Hagberg, writer and dedicated advocate for healing domestic violence, begins her writing day at her dining room table with a fountain pen and a yellow legal pad, as she loves the beauty of the ink. When she finally gets to her computer, she is surrounded by angels, literally. Says Janet, “I have lots of angels—all different kinds of angels from different places that I've secured myself or people have given me. Some of them are hanging from the ceiling so they are floating around me while some of them are sitting on the windowsill. I've got one that has a nest with birds in her hair. I also have one that's blowing a horn and another one who has a wand in her hand. Some of them are pretty outrageous angels, because I like angels with an attitude. So I have some attitude angels up there, and they remind me that writing is more than just a technique, it's really a call to go deeper into myself so I can write with courage. My angels prompt me to remember that courage is always more rewarding than cowardice.”
Writer and consultant C. Diane Ealy also has a room of her own filled with art and family heirlooms. My favorite story was about her rocking chair. Diane explains, “I have an antique rocking chair from my great aunt that's been passed among the women in my family since the early 1800s. Sometimes I just sit in the rocking chair and feel the power of the women back through the generations of my family.”
Artist, writer, teacher, and chronicler of women's stories, Cathleen Rountree has built a huge altar in her living room with three levels filled by her work and objects that are meaningful to her. Growing up Catholic, she learned to love ritual: “I learned the importance of prayer in the sense of meditation, in the sense of an inner dialogue with a higher power.” She also keeps flowers on her desk, reads a bit before she starts working, and goes for long walks on the beach with her companion Sienna, a Springer spaniel, to stimulate her creative ideas. She says, “It's such a fascinating thing, the creative process, because I find that it's seldom dormant. I mean, often in the shower, or virtually anywhere, I think of ideas. Just walking somewhere, I'll jot my thoughts down, as a piece of dialogue will come to me, or perhaps the opening of a chapter.” She especially likes to work in the early morning “before the world comes alive.” Cathleen and I have both read the book Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy, to motivate us when we're procrastinating. Susan has a great quote in her book that says, “Cleaning ashes out of the fireplace becomes an entrancing job when you're doing it instead of writing.”
My writing space is decorated with purple and royal blue flowers, my two favorite colors, as well as with my own paintings and gifts of feathers and crystals from friends. My wall of books heartens me as well. I also follow the advice of Sue Grafton, my favorite mystery writer, and keep a special journal for each writing project to keep track of any new ideas, such as, “I need to add a chapter on abundance.” When I sit down to write or paint, if possible, I light a candle to signify that this is sacred time—priority time—and to create a boundary between these activities and my daily life. As “administrivia” is a daily seduction away from my creative endeavors, my candle supports my intentions. It helps me to resist phone calls and other “must do” distractions. I also have a sense that the fire helps to ward off any fear. Since I am an Aries, a fire sign, the flame also supports my image of myself as a warrior in the service of a better world. Like author Sarah Ban Breathnach, I also like to write in bed because it's warm and comfy.
Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes I even have trouble doing it.
—TALLULAH BANKHEAD, ACTRESS
Writer and artist Maureen Murdock describes her creative process as very kinesthetic: “My creative ritual is that I walk every morning and in the warmer weather I swim. And images will come to me when I'm moving. I also meditate first thing in the morning and there's not a day that goes by that I don't write in my journal, where I'm either working with my dreams or an idea.” Maureen also finds water to be a strong element for her: “A lot of ideas come to me while I'm washing dishes or in the shower. One of the reasons that I like doing black and white photography is that the image comes out of the chemicals, so it's almost like the image coming out of the water. When working with groups, I frequently use the image of creating a pool of water—a dark pool or well—and calling forth the metaphors you need at this point in your life to teach you.”
Another technique that stimulates original ideas is a ritual created by designer Diane Ericson after she lost everything she owned in a flood. She calls it the “clear the table” ritual. She explains, “Many creative people call their office a workroom but often it's really a storeroom. When you go into their workroom and their work surface is piled with stuff with only one little corner free for something new to happen—that's really difficult as a support. So in my workshops I urge people to start designing with a clear table, beginning with a single object or a single choice. It frees people up to let new ideas come in.” As Diane knows from a series of life-shattering losses in her own life, when the universe clears your table, you have to begin again and invent a new route. The flood taught her that life is ever-changing, not stagnant. Experimentation and the openness to try new configurations jump-start our awareness and growth.
When I can no longer create anything, I'll be done for.
—COCO CHANEL, FASHION DESIGNER
Scarf designer Joanne Rossman stimulates her creativity by going on silent retreats for four or five days. Fashion designer Sigrid Olsen enjoys a daily hot soak in the tub: “I love water, so I have a bath ritual, lighting candles, aromatherapy, and everything. And that really relaxes me.” Musician Deborah Henson-Conant uses a timer to help with motivation: “I put the timer on for twenty minutes and I say, ‘Okay, you're not inspired, fine, but you're going to do this for twenty minutes.’ And I discover usually that by the end of twenty minutes, I've found my inspiration.” Carmella Yager carries a paintbrush around the house to prompt her to start painting, and to remind herself of her vocation, which is not housework or chores. Business owner and writer Carol Frenier reads what she has written that day before she goes to bed at night, and frequently gets answers or clarity in her dreams. While she is writing she also restricts her reading to books not on her topic. When she wrote Business and the Feminine Principle, for example, she read only novels.
All of these rituals encourage the deepening of your creative potential by anchoring it in daily life. Cathleen Rountree goes one step further when she says, “The creative process is like a lover, and you must treat it as such. You must treat it with respect, with regard, with appreciation, with love, with joy, with gratitude, with fear, with all the complexities of a relationship. And if you are able to give of yourself in the way that it requires, it really becomes a relationship.” This bonding with your creative self entails acknowledgment and the honoring of its wisdom.
Challenge: CREATIVE STYLE INVENTORY
Chronicle the specifics of your own creative style as it unfolds or takes a new twist. Write down ideas or compose a song or invoke another creative tradition to answer the following questions for yourself:
1 When did your creative awakening or reawakening occur?
2 What talents do you have, naturally?
3 Which elements (fire, water, wood, air) draw you toward them?
4 Where and when do you create? Where and when do you wish to create?
5 What activates your creative energy, and what drains it?
6 Do you use creative rituals? Which ones? If not, invent some.
7 Does nature influence your creativity? How?
8 What has been your greatest creative hurdle so far?
9 What time of day are you most receptive to inspiration?
