Writing|Medium|Heart Mind Body Soul|Health and Wellness|
How do You Prepare your Heart to Write Each Day?
#1 of 3: A series of tips on preparing your Heart, Mind, Body and Soul to write.
My fellow author, James Edward Young, bless his heart. He has been up since midnight drafting his posts for Medium and Facebook. He not only writes to me here on Medium; he also writes me emails. It was one of his emails this morning about the music he has been listening to that gave me the inspiration to write this piece. Let me know if this resonates with you too; I’d love to hear from you.
Each day unfurls like a blank page for me, waiting to be adorned with the ink of my imagination. Each of us have our very own way of preparing our minds to write. Some of my fellow authors start exercising very early in the morning, do yoga, bike, run, or meditate.
We often prepare our minds and bodies, but how do we prepare our hearts to continue to bring heartfelt articles? How do you cultivate your heart to provide the emotional narrative to make that connection with your readers?
How do we each discover the symphony of words and melodies we choose to shape our thoughts and breathe life into our daily ideas?
Let’s explore each other’s daily rituals and the different narrative palettes we choose that color our creative canvas, shall we? I can start with mine.
I know when I start cracking my knuckles, I am ready to write.
With a 9–5, I have a really early start, 4–5 a.m. I truly believe that there must be a connection between you, the author, and the reader. Whether it be a tug at the heart strings or writing about a topic that resonates with the majority of readers.
My prelude to preparation starts like a painter priming a canvas. I start the day with a ritual. I have a weekday playlist that I will share with you below. I am not sure if you like listening to my music, but this is how I prepare. I love getting up before the sun rises. Why, you may ask?
The sun rising for me is a gift. It is validation that I am able to hit my reset button and yesterday has died.
Each new day signifies a new beginning, a rebirth of yourself. So I start the kettle going. Yes, I am old-school; I like to hear that kettle steaming and blowing. Then I prepare my very hot, steaming cup of instant coffee. This is my tranquil moment of introspection that becomes the brushstrokes that set the tone. This is how I prepare my mental canvas, but before I work on my body with a run, my mind needs to be filled with music to drown out thoughts from the previous days. My music playlist has no vocals; why?
The vocals muddy my thoughts. Sorry. Soulful crooning of a blues ballad, romantic songs always carry a story of either a broken heart, a cheating husband, a love lost... I do not want to muddy my thoughts and heart with these types of emotions before I write so I listen to instruments that calm my mind and also work on pulling the strings of my heart.
In my dance of creation, right before sunrise, my thoughts start to find the rhythm where I can take solace. The melodies I listen to that fill my ears have the power to guide my pen, shaping the tone and emotion of my words.
Here is a playlist and some songs that I start with: I’ll mention the song title, then the artist.
430am:
- When Angels Smile: Back to Earth
- Following Stars: Bernward Koch
- Nightblossom: Paul Machlis
- The Conversation: Karunesh
- Inspirations: Hilary Stagg
- Angel Voices: Danny Wright
- Morning at the River Bend: Gandalf (You can hear peacocks 🦚)
- Love’s First Smile: Kevin Kern
- Sundial Dreams: Kevin Kern
- Above the Clouds: Kevin Kern
- Always Near: Kevin Kern
- The Touch of Love: Kevin Kern
- Safe in Your Embrace: Kevin Kern
- Through Your Eyes: Kevin Kern
- Sundial Dreams: Kevin Kern
By now, your heart feels free…caffeine kicking in…
16. Bluebird: Alexis French (My absolute favorite, by the way)
17. The Enchanted Garden: Kevin Kern
18. Butterfly: Kevin Kern
19. A Moment in Time: Alexis French
20. The Secret Piano: Alexis French
21. Last Song: Alexis French
22. I Remember When: Alexis French
23. The Piano Sings: Alexis French
25. Distant Voices: Alexis French
26. Your Song: Boko Suzuki
27. Levon: Boko Suzuki
28. Beauty and the Beast: Lang Lang
29. Feed the Birds: Lang Lang
30. Lonely American: Romantic Guitars
Then I have the songs shuffle, until my words take shape. The chosen melodies intermingle with my thoughts, shaping the very essence of my work. Now I can take the contemplative verses that flavored my thoughts to heart. I then take my journal and start writing.
Music has such an incredible power to evoke emotions buried deep within our souls. It unlocks the doors to vulnerable memories, unearths hidden sentiments, and infuses my writing with raw, heartfelt energy. By tapping into the depths of my emotions, I continue to enrich my work with authenticity.
When I start diving deeper into my creative endeavors, I find that certain musical genres harmonize my thoughts and my heart with specific writing topics. The haunting melodies of classical compositions may lend themselves to contemplative world challenges, the climate, and nature, while the calm and pulsating beats of electronic music may fuel my productivity during an intense writing session. I do like embracing the ebb and flow of different instrumental genres, as I tend to discover the perfect rhythm for each stage of my creative process.
In conclusion, I’d hope we shared a few minutes here to realize that our daily preparation and writing rituals are very intimately connected with the melodies that soundtrack our lives. With each keystroke, I continue to invite the power of music to shape my thoughts, guide my moods, and breathe life into my words.
I hope to continue to captivate you with my words. May each of our own creations dance to the rhythm of the melodies that inspire our hearts, as this is truly the secret to our writing, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of those who encounter our written symphonies.
I’d love to hear about your writing rituals. Happy writing! I hope you enjoy my playlist.
Thank you for stopping by.
Love
Part 2 (Heart & Soul Prep) Part 3 (Mind Prep) on how I start to continue to write for the day is forthcoming. If you have enjoyed this series, let me know.
Writing Ritual Preparations from other Medium authors:
Appreciate this, Love. I’m an early riser as well, and love the sunrise. I like to meditate for 20 minutes to what are called binaural beats, or just compete silence. My emptying of my mind seems to create ideas or things just occur to me and I write, or not. I’m a rock n roll guy by the way. 🥂
I just start trying like a mad man. Titles aren’t my strength, but it sways starts with a title and I start. No coffee. No music. No water. No food. Just vegan protien powder mixed into almond milk and a framed poster of Michael Scott’s Threat Level Mudnight.
(I like the vegan protien shake because it’s strawberry)
Here are a few of my best stories, hope you can stop by to spend a minute to read them:
A special mention goes to the only publication that has given me full, unequivocal support,Francisco Iglesias, publication, Inside the Mind of a Writer.