The Artist’s Way

This book links creativity to spirituality by showing how to connect with the creative energies of the universe, and has, in the four years since its publication, spawned a remarkable number of support groups for artists dedicated to practicing the exercises it contains.

Thank you Julia Cameron!

WELL? DOES IT WORK, DOES IT CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
Has it? Well Yes and no.
I'm not putting out massive works of art or prose, nor am I comfortable with even the pencil sketches I do. However, I am doing them again. I've had fits and starts of drawing, but this book does help you put that into perspective. You are a beginner and it is okay for your work to look like a beginners. Simple concept. Hard to internalize.

INTERESTING OUTCOME.
What I did find and others who use this program can probably confirm is that it helps get situations out in the open. Family stuff. When you do the morning pages, you ramble. You put down all that trash you are thinking and then you find you work to clean it up. You know all the stuff your kids, your spouse, your co-workers do, that really tick you off. You find you start to address that. Kind of a neat by-product.

MORNING PAGES ARE NOT SO BAD:
My first take on this, is dedicate a half an hour of my precious and sparse sleeping time.....? What are you nuts? Then I tried it. You have a clarity (and a drowsiness) in the AM, that is unmatchable any other time. Also, if you are like me get a whole lot less interruptions. I did the morning pages from 5:15 till 6:00 AM weekdays and after I got up on weekends. Weekends, sometimes I didn't get to them until afternoon. But, each day (except for 1 day in 12 weeks) they were religiously done.
Guess what? I'm hooked. I'm continuing and you might too. Consider this as a book (a life), you are writing, you are directing. What a concept!

MORNING PAGES LENGTH:
With the Artist's way book, I bought the journal. These 3 pages were the size of 8-1/2 X 11 pages. 3 pages do not take you 1/2 hour but more like 45 minutes to an hour. Get ready for that. It seems like a lot some days and not enough on others. You don't need a special book to do this in either. I bought a spiral notebook to pick up where the journal left off, when it was full. The journal is nice though as it has passages from the book on each page.

ARTISTS DATES:
I found that some of the timing of the artist dates were bad. I'm sure most others will run into this as well. I did this book through the Thanksgiving, Christmas holiday. Artist's dates were often dropped and sometimes one did double-duty. However, these can be very simple. You have to make them what is important to you and that is the point of the book. It makes you feel special. I think all of us wait for others to make us feel special. Most of us could wait a very long time. Little do we realize, we have to set the standard. Make ourselves feel special. Because we are. We have to appeal to the artist within us. It can be simple or extravagant. One thing I like is pens with a 1.0mm tip. They use ink like crazy, but what a wonderful broad stroke they make on the paper. That is one of my "perks".

SOME CRITIQUE:
In the past years you've no doubt heard of people coming out of therapy accusing their parents of abuse. Many of these people were suggested into this practice by psychologists looking for a quick solution to some of their patient's psychoses. What I didn't care for in the book, is that some of the tasks appeared to be excercising these same demons. Trying to find devils in the details of past "creative blocks". Some times these blocks are cumulative and not one earth-shattering event. Like water on a rock. Sometimes the people around you were highly supportive, etc. etc.
We all have a mix of that. I felt however, that this negative aspect was overemphasized. A person sensitive to these suggestions could walk away very convinced that there was a horrible trauma they just can't quite remember.

WEEK OFF OF READING TRULY IS IMPOSSIBLE IN SOME PEOPLE'S LIVES:

One week was supposed to be one free from reading. I used it as a media free week (Radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, books and non-work email) and not from work related reading. If I neglected the reading in my job, I would have over 300 emails, very job related languishing in my in-box. I also would not be doing my job in writing specifications. Not possible in my job and not realistic in many others I'm sure. I think the author should just emphasize the noise factor or suggest doing this type of exercise on vacation.

In summary this book and its tasks were excellent and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm going on to her book on Work creativity next, then the Right to Write and the Vein of Gold.

KEEP UP THE MORNING PAGES AND CHANGE THE WORLD - ONE PERSON AT A TIME!

Julia Cameron is an award winning American screenwriter who believes that it is our birthright to be creative, but that our creativity is stymied by limiting beliefs, self sabotage and fear. In a 12 week programme, she guides the reader through re-discovering and excavating their creativity by writing morning pages (writing at least three pages of stream of consciousness first thing in the morning) and artist dates (doing creative, fun things at least once a week). There are other exercises which aim to get to the bottom of self limitation and liberate the artist within.

One of the themes throughout is 'showing up on the page'ie writing the morning pages, regardless of mood, enthusiasm and just doing it. I have found this to be a liberation. Before I wrote when I was in the mood, but now realise that moods are temporary and that writing as much as you can on a consistent basis begins to open up avenues hitherto closed.

Another useful theme is taking small steps - before I had to write the great novel -now I realise that writing a letter to a newspaper for example is a valid way of writing and self - expression. 'The longest journey begins with a single step'is a Chinese saying. Here Julia Cameron shows ways of making those steps. She writes of 'filling the Well'and looking after the Artist in you by giving it treats, taking it out to interesting places and doing new things, seeing things differently, creating visual stimuli which reflects the life you want and stimulating the long dormant Artist to create.

Another key theme is that of Synchronicity. As a wise person stated 'Leap and the net will appear'. Once we start making and opening ourselves up to changes then all sorts of doors open to support us.

If I have one complaint about the book, I guess that it may not be practical enough for some people who want to know not just how to create, but how to market and channel their creativity. The programme makes many references to 'the Great Creator', the 'Universe'and other kinds of spiritual references, which some people may find offputting, although I personally didn't.

In many ways the Artists' Way is limited by being aimed at Artists. In fact it has a much larger relevance to all of us in finding creative ways of living, It is, essentially, a Design for Life, creating and finding ways to enjoy our lives much more fully and realising that being creative isn't something to be denied or suppressed, but celebrated and enjoyed.