I’m going to be completely honest with you…I did not do my best this week. This is for a few reasons, I think. The first, this chapter didn’t really resonate with me the way others have. The second, I was straight up busy. It’s Spring and I work for a soil company.
This week you tackled a major creative block: money. You were asked to really look at your own ideas around Life, Money, and creative abundance. The essays explored the ways in which your attitudes limit abundance and luxury in your current life. You are introduced to counting, a block-busting tool for clarity and right use of funds. This week can feel volatile.
This week was all about money. As any other creative will tell you, money is a major antagonist in our every day lives. It is not easy to be a creative living in a late-stage capitalist society. It almost seems like you have to have an upbringing that financially supports you following an artistic career to have a purely artistic career.
The main reason this chapter didn’t really resonate with me is that Julia Cameron encourages leaving money matters up to “The Great Creator” or God. She even goes so far as to say that, yes, many of us don’t view money as something that God would deal with, but that God has bottomless resources to provide. Why would an ethereal force bother with something so earthly and human-made as money? It just…doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Her ideas, in my mind, come with a massive grain of salt. She is theoretically a woman who was successful in Hollywood and did so as her entire career, she was married to Scorsese (yes, that Scorsese), and then wrote 20-some non-fiction books about writing for a living…I’m sure she had her money issues at points, but it does not read as if she were ever in a position of risking it all to follow her dreams. To her, it just made sense to go after it.
There are certainly those who throw caution to wind where money is concerned and follow their dreams to great success. However, that’s not me.
This chapter rubbed me the wrong way. Many cannot afford to believe that “Life, in fact, takes great delight in supporting healthy extravagant dreams.” Any success that I would have would be because I was not in dire straights to begin with. The advice of this chapter feels as if it can only be relevant if you are in a comfortable spot in your life with money. (Lots of the examples throughout the book hinge around people with stable day jobs re-discovering their creativity…rather than those who are struggling financially.)
But, regardless, let’s look at the tasks and suggestions.
Authentic luxury comes up in this chapter. This is basically looking at what do we find true joy in. Is it the beauty of our world? Is it the simplicity of delicious foods? Is it the warmth of good company? We are readjusting our attitude around abundance. Julia suggests pampering ourselves with whatever our definition of “luxury” is—fresh flowers in a vase, a decent pair of shoes, listening to our “real” favorite music, or a magazine subscription. Fresh raspberries is as authentic an answer as a vacation in Maui. I would classify these more as “joys” than “luxuries.”
The definition of luxury according to Merriam-Webster is: “a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort” or “something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary.” But, the Oxford Dictionary says: “the state of great comfort and extravagant living” or “an inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain.” On the one hand, you have room for non-monetary things to exist in luxury. On the other, money is implied in the definition…
Julia refers to money as not an authentic block. To her, the attitude we have around money is the true block. But that is so hard to believe in. For those who struggle with even buying groceries, you cannot look them in the eye and tell them that financial insecurity is not really the reason they feel stuck creatively. When you’re worried about rent or your next meal, I would think that ideology would make you want to throw hands. None of that is addressed in the chapter, and I think that shows a lot.
For me, as someone who is financially secure, I can find the little luxuries in life. I see the benefit of reminding yourself that abundance is not purely in what you buy. But, that is because I am not worried about basic survival. While yes, splurging on the flowers for my table is still splurging, I’m not deciding between flowers or food for my table. So while I would love to see the synchronicity in my life around coming into new lines of money or opportunities for financial growth…I just…I can’t. It makes me feel slimy (which maybe that’s just a poor attitude around money).
So…yeah…not my favorite chapter. I will continue struggling against my feelings that money is an antagonist rather than a neutral resource. Yes, my attitude around money needs some work…but that’s more work than will fit in a week.
Next week is all about connection. I already feel better about that than money, so I’m sure next week won’t be as…volatile.
Happy Creating,
Rachel
Subtle Stories 