“You must continuously feed the inner beast that sparks and inspires.”
George Lois, who is a renowned art director and designer and is known for the groundbreaking covers of Esquire magazine, wrote an article for Good, “Why We Go to the Met Every Sunday (and Have for 60 Years),” which explained that he and his wife’s spiritual day of worship is spent each Sunday at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the article he expressed that creativity needs a spark and that we need to be engaged in ways that motivate and inspire us to create on a regular basis. For him and his wife this is a museum setting where they are inspired by “the shock of the old.”
I love the idea of constructing a creative ritual in your life in the same way that you allow space for other rituals. If you can make time to go to the gym or brush your teeth every day, then why not allot some time to feed your creative soul as well? Once something becomes a ritual, it becomes a part of your week in a way that feels natural and needed. If you live in a city, it could be going to a museum, but it could also be as simple as visiting your favorite hiking trail on Friday mornings before work. It’s figuring out where you are inspired most and making time to include that into your weekly schedule. If it’s not a place, it is just ensuring that you are giving time and space to that activity at least once a week. Prioritize it in there!
Lois has me inspired to go and check out the last day the Maurice Sendak exhibit that is showing at the Society of Illustrators this weekend. With that I am going to try to make sure that I am out photographing at least once a week. When I walk around the city with my camera it allows me to slow down and see things that I might otherwise walk by quickly and never notice. I always end up with new ideas and am refreshed after stepping away from my computer and into a creative world.
What will your weekly creative ritual be?
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