The Artist’s Way: Week One
I just completed week one of The Artist’s Way. If you aren’t familiar, you can buy the book here or go to Julia Cameron’s (the author’s) website here. The basic idea of this book (and the 12-week process it involves) is that we are all creative beings but, for many of us, our creativity has been pushed into the shadows by various life circumstances, societal/parental messages, and shaming experiences. We “shadow artists” got the message that artists are some other species of people, not like us, and that we could never be creative, wild, or brave enough to create. The book helps us recover our creativity, which Julia Cameron teaches is an essential aspect of our spirituality and humanness.
The message really resonates with me. I have been trained to lean into my less creative, and more analytical/left brain qualities over my lifetime. Being organized, on time, methodical, and practical have allowed me to successfully navigate school systems and work environments with relative ease. I’ve loved being praised for these qualities, so these are the personal qualities I have nourished. In this time, I have often overlooked the creative hunger inside of me. And now I’m creatively starving!!
The Artist’s Way process has two main components: morning pages and artist’s dates. Morning pages involve three pages of longhand writing, in stream-of-consciousness format. These are NOT intended to be your artistic creations, these are basically a brain dump designed to clear your mind of the chatter that clouds creativity. The artist’s date is a weekly date that you plan for yourself just for fun. This is designed to fill your inspirational bucket, so to speak.
I managed to write all 7 days this week, though one day I didn’t quite get 3 pages, and one day it wasn’t until evening (we were traveling.) My artist’s date was to an art and furniture consignment shop and it was delightful! I had a hard time waking up before my kids many days this week (our sleep schedule is a mess right now,) and my husband handled getting the kids going on his own a few mornings in order for me to write. I’m hopeful I can dial in a more consistent routine for the morning pages in the coming weeks. I am already brainstorming my week 2 artist’s date - I am in Las Vegas right now so the options are endless!
If you’re interested in joining a creative cluster, a group of folks working through The Artist’s Way process together for 12 weeks, let me know and I will add you to the list for the group coming in spring 2023. My plan is to complete the 12-week process myself first and then do it with a group. That program will be offered FREE of charge through Wild Heart Psychology.
Stay tuned for Week Two!
