Before You Write, Do This: Three Rituals to Anchor Your Creativity
How to Stay Grounded, Present, and Creatively Unstoppable
Welcome back to Writing Under the Palm Tree.
This week we’re discussing ways we can stay in our element, in our bodies as creatives, in a world that wants us disembodied, unmoored separated from our real selves.
These days the seas are rough. We don’t see the ocean or grasp its monumental heft until it rocks us—hard.
For the last few weeks, everybody in my household has been sick. And I mean everyone. I was half expecting my two dogs to start sneezing or running a temperature. They didn’t. Thank God.
There was a lot of “cover your mouth” and “I want to wipe my nose” going around. My toddler would sneeze into my face when I was trying to wipe his nose.
Then, there are the cuddles. When my two small humans are curled up by my side watching a mind-numbing Ms. Rachel (I know it is good for their brain development, but that voice makes me consider the virtues of a partial lobotomy).
Those times with my boys are the times I feel at home, necessary, and grounded.
That got me thinking, when else do I feel this way, centered in space?
These are the methods (and moments) I use to center myself before writing:
Box Breathing (Sama Vritti Pranayam): We do it all the time, pull in air, and push it out again. However, there are times when I forget to breathe. Strange, I know. When I’m really focused on writing or stressed about something else, I have to remind myself to breathe. In those times, I have to sit back and breathe to an internal timer.
What I love about Box Breathing is how it pushes you to cherish each breath, settle into the sweet ebb and flow of oxygen moving in and out of your system. I always feel a deep comfort sink into my bones when I release myself to the process.
Here are the steps I follow: Sit or stand as upright as you can. Close your eyes. Pull in air slowly and steadily through a count of four. Hold that breath over a count of four. Push it out slowly and steadily through your mouth, counting to four in your head. Hold your breath again over a count of four. Go through the steps again until you feel grounded and more fully in your body.
Positive Affirmations
I used to be the last person to give myself flowers, the last person to see how far, how high my strengths, my creativity, my unremitting stubbornness has taken me. That ended around 2018, when I felt how soaked in negativity I and others around had become. Insulting others, denigrating their intelligence, their capacity, their potential, had become part of the language of my students, part of the language of popular culture, being “roasted” was now a national pastime. Its all jokes, it’s all laughs while everyone is around.
When everyone leaves, when the lights have dimmed, the words, the insults about your mind, your body, your life potential live on in that same body, in that same mind. That used to be the case for me. Words meant to harm slipped in and out between my ribs, emerging slick, before receding again.
Positive affirmations like the ones below gave me the counter narrative I needed to bring me back into my frame, to leave me weighty and connected to earth.
Pro tip: doing this first thing in the morning to calm music you like can put you in the right headspace for the words to deeply permeate.
I deserve to move through life with ease.
I reject societal standards that don't align with me.
I give myself permission to create boundaries with family.
I can use my voice to speak up for myself and others.
I release feelings of shame around my identity.
I won’t allow racism to distract me from my greatness.
I recognize rejection as protection and redirection.
I choose to find people who make me feel safe and supported.
I am grateful for the opportunity to live my truth.
Source: Wondermind
Strategic Hesitation
Giving myself a few more seconds to process information, a statement, a question, a request, has saved me from making costly mistakes.
I use strategic hesitation to regulate my nervous system before responding to a student who is being disrespectful to me or a classmate. I encourage my students to do the same.
It makes a particular difference. It allows your brain to make the necessary adjustments to your words, so they land just right—softly or with a clarifying thud. Let the distinction be one you make, not one that is made for you, one that’s made by impulse.
How I go about it:
I recognize that my heart is beating faster, that blood is rushing to my head.
I stop maybe I take a half-step back.
I consider what my boundaries are, what my values are.
I consider what I know about the person I am responding to.
I consider multiple possible responses and their likely impact.
Then, I respond slowly and deliberately. I keep my voice low and steady, tinged
only with the sentiment I mean to express. All of this takes place in the span of three to seven seconds. However, take all the time you need. My mother used to tell me, once words leave your mouth there is no spooning them up and putting them back.
What are 2-3 things you do to stay grounded?
Share in the comments. We all need ways of staying ourselves. You never know, your words could be transformative for someone else.
As always, I leave you with a proverb from my ancestors.
However far a stream flows, it never forgets its source.
May you never forget your source of power. You. Your creativity, your life experience, your passions, the magic, ethereal dust that make who you are different and more dynamic than anyone else on this spinning blue marble.
Flow, and never forget that you can control the flow of your own energy. You can control where your energy goes, you can control how much of it flows from you, you can control how you refill your cup, regain your energy.
A rushing river, moves swift, roils deep, and is unstoppable.
I hope you find your own way of being unstoppable.
In Solidarity,
Olu
Thank you, this post is lovely! I really like your tips for strategic hesitation (great terminology, too). The process you describe feels achievable and I’m going to try it soon.
I’ve also accepted the usefulness of affirmations, and you have some I’ve never seen or thought of, and they’re particularly useful in this challenging time. Thanks so much! ❤️
Thank you for this. These were really helpful for me! I had not heard of the term Strategic Hesitation even though I do try to employ the principles of it.