I like Henry Miller’s mind. I’ve written about it before. He expresses without apology. His writing just…goes there; it cuts through and doesn’t pause to deliberate fruitlessly. It feels like freedom to just read his work.

Image by Jody Rogac

I came across these Henry Miller quotes just now. It’s from an essay he wrote on the musings of psychoanalyst E. Graham Howe. Miller dissects some of Rowe’s thoughts on normality, and surrender, that I rather like:

“‘Normality,’ says Howe, ‘is the paradise of escapologists, for it is a fixation concept, pure and simple.’ ‘It is better, if we can,’ he asserts, ‘to stand alone and to feel quite normal about our abnormality, doing nothing whatever about it, except what needs to be done in order to be oneself.’

Yes, we must stand alone in order to be ourselves. And, yes, it’s the most challenging thing in the world to do. It’s my greatest ambition… to be truly, bravely myself.

As Miller goes on, a little aloofly:

It is just this ability to stand alone, and not feel guilty or harassed about it, of which the average person is incapable.

I am a little obsessed by the work habits of writers. And I love Henry Miller. And I’m very grateful for these little work mantras Miller wrote for himself.

Mostly because it’s a reminder that everyone struggles to find the right mood, pace and approach to work, and the right way to balance work with our values and sense of well-being.

I work nervously, often. The nervousness stems from a fear I’m going too slow and that I have too much to do. But let’s break this down.

Too slow? For who? If it’s important stuff, then it’s worth doing mindfully. I have recently trained myself to stand back daily from my nervousness and remind myself that I do what I do because I chose it and it’s meaningful. So enjoy it, Sarah! Enjoy the slowness! Choose to enjoy it!!

Having too much to do? Again, it’s a choice of approach. I remind myself – again, daily – to choose to see that I have enough time. Sheer years on this planet tells me that everything gets done and that whether I have two hours or ten hours to do it, it will get done.

My work mantra just now is this: I refuse to get worked up. I repeat it daily. I simply refuse. It’s a choice in approach.

Do you have a work mantra?

I don’t exercise to get fit or lose weight. I do it to get clear and clean in the head. And I do it every day, because I want to be clear and clean every day. As it’s a simple, do-able goal with an immediate outcome (I feel clearer and cleaner instantly, but I don’t lose weight from exercise for months, if at all), I’m rewarded for my efforts and incentivised to keep going. And going.

Me mountain biking in Provence…one of the most creative things a girl can do

But another reason to exercise is for the mental agility it imbues, which, in turn, aids creativity.  I read this interview with Murakami in The Paris Review recently that touches on this. I thought I’d share. As with everything uttered by Haruki Murakami, it’s elegant and clear and clean:

” When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit, and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9:00 p.m. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long–six months to a year–requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity.

I totally agree with the repetition bit. And the every day bit. And the bit about physical strength being important to creative success. I draw on the physical depths I’ve gone to over the years to achieve all kinds of things. My four-week