What Juju Do You Do?

Juju. Amulets. Phylactery.

We have all heard about athletes who have a lucky object they wear during their games...as well as the fans who do the same. You know there's a guy out there who wears his most worn out pair of (hopefully clean) underwear every time his favorite Major League Team/NASCAR driver is in action simply because he is convinced that every time he does, his sport-crush will win. Maybe it's just a superstitious way to mentally participate in a sport that some couch potato has no hope of physically playing. Or maybe there is some magic emanating from that ragged, holey cotton.

Maybe not.

A slight twist on that notion, one that I think has more merit, is the red-power tie worn in the corporate business office. If you believe that red is a color of action, courage, and leadership, if you believe that wearing it to work will enhance or reinforce these qualities in you, then therefore as you place that crimson tie around your neck in the morning, you are consciously making a choice, an affirmation. It mentally sets your personal standard bar where you want it, perhaps a little higher than yesterday.

Can anyone say that challenging yourself to do better than you did yesterday is a bad thing?

Topically, the mojo methods being shared this week are cool and insightful, but I think the real questions, the one that you, dear readers are coming here to find the answer to, is what magic beans can I plant to improve my writing and where can I get them? Are lucky charms worthwhile? Is this mumbo jumbo real?

If Awesome Author A wears a certain ring everyday and her novels are fantastic and her sales are soaring, and Well-respected Writer B burns a specific incense and eats four pistachios before sitting down to write what always turns into a best-seller with movie deals, shouldn't you run right out and get a ring just like A's and buy the incense and nuts and set up your desk accordingly to double your take-the-world-by-storm super powers?

No.

In my opinion, it does not matter what you do. It does not matter what I do.

It matters that YOU do what matters to YOU.

What resonates with you? What in this great big world of options and ideas is the one, two or three things that help YOU focus YOUR MIND and settle in to write at your MOST INSPIRED, at your CREATIVE BEST?

It's the act of setting up the item(s) and performing the ritual that is important. That act creates a mental bubble (or perhaps a mental Death Star) that sets your mind to the task and empowers you. It might be as mundane as having coffee in your favorite mug--heaven forbid it is dirty and you have to wash it first. It might be keeping a collection of specific new-age stones said to have creative energy clustered on your desk and saying an affirmation before you start every day. It might be listening to certain music. It might be running a mile first. It might be five minutes of meditation.




Whatever it is that puts you in the best mental place to do better than you did yesterday is the MOJO that will work for you. It will be your very own. Your precious.