Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Ritual

This morning I woke up, let out the dogs, and headed to "my" chair. It is an old, off-yellow leather chair, with huge stuffed arms- big enough for my laptop if I am turning my body to the side, and big enough for several books. I have sat in this chair and written so many times that the mere act of sitting in it triggers something in me. It is as if the chair calls me to write; it indeed has become part of the habituation of writing.

This is what I mean by writing rituals. When we engage in the same behavior, day after day, year after year, engaging in a rituals trigger within us a "push" toward certain behaviors.

For some, it is enough to commit to writing every day or nearly every day. For other, attaching certain rituals to the writing process makes it far more likely that it will become habituated.

My chair calls me to write, and for this I am grateful.

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