I’m not particularly good with schedules. Especially ones that start early in the morning. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to do things like go to bed at three in the morning and sleep until mid day which results in me feeling like I’ve lost so much daylight and also, the most productive part of my day.
An Armature made of… Ritual?
Rather than have a schedule, I’d like to build an armature. For those of you who haven’t used armatures before, I like this definition from merriam-webster.com:
d : a framework used by a sculptor to support a figure being modeled in a plastic material
Although, I’m not sure why they specify plastic material. (A lovely reader emailed me to discuss the difference between the various definitions of plastic. There’s the stuff your six year old’s jewelry is made out of, and there’s the more artistic definition being flexible, mouldable, soft. Something that I’m sure I knew in art school, but apparently slipped out of my brain.) Anyway, I want an armature for my life, but instead of building one out of wire, I want to build it out of ritual.
- A morning ritual with Shiva Nata and my question and a healthy and locally sourced breakfast.
- A sacred work space for all things related to this site.
- A mid-day ritual with making lunch and letting my mind wander possibly letting my body wander too, something like a walk, but not so formal.
- Dedicated time for day job work.
- An evening ritual of making supper followed by reading (or listening to) books and other learning materials.
- An actual bedtime preceded by meditation, possibly with a candle or incense.
- One day per week where *nothing* gets scheduled.
That’s Quite a Block of Stone
The thing is, that’s a lot to implement all at once. I know this because I’ve made this plan before, or one very similar, and have never gotten it to stick. Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the way my life has been going, I come up with a plan like this. I’ve used bits and pieces before, but the distractions, they get distracting. And then the plan, it disintegrates.
Carving This Life a Bit at a Time
Scheduling it in a calendar has no meaning for me. Neither does writing it as a check list. So, I’m starting with one piece per week. We’ll see how that goes. First up, bedtime with meditation. I’m going to shoot for 11:00, since I’m writing this at 12:30 am and am not sleepy, I’m going to give one week for transition and one week for actual practice.
Feel free to ask me how this is going, on Twitter.
How strictly do you structure your days? What systems, rituals, armatures, scheduling do you use?
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In the comments:
We’re being open here, sharing and saying things we don’t always say out loud. What helps: Sharing your stories and Ideas. Cheering and telling what works/worked for you. What hurts: shoulds, harshness, and such. (I used to teach first grade, I can’t help it.)
