Human Design Daily Routine Experiments | Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison in New York in 1979. Photograph: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
I’ve discovered THEE ONE morning routine you need to be successful…
But you may not want to hear it.
The best routine is…your own.
Last year I polled my IG followers about daily routines and a large majority of you actually HATE routines.
Routines don’t work for you
You feel restricted by routines
You struggle to follow routines consistently
And you don’t have time for routines
And I know why. Even if you hate routines, keep reading because this is still for you.
People talk about the morning routines of highly successful people as if it’s a blueprint to success. If you’re not a morning person or struggle to stick with a routine, this can be discouraging, right?
As if only a routine = success.
So you have people forcing themselves to wake up at 5 am (regardless of whether that works for their body + mind). But the routine that works for me or Toni Morrison (who we’ll cover today) or Oprah may not work for you. It may actually be counter to what your unique human design thrives on. And that’s where I’m going with this.
Your human design holds clues as to what works well for you in all areas of your life (not just routines or a lack thereof).
Now before you stop reading and say “I HATE ROUTINES. I CAN’T DO ROUTINES”, let me say, I agree. Everyone is NOT meant to follow a daily routine, a strict set of procedures, etc. Yet, this writing can still apply to your life.
What I have come to realize in my studies of people is that if you run a business, have a job, or are simply existing in this world, there are things that need your attention #Adulting.
So in order to get those done, you may need to create a list of “Soul-led Choices” for yourself. My clients who like to go with the flow, vibe more with the phrase soul-led choices because it doesn’t feel like a set of handcuffs locking them into a structure to follow.
Instead of a series of tasks you do to move your day + goals forward, you may also find it more helpful and freeing to have an array of things you CAN do, things you can choose from to move your goals forward. For instance, maybe you have a list of 5-10 things and each day you choose the one that feels best for you at that moment. Soul-led choices allow room for flow and when you lead with intention, you can add a hint of beauty to them.
Before we go any further, I want to reframe something else…
Another thing I’ve noticed is the word routine has a mundane feel to it, which is another reason why people loathe it!
Your daily routine can get a makeover by setting an intention and adding beautiful elements to turn it into an experience you look forward to. And THAT is how we turn our routines into rituals. So from now on, you’ll see me write ritual instead of routine. The life of a muse deserves beauty, so let’s jazz things up!
Creating your own Daily Ritual or Soul-Led Choice
I believe in using the daily routines and success blueprints of others as a basis of EXPERIMENTATION for what can work for you. There is no ONE right way or path to success, good health, or joy.
Your way is your way. And even when you have a daily ritual, it still may need a refresh every once in a while to keep you from being bored as hell. We’ll get into that too.
On the other hand, maybe you can relate to me - you love routines + structure!
I personally thrive with them, but only when they’re dictated by me. Lol. In human design, I have a left facing digestion variable (meaning I thrive with consistency and routines) and gate 5 activated in my chart (the gate of rituals). Also, as a Manifestor, by nature I have an independent streak cursing through my veins, so being dictated to or forced to follow strict rules usually ends in me quitting, rebelling, or removing myself from situations.
Regardless of if your design is similar to mine, a struggle with daily rituals (especially when working to make a living) is something that people deal with constantly. I hear it in my DMs, during my human design reading clarity calls, and with my friends. No one has time to spend 5 hours blissfully in self care mode (or whatever you’d like in your ritual).
That old meme about having the same 24 hours as Beyonce, while true, it’s ridiculous (actually, I’m going to break down her daily ritual and HD chart soon).
We’re not making a living in the same way as Beyonce (I can’t sing and dance in heels for shit)
We don’t have the same support as Beyonce (no chef or assistant in sight!)
And I doubt Beyonce is answering emails to a boss about an overdue report
So us commoners (ahem, I mean beautiful muses) have to juggle all of the responsibilities put before us, including prioritizing our well-being while making a living.
I thrived with setting my own routine as a freelancer. But when I started working remotely full-time for a company, my rituals had to adapt and it has still been a struggle to maintain a groove. I’ve created a ritual that works for me in this season of life, but honestly, it’s not that ideal Sacred Morning I used to look forward to. However, I’ve learned to extend myself grace and go with the flow within it.
Now, I prioritize what I need and do what I can do.
This means I don’t always have my preferred 3 hours of self care, writing, and learning time (my version of Sacred Morning), but I ask myself “what do I want to prioritize in the 60 minutes of Sacred Morning time I have available to me today?” Then I do that.
I thought it could be enlightening to look at the daily rituals of some well known celebrities alongside their human design chart. The purpose of this exploration is not to copy for THE BLUEPRINT, but to be inspired to create your own.
Toni Morrison’s Human Design + Daily Ritual
How her energy is expressed | Manifesting Generator
MGs have a way of getting shit done!! Toni wrote 11 novels as well as children's books and essay collections. In addition to being a mom of 2, she worked a 9-5 job along with writing for a great part of her career. Through her career working as a writer, editor, and professor amongst many things (can you say multitasker!), she became the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
How she interacts with the world | 5/1 Profile
This profile is of the Teacher/Visionary Leader (line 5) and the Investigator/Resource (line 1). 5/1s are here to support others in healing and evolving by teaching and showing us the highest potential of the collective. They’re driven to experience and learn from life themselves and share with others to help them do the same. The fact that Toni was a teacher, writer, and editor by trade is no coincidence. She has taught the world through her words and we’ve been blessed with the legacy she left.
The gifts she was here to share with the world | Left Angle Cross of Industry/Diligence
Toni innately had the drive and energy to accomplish a major objective, which was empowering people to move through life with a strong sense of self rooted in history, dignity regardless of social constraints, and community. She shed light on the Black experience in ways no other writer had done before her.
When she was awarded the Nobel Prize, the Swedish Academy said her work “gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” Although her words were purposely shared without concern for “the white gaze” as she stated in the Netflix documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, her novels still enlightened the masses.
This brings me to Ms. Morrison’s incarnation cross (gifts, purpose, life story), the Left Angle Cross of Industry, which is all about devoting yourself to leading and teaching others to own their innate power. With this cross, there’s a sense that it’s time to redefine what power and authenticity really means, while not dictating for others, but inspiring them to find and exude what it means in their life.
Toni illustrated this with her creative expression through writing, but also in her 9-5 editing job and teaching roles. In an interview with The Dictionary of Literary Biography, she said “I look very hard for Black fiction because I want to participate in developing a canon of Black work.” She helped expand the reach of stories detailing the Black experience, while also building up the writers who were willing to tell those stories.
How she did with consistency, structure, and routines | Passive, Indirect Light
When the top left arrow in the human design chart points right, this means when you go with the flow or take in things more passively (absorbing along the way), you thrive!
In Toni’s life, although her mind does well when it can go with the flow, I believe a great deal of her routine was out of necessity, especially in the early days. She had a 9-5, which automatically creates some structure but not necessarily around what she loved: writing.
In an interview with The Paris Review, she said “I am not able to write regularly. I have never been able to do that-mostly because I have always had a nine-to-five job. I had to write either in between those hours, hurriedly, or spend a lot of weekend and predawn time.”
But when it comes to her writing practice, she wasn’t always structured about that either. It changed over the years. The top left arrow represents digestion, which is the way you best digest life, including the food you eat, how to take in information, and how you handle sensations. Toni’s digestion variable was indirect light. People with indirect light digestion like Toni absorb and process information best when the sun is down or when the lighting has been tempered.
So when I read this quote featured in the book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, I almost fell out of my chair, “Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process,” Morrison said. “For me, light is the signal in the transaction. It’s not being in the light, it’s being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense.”
She mentions being up BEFORE the light. That’s indirect light digestion. Being in indirect light was the spark for Toni! She learned that later in life after experimentation. It would have been interesting if she was aware of that aspect of her human design earlier in life.
A Glimpse At Toni Morrison’s Daily Ritual
Most of her career, she worked a 9-5 along with writing.
In earlier years (70s and 80s) she would write in the evenings, weekends, and whenever she could throughout the day. In the 90s that changed and she became an early riser because she found writing in the morning to be impactful. When she found her groove, she’d:
Wake up at 5:00, make coffee, and “watch the light come.”
She was not able to write every day (raising a family, teaching, working)
To make time to write, she had to sacrifice her social life, not making time for parties (even work related parties)
She allowed her creative ideas to come to her at all times, while driving, cooking, working, doing other things
How to experiment with your own daily ritual or soul-led choices
So what do you do with all of this info? Experiment with what works for YOU! There is no right or wrong way. Here’s a starting point to consider:
1. Whether you’re going with a ritual or soul-led choices, the key is to set an intention and make it beautiful on your own terms. That way, it’s something you can look forward to instead of feeling like another chore on your long to-do list. After my meditation, I like to make coffee with my French press, drink out of a big pretty mug, and light my favorite incense (Nag Champa!). Ask yourself, “how can I make the mundane aspects of my day beautiful?”
2. Remind yourself of the WHY you’re moving toward. What is your purpose in doing these tasks? Are they helping you reach a specific goal? Are they giving you peace of mind or improving your mental health? Maybe they’re making you feel good in your body? Or improving your connection with others. Connecting with why this is important to you can lead you in deciding what is important to keep and what is not serving you.
3. Try different elements in your ritual, then leave what doesn’t work without guilt. You do NOT have to follow Toni Morrison’s routine or Beyonce’s or Elon Musks in order to be happy, successful, or healthy. Yes, you can be inspired by what has worked for others, but as human design shows us, we are all unique. Forcing yourself to do something that is natural for someone else will only take you off your path of authenticity. Nothing is a mistake, you’ll inevitably learn along the way. But let’s not force anything, yeah?
Daily rituals or choices can be fuel to fulfilling your goals, keeping you sane, maintaining healthy relationships, and showing up as the highest version of yourself in your daily life. Allow them to be the impetus to living your life as a work of art, not the hindrance.
By understanding your unique human design, being inspired by others’ nuances of living, and experimenting on your own, you can live your life in a way that is soul-satisfying.
You have the power to choose. Be inspired by the daily rituals of others, taking into consideration how unique you are, then create your own daily ritual that supports the life you’re creating. Remember, you are the muse of your own life.
Resources
If you’re ready to learn more about your own human design ➮ Illuminate the Muse Human Design Reading
If you want a FREE guide to explore your gifts based on your human design ➮ A Guide to Remembrance: Awaken Your 4 Unique Superpowers For Authentic Expression, Fulfillment + Purpose