A RITUAL to get into the space

We don’t talk about the Lichtenbergian Precept of RITUAL very much, and so I’d like to throw that category a bone while I STEAL FROM THE BEST to do so.

Over at Todoist, Naomi has a great post about getting started: March: Start here. In it she describes her morning RITUAL that she uses to her keep herself from skittering all over the place doing whatever pops up. She calls it being “reactive” to stimuli.

Instead, she has a recurring to-do item that includes all the daily tasks she has to get done before creating/working/etc.

It’s an excellent strategy, part of the structure of RITUAL we call Drawing the Circle:

Drawing the circle is the next step. Once you’ve invoked your muse or turned on your lights, it’s time to set your space. For most of us, that means closing the door in some way: protecting your time and concentration so that you’re not interrupted by spouses or children or pets or Facebook (!).

Arrange your desk, set out your drawing materials, sharpen your pencils, set your word count goals. Do some practice scales, review yesterday’s orchestration, proofread yesterday’s chapter. Ask your big question, set your sights, gird your loins.

What you’re doing is entering what students of Ritual call the liminal space: you cross a boundary from the “real world” into a space where change is not only possible but practically inevitable. (Why else would you willingly enter it?) Religious Rituals sometimes even make the boundary a real one; they draw a literal circle for the liminal space, and when you come out of the circle you are now a man, or healed, or married.

[Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy, p. 77]

Naomi’s daily to-do list and her self-admonishment not to stray into tasks that take longer than two minutes is a perfect example of this step: Clear away those to-do items that are just going to try to claim your attention while you’re trying to MAKE THE THING THAT IS NOT. After you do that, you’re ready to Take the Path.

the labyrinth in the author’s back yard. It’s as lovely as it looks.

As we Lichtenbergians say:

Take the pathway
to explore
uncover
confront.
Return to the fire
to confirm
affirm
retreat.

How can you use this strategy to draw your circle?