A Cup of Tea

Do you find yourself going through rituals each time you sit down to do your art?  I've been thinking about this lately.  My goal when beading is to devote myself as completely as possible to the task at hand.  I know there are artists who can watch television, listen to a taped book or talk on their cell phone all while their hands are moving through the piece in front of them.  For the most part I cannot do that!  Whether that is a personality fault of mine or just an acquired way of doing things I don't know.  Perhaps it is my ingrained attempt to live 'in the moment' so that if the 'moment' happens to be beading then that is what I focus on.  I like to think of it another way -- beading is a gift I give myself.  I take the time given me to bead as a treasure.  This is my very own time to not only let my hands do the work, but to delve into my own depth of spirit and bring up whatever lies there.  And so I have some rituals that I go through before beading -- like a hot cup of fragrant tea, setting the scene with favorite music in the background, looking at my inspiration trays or going through beads to make sure that I have what I'll want for the work ahead.  I am preparing my mind and heart to take up needle and thread.  Yes, I'll admit that there are plenty of times when I only have a little bit of time in the day and I'll pick up my work to get as much done as that allotted time allows -- after all I can get quite a bit of background work done in a short stint of time.  But for those precious days when I get up in the morning knowing that I have hours of beading time ahead of me -- ahhh that is bliss, that requires attention to the details, that requires just the right ambience and I love it!

"Each day provides its own gifts." - American Proverb