How can we nurture our creative energy in our everyday life? Whether planning a monthly home-cooked dinner with friends, going outside for a weekly run, or completing your morning pages every day, small rituals and acts of care can help us overcome periods of creative roadblock and fatigue that we all experience at one point or another.
According to novelist and teacher Julia Cameron in her highly regarded book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, creative rituals are most effective when they can be seamlessly incorporated into our daily lives. Successful rituals are also those that make us feel good, as we are more keen to repeat them if we enjoy doing them. While creative rituals can take many forms, we hope this list of everyday practices inspires you to discover new ways of nurturing your creative inspiration and flow.
Write it out
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Morning pages, a tool sworn by Cameron, are three pages of writing completed right when you wake up. The goal is not to produce anything coherent—simply fill up the sheets in front of you and wake up your mind for the day ahead.
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Written by creative and long-time friend Leigh Patterson, The Moon Lists are a series of list-generating prompts that ask us to reflect on different aspects of our lives. Through the ease of list-making, this guidebook helps to get our ideas flowing and make a habit out of journaling.
Go outside
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Whether a 15-minute walk around the block or a three-day ‘digital detox’ in the woods, spending more time outdoors helps recalibrate our senses and find inspiration in the world around us.
Move your body
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Founded by dancer and educator Alvin Collantes, Dose of Pleasure is a virtual and live dance meditation event inspired by the contemporary dance language Gaga and Berlin’s queer club culture. Let go, feel the music, and tap into the inspiring power of your inner groove. (Photo by Fabian Kramer)
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Running through the streets of New York is a major source of inspiration for art therapist and running coach Jessie Zapotechne. Exploring new paths in our cities and towns—whether through walking, biking, or running—encourages us to get outside, move our bodies, and open up our minds to the world around us.
Take yourself out on a date
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Another ritual sworn by Cameron and her students, an artist date is planning an outing for yourself to enjoy alone. Regularly dedicating time in the week to doing something you are excited about—seeing a movie, painting in the park, dancing at a club—is important for de-stressing our minds and igniting our creative flow.
Declutter your space—and mind
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Regularly organizing and decluttering your workspace is essential for optimal creativity. Play with the sounds, scents, objects, and activity that surrounds you to create a workspace setting that is inspiring for you, and watch the creative magic unfold.
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Decluttering your space is half the battle. Practicing mindfulness with meditation tools, such as Waking Up by philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, is a great antidote for clearing your mind ahead of creative practice.
Inspire through food
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One of Cameron’s favorite suggestions for getting creative indoors is playing with different ingredients and trying out new recipes. For your next lunch or dinner, alone or with company, try something new from our collection of recipes gathered over the years.
Fine-tune your creative soundtrack
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Do you have a go-to playlist for when you need to get some work down? For some inspiration, check out these four playlists curated by different creatives that help them get into their creative zones.
Connect with others
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Hosted by It’s Nice That, this video series features different creative exercises and prompts that aims to teach new skills and ways of working. Share your finished pieces with other creatives from around the world.
Nurturing our creativity through daily rituals and acts of care, no matter how small or ordinary they may be, can help us get through periods of creative roadblocks and fatigue. This link list features resources to different practices that can help ignite creative inspiration and flow.
Text: Anastasiya Varenytsya
