It's been almost 2 weeks since I updated the online studio here – how does that happen? 😮😅

Years ago, I remember reading Annie Dillard's book "The Writing Life". In it, she said:

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. A schedule is a mock-up of reason and order—willed, faked, and so brought into being; it is a peace and a haven set into the wreck of time; it is a lifeboat on which you find yourself, decades later, still living.”

For me, I've always had a cantankerous relationship with planners, lists, to-dos, and that general genre of life and self-management. Ask my mom! (Hi, Mom! 🙋🏻‍♀️)

Our brains all work in different ways - and a method that might be empowering to one person might create the opposite feeling and experience for another. So, I've been thinking what kind of net I would enjoy using to catch my days.

The most compelling idea I've had so far is rituals. For example, I rarely forget to take my morning supplements... or my first cup of coffee. The reason is: I created a get-up ritual for myself. I started it during the pandemic, and it has stuck with me.

  • Wake up. (Figure out what day it is. 😅)
  • Stretch my legs before swinging them out of bed.
  • Take a step forward and look out my bedroom window at the eastern sky (these days, it's dark.)
  • Pull on something warm.
  • Get my small glass of kefir and take my supplements.
  • Turn on the decorative hygge lights in the main living space.
  • Pull open the sliding glass door blind.
  • Stretch my arms and upper body.
  • Take a few deep breaths.
  • And to the coffee machine.
    •

    Super simple, but it's a ritual that I love and feels supportive. I don't resist or stomp my foot at the idea of it.

    Another ritual I've been adding to my morning since the temperatures have dropped is making a simmer pot.

    Rituals are a side-step approach for me. They tap into habit loops, emotional memory, and intentional creativity that encourage and reinforce my sense of identity and provide a sense of continuity across days or life phases.

    This is the first time I've sat down to think this through for myself. And there's definitely more to think on. What do you think? What works for you? What do you enjoy? You can comment here - or just hit reply (if you are reading my email newsletter). I'd love to know.

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