The Artist’s Way: Week Twelve
“For all creative beings, the morning pages are a lifeline -
the trail we explore and the trail home to ourselves.”
-Julie Cameron
I did it! I made it through all 12 weeks of The Artist’s Way program. I feel very proud. Here are some of my takeaways from this experience:
The morning pages require discipline and planning. This actually turned out to be the easier part (as compared to the artist’s dates - more on this below) for me to stick with. But it wasn’t easy. I learned that I really needed to set an alarm and wake before my kids so that I wasn’t rushed, distracted, or annoyed. When I did this, I delighted in the morning pages. When I was interrupted by them and ended up putting on the TV in order to finish up my 3 pages, I was distracted, guilt-ridden, and irritable. I have decided to continue the morning pages but I am adjusting my expectations so that, if I don’t get 3 full pages before the kids get up, I just let it go and move into the next phase of my day. But I plan to set an alarm because I have found I cherish the time with myself writing before anyone else is awake.
The artist’s dates are theoretically the “fun” part, and yet these were more challenging for me to stick with. I have a couple theories about this. The first is logistical: my schedule of work and parenting varies week-to-week, and I failed to prioritize the artist’s dates when planning my weekly activities, so it was often an afterthought. The other issue is deeper and it feels both personal and universal: I am better at being disciplined than at being fun. That is me, and (according to Cameron) that is also the nature of the blocked artist. It feels unnatural (still, even after 12 weeks) to make time for something frivolous and unproductive, even when I know I will enjoy it and it’s helping to accomplish my goal of healing my blocked artist. But perhaps I absorbed the spirit of the artist date assignments? Over the last 12 weeks, I certainly spent more time appreciating images and artwork, creating artwork on my own and with my kids, browsing beautiful things in shops, and reprioritizing simple pleasures like taking a bath or going for a walk. I even played a few songs on the tiny piano we bought for the kids. So something creative and playful within me has broken open, but it remains secondary to all the other hats I wear. I’d will continue to schedule artist’s dates moving forward, and I anticipate these will continue to be more difficult for me than the daily writing.
I slacked off on the tasks as I moved into the final weeks. The tasks are the accompanying activities that Cameron offers to help bring to life each chapter’s teachings. I was diligent with these at first! I attempted to do them all, even though she says you can just pick a few each week. Recently, I found that I would circle a few that sounded appealing, but never complete them. In the final weeks, I even struggled to get the chapter read before the week began. So, basically, life happened. I would like to circle back to the tasks and re-read the chapters again at some point. Perhaps at the start of 2024. Or perhaps I can use the tasks as creative prompts for a creative cluster group (a group of people working through The Artist’s Way program) - this is still an idea I am mulling over!
Overall, this experience was outstanding. The time spent in the mornings writing, thinking, planning, exploring, complaining, reflecting, etc., was all incredibly well spent. I generated tons of ideas and worked through tricky personal and professional issues. I created a habit of taking time for myself before jumping into my parenting and professional roles. Most importantly, the time writing made me feel deeply connected to myself. I got to see the way my brain works, how it plans, freaks out, calms itself, and then moves on from whatever was bugging me. In that way, it reminds me of meditation, which can also teach us to observe, rather than engage, with habits and patterns and learn their predictable rhythms. Writing in the mornings became a time I looked forward to spending with myself, honoring whatever was on my mind. It was supportive, nurturing, comforting, and energizing all at once. It was a gift.
Thank you, Julia Cameron. The Artist’s Way came to me just when I needed it. I feel more confident, clear, excited, playful, and connected to myself and the universe, thanks to this experience. I recommend it to anyone, even if you aren’t sure you are a blocked creative/artist. This experience was far more powerful than I ever expected, and you really have to experience it to understand what I mean by that.
