“I walk into a white room . . . “

Groundbreaking choreographer Twyla Tharp begins her workday with an unfailing routine:

She rises at 5:30 AM. She hails a cab. She enters the deserted blank space that is her dance studio in midtown Manhattan.

“To some people, this empty room symbolizes something profound, mysterious, and terrifying: the task of starting with nothing and working your way toward creating something whole and beautiful and satisfying.”

What do I do next? The ritual will tell you

Twyla instructs us that in-between the pre-dawn alarm and striding into her studio, something else essential is required. There is a self-directed command. A habit. A ritual.  

“. . . The ritual is the cab. The moment I tell the driver where to go, I have completed the ritual . . . [A]t the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way… It’s vital to create some rituals – automatic but decisive patterns of behavior. Turning something into a ritual eliminates the question, Why am I doing this? . . . The ritual erases the question of whether or not I like it. It’s also a friendly reminder that I am doing the right thing (I’ve done it before. It was good. I’ll do it again).

Tics, tools, or a habit

For a long time I thought creativity was a function of talent and passion, with a couple of handy tools thrown in for good measure (my weapons of choice: a handful of $1.95 indigo ink Zebra Sarasa pens; my lucky font Optima; and Siri, my wildly innacurate transcriber, but better than facing the blank page alone).

Twyla made me realize something was missing from my craft. There’s a difference between tools and tics. If you don’t have the ritual, if you haven’t enforced the habit, forget about talent. Passion is a non-starter.  

“Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn’t scare you, doesn’t shut you down. It should make you want to be there, and once you find it, stick with it. To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that’s habit-forming.”

We’re early into 2019 — time to get crackin’. You’ve got stories, memoirs, speeches to craft. Legacies to impart. The path ahead is studded with landmines: distraction, discouragement, fear, rejection, and most destructive of all, self-doubt. How do we sidestep these, piece ourselves back together after the inevitable misstep? In what room do we re-embrace the creative endeavor, morning- or night-after night?

Share with us and your fellow creatives your inspiration for our collective creative journey. Where do you create? What ritual or the habit commands you to the task? What’s your most important story that’s waiting to be told?

If you’re looking for ideas on how to jumpstart and sustain your creative life, pick up a copy of Twyla’s book, The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life.  Tim, Kim and I will be sharing other suggestions and inspirations to keep us going throughout the year.