“Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music.
Your days are your sonnets.”
It wasn't until January 2020 that I finally started taking a weekly Writer's Sabbath. Since then, my life and my creativity have been immeasurably better.
Put simply: Having a weekly Writer's Sabbath has given my creativity and mental health a boost unlike anything since I began a serious meditation and mindfulness practice.
Every Saturday I take the whole day off. I do not write or coach or teach. I do whatever my heart fancies. I don't run errands that aren't exciting and creative to me. I don't clean. I don't even cook that much.
I follow Walt Whitman's advice: "Dismiss whatever insults your own soul."
This is why people rarely receive emails, calls, or texts from me on Saturdays. You won't see me on social, unless I'm feeling arty and want to post a photo I took on Insta. I don't schedule anything. Not even fun things because I don't want to be beholden to anything or anyone.
My Writer's Sabbath make me feel like the above photo, which I took on a visit to one of my favorite places in the world, the Los Angeles Public Library (main downtown branch), my childhood library. I look forward to it all week. It's the one day that's mine and, even though it's just one day and I work pretty hard on all the other ones, it really is enough to refill my well and keep me going.
I specifically use the word "sabbath" because it's truly meant to be a day of non-work, of rest, of filling the well and nourishing my spirit.
I have no agenda on this day. I don't have to do anything arty or intellectual or go through my TBR or whatever. I just wake up and do whatever I want.
One sabbath, I read a whole romance novel. Another, I binge-watched Killing Eve (I rarely watch TV during the week, so this is a rare treat). I'll wander through my house and pick up random art or poetry books and read them. Last week, I read part of a book on the Romanovs because why not and I took a bath while listening to an audio book. Among other delightful things.
My clients who have kids aren't usually able to take a whole day like this, but I encourage them to grab a set amount of hours to themselves, in agreement with a partner. Or let themselves off the hook for chores, cooking, and the like. It's a day to be more gentle on themselves as a parent and to also have zero pressure to write. They read the whole paper when they get up, or have that afternoon glass of wine. They're good to themselves.
It's not just about the day itself: it's a sabbath mindset. It's recognizing that in order to be creative, we need to give ourselves space and quiet and rest. So even if you don't get the whole day, your mind is sabbath-oriented, and so you still get some much needed R&R.
If you're running on empty, now would be a great time to introduce a sabbath into your writing practice.
Make no mistake, the sabbath is working FOR you, even though you don't have to lift a finger.
How To Take A Writer's Sabbath / Access Sabbath Mindset
As writers, we often forget what Oscar Wilde said about our life being our art, about our days being sonnets. Many writers have frazzled, harried days, dump themselves in the writer's chair and expect some magic to happen. But if you haven't been filling the well (sabbath, meditation, etc.), then it isn't fair to YOU to expect flow. So sabbath mindset is an all-week thing. It's being intentional about taking that sabbath and organizing your week accordingly to ensure you don't cheat yourself out of it. (Something is always coming up, no?). It's putting your sabbath on your calendar and making it non-negotiable.
To me the sabbath is a sonnet, a day where I actively enjoy my life and myself.
Here are my best practices, whether your sabbath lasts all day or just a few precious hours:
Do it every week, ideally on the same day (consistency is key to keeping a habit!). Make it non-negotiable. Schedule it.
Don't write or work on your book on this day, unless it's to do something yummy like build a playlist or Pinterest board. You'll be amazed how nice it feels to have one day where you don't put pressure on yourself to be creative. To not have that guilty game with yourself I know so many of you play. ("I should write, but...")
Write a list of what "insults your own soul" and don't do those things on your sabbath no matter what. Could be grocery shopping, going to a party, email. The more clear you are on this, the easier it is to set yourself up for success throughout the week. You do the grocery shopping earlier. You call that friend who yaks your ear off the day before. You turn down invitations if they're for your sabbath.
Get support and accountability. If you have kids, arrange for someone to give you a bit of time to yourself ahead of time. If you're a workaholic, ask a writing friend to keep you accountable. If you have a boss from your day job who has no boundaries, put up a vacation responder every sabbath and let them know you won't be available that day.
Don't plan anything for your sabbath. Don't sneak in big projects for the house and pretend they're creative. Don't set up expectations for how the day will go. Just wake up and see where the day takes you.
Be curious. Take good care of you. Be lazy and have fun.
If you feel resistance to taking a sabbath or immediately assume you couldn't possibly find the time, I encourage you to explore that. Why is it hard to give yourself one day?
Benefits
The best and biggest exhale you'll have all week. It's such a relief when my sabbath (Saturdays) roll around.
Increased flow. (This is why I talk about this so much on the Flow Lab!)
Filling the well to set your writing practice up for success in the next week. (Can't run on empty, my friends!)
More inner expansiveness for optimal story brain: Seriously, even if I did the laziest, consumer-based stuff all day, I almost always get great ideas on my sabbath. I think by relaxing and not writing or thinking about writing, things can arrive. Sort of like if you look for love you can't find it, but then it finds you the minute you stop looking.
Happiness. Seriously, I'm just happy on that day. I look forward to it all week long and I enjoy it. (If I don't enjoy it, it's because somehow I broke my sabbath rules and it killed the vibe).
With everything going on in the world, it gives me more ways to explore what's coming up for me. I might spend a good part of the day journaling or doing a tarot spread or taking longer walks than usual.
If You've Got No Creative Juice
The sabbath is just one of many things I help the writers I work with integrate into their creative lives. So many of my writers are struggling to hold onto their creativity right now. If you’ve got no creative juice, then it’s time to get proactive.
Here’s to filling the well and dismissing whatever insults your own soul-
We’re not your average Jane’s writing group.