I have worked with some novelists in my previous career, and writers are sometimes devoted to a particular set of habits, in order to stay consistently creative. As I mentioned before, my initial interest in meditation grew from hearing writers and comedians talk about it as a source of inspiration. Even great writers like Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf found writing to be torturous. They found something to rely on, and that was their commitment to a daily ritual.
It could be anything that uses a mindful approach to basic tasks, even bathing or eating, taking a walk at a certain time of day, or cleaning your space. The repetition allows for a transition to a particular mindset. You are looking to be physically and mentally present.
Tennis legend Roger Federer was asked about his 20-year career by basketball coach Steve Kerr and he said, “I love my daily ritual.” The passion for competing that drives Federer is also seen in the basketball genius of Stephen Curry. He also plays with joy for the process and his pregame shooting ritual is mesmerizing, launching shots from half-court and even from tunnels off the court.
Steve Kerr says of Curry: "His routine, it's like a metronome. Every day, it's the exact same thing. He's in the training room, he's in the weight room, he's on the court. It's clockwork. But there's also a sense of joy and energy within that work.”
Rituals may not just be practice for self-improvement. Using rituals in a mindful sense may be best exemplified in my favorite tennis player, Rafael Nadal. He is deeply philosophical, embracing and enjoying the hard work just as the other greats have done. He also has adopted some thinking in line with Buddhists, ascetics, and Stoics, recognizing pain and loss must be accepted and managed with equanimity and discipline.
His mental skill is actually seen in the seconds between tennis points, in unique rituals that are now legendary. He has been called compulsive and superstitious. But for him, it isn’t about a superstition.
“I put the two bottles down at my feet, in front of my chair to my left, one neatly behind the other, diagonally aimed at the court. Some call it superstition, but it’s not. If it were superstition, why would I keep doing the same thing over and over whether I win or lose? It’s a way of placing myself in a match, ordering my surroundings to match the order I seek in my head.” said Nadal.
Nadal’s rituals are silly and odd and off-putting to his opponents, but they are his. Rituals can be highly personalized and may not make sense to others.
In regard to meditation as a ritual, I like that Steph Curry says: "Whatever it is, however you play, you have to keep coming back to the well to keep sharpening the toolkit and finding ways to evolve your game.”
I look forward to hearing about your rituals and how they integrate into your life.
