RITUAL for kids: Summary

So, this RITUAL thing. You’re probably saying, THAT’S TOO MUCH WORK.

It’s not really.

Here’s a diagram:

We use RITUAL to move from Where We Don’t Work into the circle Where We Work. That’s it.

Almost every creative person has RITUALS they use to get into that circle. Ernest Hemingway wrote standing up; Mark Twain wrote lying down. German poet Friedrich Schiller kept rotten apples in his desk. He claimed that the smell helped trigger his creativity. Whatever.

All you and I need is time, space, materials, and commitment, and RITUAL can help us meld all those things together. By acknowledging that you’re willing to get to work—Invocation, Drawing the Circle—you trigger your brain/soul to enter that space where the words or notes or ideas come from.

RITUAL doesn’t guarantee success, of course. Sometimes you eat the Minotaur, sometimes the Minotaur eats you. But unless you enter the labyrinth—Take the Path—you will have a very hard time MAKING THE THING THAT IS NOT, and it’s hard enough as it is.

Make it easier: draw that circle, take that path.