Daily Rituals

1.
A fresh morning pot of black tea.

2.
A favorite mug, dolloped with milk first before tea.

3.
Checking in (throughout the day): email, Facebook (and posting -- as a former student said, "You're still teaching," but I think of it as a kind of "book" club in which everyone shares), The New York Times, Feedly.

4.
Reading and commenting on compositions.

5.
Walking.
















6.
Taking pictures.

7.
Looking at, deleting, working on pictures.

8.
Blogging.

9.
A little something before dinner.

10.
Dinner (and sometimes work).

11.
Netflix.

12.
Litter box duties.

13.
Reading.

14.
Bed.

Of these, six are for me for the necessary actions of my creative life, something of which I was reminded today when my friend Jane posted to FB an article from The Washington Post about Mason Currey's book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.

His ideas aren't new, and I'm no artist.

But this much is true: "crafting . . . routine[s has] minimize[d] the distractions in [my] life and maximize[d my] ability to think creatively."

Especially the bold ones.