fear and rituals

on understanding how to hack our creative fear and how rituals help

Aug 06, 2024

To my dear Musers

I was chatting with an artist today about how to overcome fear. The fear we were talking about is that kind of fear that can paralyse. Fear of failure, and fear of succeeding.

Fear is one of those insidious things that creeps up on a creative until they find themselves staring at the blinking cursor, the blank sheet of watercolour paper, the lump of clay, whatever is the creative’s medium.

Fear is one of the reasons why I’ve started my Writing Momentum group that starts tomorrow morning. I know too many writers who don’t face their writing because of fear. Writing Momentum is a place for writers to commune at the start of the day on Wednesday. It goes for one hour and there’ll be prompts, accountability and community.

What a great way to start hump day!

Today when I had started the session with the artist, they wanted to find a way to overcome the fear. Fear of failing the job they needed to complete and fear of succeeding were swallowing up their creativity. They wanted wisdom or a technique to dissolve the fear for good. Begone fear.

Through our conversation, they discovered, with some surprise, that fear didn’t need to be avoided, rather fear could be used as an impetus to get the work done. That sometimes fear is a good thing. If we never do anything new – which is where fear creeps in – we never grow.

By the end of the session, the artist had come up with some techniques, hacks if you like, to confront the fear from on. One of the great techniques they’ve chosen is to create some daily habits to remind them what they are doing and why. They’ve come up with a really powerful statement that is now plastered on the wall in front of them so when they sit to create, that’s the first thing they’ll see.

I’ve spoken at length with many creatives, small business owners, business people about rituals and what I have learnt about them is rituals help. Rituals help us to get to the work faster. They’re like quick hacks into the brain, reminders of what we are about to do.

Some of my rituals when I approach my writing are to light a candle (I love the Wildfolk ones as their fragrance is natural and beautiful), put on a certain playlist (I have a different one for different manuscripts) and shut my office door. Shutting the door is in part telling anyone else in the family that I am not to be disturbed, another part of it is telling myself that I am not to be disturbed.

Creative Rituals from Famous Artists

Pablo Picasso: Known for his meticulous routine, Picasso would start his day with a walk to his studio and work until dusk, often accompanied by his dog.

Maya Angelou: She rented a small hotel room to write, bringing only a Bible, a dictionary, a deck of cards, and a bottle of sherry.

Ludwig van Beethoven: He would start his day with a precise coffee-making ritual, counting exactly 60 beans per cup.

Haruki Murakami: Haruki wakes up at 4 am, writes for five to six hours, then spends the afternoon running or swimming and reading before going to bed at 9 p.m.

What are your creative rituals?

Other things

Reading

Ghost Cities by Siang Lu, which is a wonderful (absurdist?) novel of Chinese history and modern society and work. Wry and clever.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty – recommended to me by one of my retreat attendees
The Talented Mrs Greenway by Tea Cooper (thanks Tracy for recommendation)

What are you reading?

Watching

Olympics – is anyone not watching this? I love the gymnastics, like many others. While I’m sitting on the couch, I’m imagining that I could still do the splits, leap in the air…
Glow. Great 80s fashion and women wrestling premise
Started Borgen but I’m only watching in snatches (thanks Karen!)

Five things

Rebecca Douglas
often has a book give away with her newsletter, and this week I received The Woman in The Library by Sulari Gentill
My time away with my writing mates a fortnight ago was a salve. Hanging with other writers who have your back is so deeply useful. I also attended a winter writer’s drinks on Sunday and it was SO good.
The days are getting longer and with that is the sniff of spring. Oh, joy!
I’m getting one of my big acacia lightwoods in my front yard removed tomorrow as it’s showing all the signs that it’s ready to go. I had a moment with it this afternoon remembering it in its prime and thanked it for the sun, birdlife, and joy. I always feel sad when a tree’s life ends.
In tune with all things Paris, did you know that the Eiffel Tower undergoes a repainting every seven years to protect it from rust and maintain its iconic appearance. This process is quite extensive, requiring about 60 tons of paint each time. Over the years, the Tower has sported several colours, starting with a reddish-brown when it was first constructed. It was later painted yellow and is now coated in "Eiffel Tower Brown," a gradient of three different tones that become lighter towards the top, enhancing its visual appeal against the Parisian sky.
Photo by Chris Karidis on Unsplash

In case you missed it

Thank you dear Musers for reading and stay warm. Spring is nearly here!

Til next time

x M