I have a glass heart box, some little metal scatter hearts, and soapstone carved hearts.

Those are just on my desk. Hearts are my symbol, and I have hearts throughout the house, but not like a teenage girl--that just shows up around Valentine's when I pull out everything I've collected over a lifetime. 😉

That is impressive, Jenny!

Beautiful, Denise! And now I'm very curious about heart items!

Jenny - I think you're right about the smell of the match being a part of it. Like a signal to our senses that peace is coming.

That is a beautiful and powerful routine, Lynette!

I like your system, Lynette! And candles totally work, although for me part of it is the smell of the match. I have a vanilla candle that I use only for writing sessions and when I smell the candle and the match, my writer's brain upens wide. 🙂

No, I had to learn how to knit without looking because I get car sick if I look down too much in a moving car. So, I perch my Kindle on my right knew and then I knit on the other side of my lap. It's glorious. Totally relaxes my mind.

I use instrumental music to help me focus but if I'm having trouble I turn the lights down, light a candle and sit in silence for ten or fifteen minutes. Usually that's enough. If my brain is "noisy"- I write down every thought I have--a brain dump of all the things my brain says I must and must not do. Then I take a brisk walk for 10-15 minutes. By the time I finish that I'm ready to go back to work.

Jenny - now I need to know how you knit and read at the same time. That's an old-school version of the two-screen problem (doing two things at once...) and I LOVE it. I want to be able to do that. Audiobooks?