by John on September 5, 2008
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I’m trapped in the irony of this situation I have created for myself. Now that almost 20 others have taken up the invitation to work through the Artist’s Way together, I’m feeling the heat to be a good participant myself. Said irony is provided by this week’s topic — Recovering a Sense of Safety.
Dwelling in this irony reminds me of something that is too often true for me — the person creating this heat is me. The lack of safety I usually feel in expression and creativity comes, not from others, but from me. I have all sorts of conversations in my head about how others might hear or respond to what it is I haven’t yet said. (Case in point, I’m wondering even now how many times people will need to read that sentence to make any sense of it.) But the reality of those conversations is that, well, they happen in my head. For me, safety needs to come in caring a little less.
This reminds me of a quote by a hero of mine, Dr. Seuss, which I have mentioned before): Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
Speaking of quotes, here are some from the first reading that have been present in my thoughts this week:
- Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent. — C.G. Jung (pg. 26)
- Young lawyers may be pushed toward lawyering, a talky, word profession, or into medical school because they’re so smart. And so the child who is himself a born storyteller may be converted into a gifted therapist who gets his stories secondhand. (pg. 27)
- To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. — Joseph Chilton Pearce (pg. 29)
- Remember that in order to recover as an artists, you must be willing to be a bad artist. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. (pg. 30)
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by John on August 19, 2008
We have a little less than two weeks until The Artist’s Way Collective begins. There is still time to join us! You can read the Intro and the How it Works posts for more information.
Below is the schedule for what section we will be reading each week. The weekly hub will be posted early Monday morning each week, so it will work best for everyone to do the reading for the week over the weekend or early in the week. Then, during the rest of the week, you can do some of the exercises and reflect on your experiences.
- September 1 - Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety
- September 8 - Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity
- September 15 - Week 3: Recovering a Sense of Power
- September 22 - Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity
- September 29 - Week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility
- October 6 - Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance
- October 13 - Week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection
- October 20 - Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength
- October 27 - Week 9: Recovering a Sense of Compassion
- November 3 - Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection
- November 10 - Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy
- November 17 - Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith
Don’t forget to take some time to read the introductory chapters prior to Week 1. (That’s up to page 24 in the latest edition of the book.) They will help you get a handle on what is to come. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. And once again, if you are going to join us, please consider a post on your own blog about it to help spread the word and let others know what is up.
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by John on August 2, 2008
Three years ago, I worked my way through The Artist’s Way at the recommendation of a friend. The book make a strong impression on me. As I am entering into a new season of life, I’ve decided to go through it again this fall. I think it would be fun and meaningful (and beneficial!) to invite others to join me, and so I present The Artist’s Way Collective.
The Artist’s Way offers the premise that all of us are creative, and that being creative moves us toward personal health. It is not just written for those who are artists, but for anyone who has a need for creative expression…I happen to think that is everyone.
The Artist’s Way Collective will begin on September 1. Using the schedule prescribed in the book, it will go for twelve weeks, finishing up the week before Thanksgiving. I invite you to be a part of this with me. Each week, we will read the corresponding section (usually 15-20 pages), do the activities Cameron suggests, and then reflect about our experiences, whether here, or on your own blog.
I will share more specifics about how it will work in an upcoming post. But I wanted to present this initial invitation so you have time to think about participating and preparing to do so.. If you would like to join me, here is what you can do between now and then:
- Get a copy of the book - I will be using the latest printing — the tenth anniversary paperback. That’s the one we will consider as the standard if you want to use page numbers, etc. However, there are several older editions that can be found cheap in used bookstores if you want to go that route.
- Help spread the word - Please let others know you are going to be participating and invite them to join us too. Spread the word on your blog or on a convenient public restroom wall. (I’m just kidding. Don’t do that…it’s not cool.) Include a link to this post to help them find out more about it.
- Let me know - Leave a comment on this entry or use the Contact page to send me your name, hometown, and blog info (if you have one). I am putting together a list of everyone who will be participating on The Artist’s Way page and I’d like to include you too.
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by John on January 22, 2008
I find that ideas are best flowing when I am in a regular routine of doing daily pages. Daily pages might not be the right name in my case — perhaps weekly pages, or even fortnightly pages, would be more suitable. I’ll go ahead and stick with daily as a reminder that they are worth doing that often. Daily pages are a regular discipline just to generate output to get your mind moving.
I was introduced to daily pages through The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. (She calls them morning pages…I’m not sure how or why I switched to calling them daily pages, but I’m not changing now!) In this book, she calls them “the primary tool of creative recovery” and describes them this way:
What are morning pages? Put simply, the morning pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness: “Oh, god, another morning. I have NOTHING to say. I need to wash the curtains. Did I get my laundry yesterday? Blah, blah, blah…” They might also, more ingloriously, be called brain drain, since that is one of their main functions.
Sometimes my daily pages are just as boring as she describes above. On the other hand, I am often surprised at how deep they sometimes get as they help me clear my thinking about something. And, I can definitely say that when I am in a season of doing them more consistently, more creativity flows out of my cleared head.
Please don’t think that daily pages are just a tool for those who write. It doesn’t matter what your medium of creativity is, daily pages can be a valuable tool in your creative flow.
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