my house. i don’t have any kind of built in buffer so, over time, instinctively, i have created some. for example, there used to be two entrances into my studio, and i sealed one up and then i hung a curtain on the remaining one and it signals to me that i am in my studio now, and it also signals to my family that i am working, and they should come in quietly and respectfully and maybe not at all. and that works pretty well. i get all my stuff together before i go in and going through the curtain is an acknowledgment that work is beginning.
i also have some rituals and when i read that article i realized they, too, help me transition into work mode. they evolve and are sometimes long and sometimes short. they feel personal and meaningful and they remind me that i’m entering into a sacred space - which i am. i have a new one i really love. i have a little alter of sorts where i sit before i begin, and i started carrying two little pieces of chocolate with me into the studio. when i get in there, i place one on the alter and i eat the other one. i’m not sure why. it feels like i am treating myself to the one as a reward for arriving. and then, when i am done for the day, i eat the other one, as a reward for finishing. i don’t think about it too much, i don’t know who exactly i am offering the chocolate to, and i’m not sure why i then eat it at the end. but that’s ok. i like the ritual of sweetness at the beginning and sweetness at the end. and i like asking for help and bringing a gift in the process.
so if you need help preparing yourself for something that is asking for your attention, you should try it. take two of something delicious, and before you begin, close your eyes. put one in your mouth, and put one somewhere safe, but where you can see it while you work. enjoy the first one, say thank you, and ask for help with the task at hand. and then do it for as long as you can and at the end, say thank you again and eat the other piece, and move on.
Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred.
What we make matters enormously, and it doesn't matter at all.
We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits.
We are terrified, and we are brave.
Art is a crushing chore, and a wonderful privilege.
Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us.
Elizabeth Gilbert