I have met very few people who love change for the sake of change. Change can be disorienting and stressful for most of us. For trauma survivors especially, change can feel unsafe or even triggering. Routines and rituals are anchors that ground us, in times of change or otherwise. For most of my adult life, I loved my M-F ritual of 5:30 am gym as a way to ready myself for the day.
photo credit: me
Virginia Woolf started every morning with writing in bed. She instructed her staff that she would not be disturbed in the morning, save her breakfast tray (and one would assume, more ink as needed). Susan Sontag also would not allow any calls or people in the morning and was a great believer in writing by hand, “with a felt tip pen or maybe a pencil on yellow or white legal pads,” Maya Angelou kept a hotel room in her home town, paid for it monthly and spent the bulk of her day there, writing from 6:30-2:00.
What about you? What are some of your routines or rituals you look forward to?
The word routine freaks me out, but I do love a ritual. Mine is black tea every morning with half and half and some writing time. Could be journaling, could be morning pages, could be straight into novel or essay, but the day starts with quiet and words (or else I am very cranky!).
Ritual for some connotes religious which isn't a good association and routine freaks you out, Julia. Aren't words The Best?! I love the black tea with 1/2 and 1/2 in the morning. Sounds a little like Allison's milky tea she likes. Yum! Thanks for sharing your ritual here.
The word routine freaks me out, but I do love a ritual. Mine is black tea every morning with half and half and some writing time. Could be journaling, could be morning pages, could be straight into novel or essay, but the day starts with quiet and words (or else I am very cranky!).
Ritual for some connotes religious which isn't a good association and routine freaks you out, Julia. Aren't words The Best?! I love the black tea with 1/2 and 1/2 in the morning. Sounds a little like Allison's milky tea she likes. Yum! Thanks for sharing your ritual here.