Rituals

Rituals are, applied to creativity, specifically the creative process, something that you do everyday when you are going to produce something creative. They are an important part of the creative process, because once set up, they can jump start it.

In the preparation stage of the creative process, the first part, the idea is to have as many ideas come out as possible, so that you have many to choose from. Having a ritual you always go through before that can get your brain in the right mode and lets it know, "Hey! It's time to be creative! All those great ideas please start pouring out....right about.....now!" It sets everything into motion.

Many artists, mostly unnamed, are mentioned in Twyla Tharp's book, The Creative Habit Learn it and Use it For Life. They all have these rituals, things that they have to do everyday before they get started being creative. I have been able to find another famous person, with rituals of their own. Stephen King.

"“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write,” he said. “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon." (http://lateralaction.com/articles/daily-routines-famous-creative-people/)
This is the perfect example. King does the same thing every day to create a habit for himself to prepare himself for what he needs to do.

Haruki Murakami says, "When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 am and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for 10km or swim for 1500m (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9:00 pm. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity." (same source)
This is another great example, because it shows everything that a good ritual has. There are certain things that the ritual includes doing (swimming or jogging) exact times (getting up at 4 AM). Stephen King's quote has the same required elements. There are certain steps, thing have to be done in order, the same, exact times, same place, but above all, having done the same ritual for long periods of time. These all make great rituals.

As for me, I don't have a concrete exercise I take part in everyday to ensure creativity. I don't interact in creative projects often enough to have established a strong ritual. The only one that I would say that I have, is that when I know that I would like to be creative, I do everything else first to get all possible distractions out of the way. I check the news, Yahoo, email, Facebook, do chores, homework, everything. That way I know that I won't get into trouble because I haven't finished something yet. That way I know that I can devote that period of time to what I want to do.

Image: http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1491/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1491R-1061676.jpg