Routine and inspiration

Registration required for this NYT article, an interesting one about how artists, dancers, composers start their day, approach their work, get the job done:Wake Up. Wash Face. Do Routine. Now Paint.

Everyone has routines. What works for one person may not for someone else. Routines can be comforting. They may be our jobs. They define our limits and we try to make something constructive out of them.

The myth is that artists are somehow different. That they leap from one peak of inspiration to another. That they reject limits - that this is precisely what makes them artists. But of course that's not true. Most artists work as the rest of us do, incrementally, day by day, according to their own habits. That most art does not rise above the level of routine has nothing necessarily to do with the value of having a ritual.

I especially like the last sentence:

Hey, whatever works.

Routine and inspiration

Registration required for this NYT article, an interesting one about how artists, dancers, composers start their day, approach their work, get the job done:Wake Up. Wash Face. Do Routine. Now Paint.

Everyone has routines. What works for one person may not for someone else. Routines can be comforting. They may be our jobs. They define our limits and we try to make something constructive out of them.

The myth is that artists are somehow different. That they leap from one peak of inspiration to another. That they reject limits - that this is precisely what makes them artists. But of course that's not true. Most artists work as the rest of us do, incrementally, day by day, according to their own habits. That most art does not rise above the level of routine has nothing necessarily to do with the value of having a ritual.

I especially like the last sentence:

Hey, whatever works.