Creativity Cannot Be Caged

When you let your creativity fly, it comes back stronger and better

Doing the same thing every day at the same time creates a routine. Many of us have morning and/or evening routines that we use to start and end our days. Routines are a series of habits that give us structure and a sense of security. They eliminate the need to make choices without having to think about them, so we become more productive and efficient. They run on autopilot, and we organize our lives around them.

One of my daily routines is setting aside time to write, which is dedicated to the execution of an idea I already have discovered or chosen. When the time comes, I boot up my laptop and start planning, writing, and/or editing. It’s action-oriented and dedicated to a specific goal that I’m striving for. While I find this routine helps my focus and productivity, I also find that it stifles my creativity, which needs room to roam, fly, and explore. If I start my writing routine without an idea, I spend a lot of time staring at a blank screen.

My best ideas arrive when I’m doing something unrelated to a daily routine or when I’m in the midst of a routine and on autopilot. This often happens during my morning meditation practice. Slowing my breathing and quieting my thoughts give my subconscious mind the freedom to make new connections and configurations that seem to magically appear as ideas for my writing. I often have to stop meditating to capture the ideas and then start my practice over.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it; they just saw something and connected the dots. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” — Steve Jobs

Routines, rituals, and creativity

Journalist Oliver Burkeman wrote about routines and creativity in his article for the Guardian “Rise and shine: the daily routines of history’s most creative minds.” The range of routines he describes is astounding, creative, and unique to each artist, but to me, it seems as if what he calls a “routine” is more like a “ritual.” Coach and author Lucy Gower, explains the differences in her LifeHack article:

“A daily routine is a series of tasks that you complete every day in the same order….They might be efficient, but routines are not necessarily motivating or enjoyable. They are viewed as a chore….A daily ritual is similar to a daily routine since they are also a series of tasks that are completed in the same order. But a daily ritual differs in its intention. Daily rituals are meaningful practices and are internally motivated.”

Many athletes use rituals before competing because it puts them in the right mindset, reinforces their belief in their abilities, and boosts their confidence. Not a bad trifecta for writers who constantly need to generate ideas and creative approaches to them.

Here are 3 Medium creators and their takes on creativity rituals.

Seduce creativity like a lover

Banchiwosen Woldeyesus: Ethiopian Blogger dresses up and dabs on her favorite perfume. This ritual helps her entice her creativity to come out and play. She goes on to describe 3 creativity rituals you can adapt for your own use.

“Creativity is never an accident. You can win the lottery and become rich overnight, but no one has ever mastered their craft by chance. So if you want to be a professional writer, creativity rituals are important.” — Banchiwosen Woldeyesus: Ethiopian Blogger

Let go and experience the moment

Vivian Nunez interviewed artist and poet Morgan Harper Nichols for an article about Morgan’s partnership with Starbucks by Nespresso for Vertuo and her process for creating her morning mantras. She shares how Morgan shed her need to focus on outcomes and always be doing and instead turned to be present in the moment.

“I’ll just say what has helped me a lot in my life and something I continue to go back to — keep seeking moments that awaken the childlike sense of wonder within.” — Morgan Harper Nichols

Create a ritual, not a routine

Kayla Lee shares actionable steps for creating a creativity ritual that we can incorporate into our days that feeds our joy and makes writing more enjoyable and satisfying. She shares some of her own rituals for putting herself in a frame of mind that cultivates and nourishes creativity.

“Rituals are tiny, yet powerful, doses of positivity that we can easily incorporate into daily life.” — Kayla Lee

Creativity needs freedom

Birds in captivity or that are being rehabbed need to fly to maintain or regain their strength. Our creativity also needs the freedom to fly, and creating a ritual around it coaxes it into the air. I want to end with a shoutout to New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck, who shares her creativity rituals as a cartoonist. Different medium, same need to generate ideas.

“Ideas are my friends, who are reliable and unreliable and keep changing and drifting away and coming back and are always surprising me.” — Liana Finck

Thanks for reading, Peace and hope, Patricia

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