Finding your doorway
Five things that help me get in creative mode and a printable guide to building your creative ritual
I have been sitting with a new idea. Starting here, I want each Tuesday issue to carry more of what I am visually obsessing over. Art, design, photography, things I collect the way some people collect receipts. Consider this the beginning of that.
Last week I wrote about containers and rituals.
Today, I'll share some ideas on how to make the most of this midlife creative life season and a guide that I created for me, and hope that serves you. Take what you love and leave behind whatever doesn’t serve you.
1. Leave a note for next time
Before you close the document, write one sentence. Not a summary. A thread to pull on next time.
I started doing this almost by accident. I was out of time, mid-thought, and I typed a single line into the bottom of the draft before shutting the laptop. Something like: she hasn’t told him yet and she’s not sure why. The next morning I opened it and knew exactly where I was. No warm-up. No circling. Just in.
The window goes faster when you don’t have to spend half of it finding your way back.
2. Make your drink first
Before you open anything, make the drink.
Tea, coffee, whatever it is. The ritual of preparation is the transition. Your hands are doing something slow and deliberate while your mind begins to shift. By the time you sit down, something has already changed.
It sounds almost too simple. That is the point.
3. One song, every time
Pick one song. Play it every time you sit down to create. The same one.
This is Pavlov for creativity. After enough repetitions, the song starts doing the work. Your body hears it and begins to settle. The associations build up over time without you having to think about them.
I am not going to tell you which song. That part is yours ;) Mine is this one
4. Leave the mess
Do not clear the desk first.
I spent years waiting for the right conditions. The cleared surface, the organized corner, the quiet that felt earned. What I was really doing was postponing. The mess is almost never the problem. Sitting down anyway is the practice.
The work does not require a perfect container. It requires you inside an imperfect one.
5. Keep a small record
Not a journal. Not a word count. Just a date and one word.
I keep a small notebook beside my laptop. Some days the word is slow. Some days it is alive. Some days it is just a checkmark. Over weeks it becomes something steady and quiet. Proof that I keep returning, even when the output is thin.
It is less about tracking and more about remembering. I am someone who does this. Even now. Even in this season.
🎁 Bonus: The guide
If you want to go deeper, I made a small guide to help you find your windows and build your ritual. It is yours to download, print, and write in.
