8.27.2013

Before Bed



What are you reading before bed these days?

I recently started "Daily Rituals: How Artists Work" by Mason Currey.  It is a collection of essays about the daily routines of 161 novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians. 


The book is based on Mason's blog Daily Routines which is no longer being updated. 

I had a misconception that artists were completely unstructured...that the schedule of a creative mind was haphazard, go with the flow, and never the same from day to day. That actually isn't the case. Many of the most creative minds of the past two centuries did have elements of routine. They often ate the same foods each day, woke up around the same time, and structured the day in predictable ways. 

My favorite insight from the book so far: so many creative people take daily walks! Many walk for hours a day! Just wandering around, either in a city or in the woods. Walking is good for the mind and the body. 

What are integral parts of your daily routine? (I'm still working on developing mine.)

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