Unscripted.

Hello growing Ceremony readers, so nice to have so many of you here following along with the rituals of someone who decided to pack up and go to the other side of the continent for three months. Not that this blog is only about that, but that's where we're at currently. I'm sitting in a Grill'd, which if you know me, you know is my safe haven where the food is always the same and I can reply upon it to give me a kids meal the exact size I need it to be, without shaming me for eating a kids meal. The topic for this week is creativity, and the importance of including it in our daily lives. I'm not talking about taking an art class necessarily or joining a group that teaches you to sculpt a portrait of your dog to put on the mantle. But something perhaps a little more subtle. My friend C asked me to speak to it, which is fitting because she‘s someone I would say, who consistently finds ways to incorporate creativity into aspects of her life where it does not live. C is exceptionally good at pretty much everything she puts her hand to, in the most unpretentious way. I'm aware that these blog's at times are a just long love letters to my friends- but if you're not writing about your friends on a website dedicated to the interactions, connections and activities you partake in every day, then you're doing it wrong. My time here in Perth isn't structured around any event, and I'm not really here for a 'reason' but I suppose the most fulfilling activity I've participated in for the seven days I've been here are the Morning Pages. Every day I wake up an hour before I start work (6am), brush my teeth, wash my face, put both the kettle and Jordan Rakei on and start writing. I have been immeasurably more productive in the first two hours of my work day, because (who would have thought) writing out all the stuff that is swirling around in your head before you begin a task is actually quite cathartic. I always get half way through page one and think 'how am I going to fill up three pages', and it's not a cute note book, it's a large A4 book with tiny margins, so it feels like writing five pages sometimes. Once I hit page two I'm on the home run, because I've found something to ramble about for long enough to probably fill five pages. For example on day three I wrote about how gratifying it feels to give up on something when you know it doesn't feel right. It's like that Nai Palm lyric, How can I defend, how good it is to define

When you call it a day

Before you've given it any of your time

A crossroad is better than a crossfire Full song here (it's much more of a groove when you listen than just typed here) And that was so fun to write about because from my personal experience I've spent way too much time thinking about why I want to leave/quit/give up/move on, how it will effect people, when I should do it, how I should do it, when actually it would have been much less brutal for everyone to just do it quickly and quietly. So, back to the subject. Putting into practice daily time to take what's inside, translate it through a medium (in this case writing) and have it separate from my body, living somewhere else that's not in me, is my jam- and I think it should be yours too. The medium doesn't matter. It could be speaking to your therapist, it could be movement, it could be cooking a meal, it could be martial arts, mosaic, woodwork, playing the drums. Anything that can be a reliable conduit for you to get the feelings and thoughts you have inside you, outside of you, to live external of you. The primary reason I think this is important is because it isn't sustainable for the things we carry to bare down on us so much so that we can't function healthily. It's also just a fantastic way to build friendships and connections with others, and to show a side of yourself not through what your face looks like and what your resume says you can (or can't) do. It provides an opportunity for strangers and loved ones alike to see something that was made as a response to your unique set of human experiences. Not to get too esoteric, but you're the only person who has your experiences, in the order you had them, in the environment you had them in and that is a story worth telling. If the way you want to tell that story is by making lamb ragu and having your friends eat that, then I am down. The medium is yours. Here are some notes from my Morning Pages about types of creativity and how they have impacted my life. Interior Design (or rather, where I put all my sh*t): It has allowed me, in places of unrest, spaces I've never been, houses that aren't my own; to see myself reflected around me. Fashion: Without fashion, I know I would feel truly dull. It has been a great privilege to have the resources to play with fashion, and if you ever can't find me one day I'll most likely be in an op-shop buying something I'll never get around to altering. Dance: One of my great loves. I don't really do it anymore, except for the rare moment if the mood strikes, when H is out of the house at the studio, or the 2 times she's dragged me out dancing late at night. But it's so sacred to me, and attending No Lights no Lycra three weeks in a row connected me back to my body at a time when it felt like I was floating outside (and not in a good way.) I hope you can reflect on some of the mediums you use to live outside yourself in the right ways. Life is totally and completely unscripted so you may as well participate as much as you can in the set design, costume design, casting, plot and score. With love, M

Daily Ceremony acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land we work on, and we pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.