This article is Part Four [final] in a series on Writing Rituals hosted on Wealthy Web Writer.
Writing Rituals for Inspiration
“The artist brain is the sensory brain: sight and sound, smell and taste, touch. These are the elements of magic, and magic is the elemental stuff of art. In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not think what you should do… Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you.” — Julia Cameron
Julia Cameron, author of the enduring best-seller The Artist’s Way, popularized the notion that creative people have a “well” of inspiration and energy which can run dry, and sometimes needs to be refilled. Overwork, fatigue, and giving too much of yourself to others without receiving equal support can drain your well.
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This article is Part Three in a series on Writing Rituals hosted on Wealthy Web Writer.
Supportive Rituals For Writers: Managing Life Outside Work
Do you ever feel too busy to write?
It’s easy in today’s world to feel pulled in many different directions and to second-guess if what you are doing in the moment is really the best thing to be doing right then.
It’s easiest to be productive when you are also well-supported. The following rituals for writers are concerned with the act of living. They’re designed to nourish and re-energize you when you’re not writing.
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This article is Part Two in a series on Writing Rituals hosted on Wealthy Web Writer.
Pre-Work Rituals for Writers
The hardest part of writing work — or any kind of work — is getting started. This is where procrastination happens. It can take a lot of effort to move past the initial resistance when it comes to tackling challenging work, even if you find it rewarding.
What if you could overcome that resistance by distracting your brain with something easy, pleasant, and approachable? And what if that very distraction led you to naturally and comfortably settle into work? That’s what a pre-work ritual can accomplish.
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This article is Part One in a series on Writing Rituals hosted on Wealthy Web Writer.
What is Ritual?
When you think of a ritual, you may think of a religious ceremony. But it’s likely you harness the power of ritual in your everyday life without even realizing it.
We can simplify “ritual” to two definitions:
- a ceremony consisting of a set of prescribed actions
- a series of actions regularly followed by someone
So, a ritual is a “prescription” or a “habit.”
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Year of Ritual
First, my apologies for neglecting my Year of Ritual series on this blog.
I have practiced a few new rituals since May, and I’ll post a couple of updates in the weeks upcoming to fill in the gaps, but for now I am not focusing my attention on ritual so much as I was before.
Actually, a lot of my focus these days is renewed attention on productivity and life planning. I intend to blog about these subjects a lot more.
Here’s the thing:
ADHD Productivity
I’ve always felt that an inordinate amount of my time and interest in planning and “organizing” my life was just the result of some strange personal interest. I like the feeling of control over my time and my behavior (even if I don’t always exercise it responsibly), and I like making neat schedules for myself (despite the fact that I rebel against too much structure).
It made it difficult for me to talk about the steps I was taking to “invest” in the organizational aspects of my life. Why would anyone else follow these practices when it seems to be easier for them to accomplish in the first place?
Everything clicked into place recently when I learned that I have ADHD.
Now, having shared extensive anecdotes with other members of the ADHD community and recognizing our similar behaviors, I realize that so many of these tools and tricks that I developed for myself were, in fact, the result of having undiagnosed ADHD.
And not knowing this, while having an inexplicable fascination in organizational tools and self-development my whole life, made me turn inward in a way that forced me to learn what techniques would work for me: what would help me stop procrastinating, get focused, get the job done, and enjoy doing it.
Recently, I’ve been writing a lot about what does work for me: these are my ADHD productivity tips. I’ve realized that I have a LOT to say on the subject.
So until I run out of things to say, I’ll be posting ADHD productivity, life planning, and adulting tips. Most come straight from my own arsenal of tools.
If you’re a person with ADHD, I hope these resources will help you too. If not, I hope you will still find something of value in them.
The Anywhereist Podcast
I’ve been a very bad blogger and have not properly updated my own website with links to one of my newest (and coolest) projects: a podcast that I’m co-hosting with Susanna Perkins, owner and blogger of WordPress Building Blocks, Future Expats, and The Anywhereist.
The Anywhereist – a podcast that gives you tools, tips, and information to live, work, and thrive anywhere in the world. (At least, anywhere with an internet connection!) This show is for anywhereists, which includes expats, flexpats, and digital nomads. Find out more about the Anywhereist lifestyle at Anywhereist.com
Basically, if you work from home — if you set your own schedule — if you freelance, or are an independent contractor — if you travel, or aspire to travel — if you can or want to be able to work from anywhere — this show is for you.
It’s Thanksgiving in the United States this week (err, today in fact — Happy Thanksgiving to American readers!), so this week’s episode is on Gratitude. You can listen here and find a list of all episodes here. (We’re two seasons in, so there’s plenty of content to explore!)
Thanks for reading! I’ll have lots more content posted soon.
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This post is part of my series on my Year of Ritual. I picked 2018 as a time to immerse myself for brief, but intense, periods in a variety of spiritual practices. Browse more articles here.
May Rituals: Fresh and Refresh
This month, I decided to focus on rituals which create a feeling of “freshness” — a word that for me implies a sense of things being clean, whole, new, and healthy.
So I asked myself what I could do to create this fresh feeling, and what more I could do to refresh myself: in mind, body, and spirit.
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This post is part of my series on my Year of Ritual. I picked 2018 as a time to immerse myself for brief, but intense, periods in a variety of spiritual practices. Browse more articles here.
April Rituals: End of Month Update
I have mixed feelings about my results/achievements for this month.
My overall goals for this month were to:
-have a really consistent morning routine
-do 30 days of yoga (this month’s playlist: Yoga with Adriene’s TRUE 30 Day Yoga)
-write 40,000 words (10k per week)
-read my writing mantra/intention every day
-participate in 3 moon rituals (1 | 2 | 3)
-try out a variety of creative rituals (i.e. morning pages, Artist’s Dates, Adventure Studying, etc)
What Happened:
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This post is part of my series on my Year of Ritual. I picked 2018 as a time to immerse myself for brief, but intense, periods in a variety of spiritual practices. Browse more articles here.
Moon Rituals: Part Three (Full)
On April 29th, we finished the cycle.
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