Even more than we want good love for ourselves, we want it for our children, those vulnerable satellites of our hearts that we send, unsteady, into the world.
Mona SimpsonRead
Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Keats buttoning up his clean white shirt to write in, after work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the personal rituals that writers engage in to create an atmosphere conducive to writing.
In this quote, Mona Simpson highlights the significance of rituals in the lives of writers, showcasing how mundane activities, such as dressing formally or creating a dedicated writing space, can enhance creativity and focus. By sharing specific examples of John Cheever and John Keats, she emphasizes that these rituals serve as a bridge between their daily lives and the sacred act of writing, illustrating the importance of habit and preparation in the creative process.
Themes
WritingRitualsCreativityStoriesArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I shared how my morning coffee ritual helps me get into the right mindset for writing.
More from Mona Simpson
All quotes →Even as a feminist, my whole life I'd been waiting for a man to love who could love me. For decades, I'd thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man, and he was my brother.
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Instead of a dedicated room, my best trigger is the actual habit of reading over the texts from the day before. Marking. Changing. Fussing. This ritual amounts to a habit of trust. Trust that I can make it better. That if I keep trying, I will come closer to something true.
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We come into the world whole, all of us, but we don't know that, don't know that life will be taking large chunks out of us, forever.
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