I’ve finally finished The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. It was a 12-week intensive to unblocking creativity by uncovering the deeper sources of resistance.
Since its first publication, The Artist’s Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert, Tim Ferriss, and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron’s novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery.
The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors.
A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist’s Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.
I went into this book thinking it would be a step by step to get me writing again. What I got instead was a deep dive into my own psyche and a few rude awakenings to how I’m holding myself back.
I didn’t have my life dramatically shift in the past 12 weeks, but I have found my own mentality around creativity, and my life in general, has started to change. In the beginning of the book Julia tells stories of how unblocking creativity has caused some of her students to launch themselves into success, but she never says how long this takes. I’m now thinking that this book/course was more of a launching point for further thought. There were no concrete steps to propel readers into action, but there are a few key activities that would certainly make us consider it.
Morning Pages
Morning Pages are a daily stream of consciousness morning writing practice. At it’s simplest, it’s daily journaling for three pages straight. I don’t think I hit every day during any of the weeks. However, I found this was one of the most helpful pieces for me. As a writer, I think through putting words on a page and then reviewing them to see if it aligns with what I’m actually thinking. I’ve never been a big journaler. This is mostly because I fear somebody reading my writing without my permission. This, as it turns out, can also be a big block for my fictional writing as well.
Sometimes I have ideas, but I simply don’t write them because “what would people think?” In fiction, the characters aren’t me. They come from different backgrounds and have different lines of thinking. Even if I have certain similarities with them, they’re never a identical reflection of me. Moreso they are a catalyst for me to think through things that have never or will never happen to me. However, there are some things I just don’t write about because they hit too close to home.
I did my best in the past 12 weeks to write what I’m thinking and use the pages to work through some things. I’ve found it is RIDICULOUSLY helpful for me. No, I don’t write them everyday, but I do try to get a couple times a week in to reflect on the bigger things on my mind.
Journaling…who knew.
Artist Dates
I don’t think I went on any solo artist dates. However, I have started taking Lagree classes solo again. My fiancé and I have been getting out more and doing new things, trying new restaurants, getting our coffee dates in, exploring new garden centers.
I think these would be extremely beneficial for me. It’s easy to get super comfortable going places with a buddy. It feels safe. But, it can also limit what my inner creative child gets to do. (Not by much since said partner is very supportive of being silly and doing things for the fun of it). I still need to remember how to have fun by myself. As a kid who spent a lot of time by themselves, or worrying about looking silly, I think I’ve gotten really comfortable with the idea that it can’t be THAT silly if my loved one is coming with.
I’m going to try to get Artist Dates in where I can. Even if it’s turning errands more fun.
The Tasks
Most of the tasks in the book are basically journal prompts. This worked really well for me because I love to write, but I could see how other artists might feel they are more of a burden. I did learn a TON through these prompts though.
A lot of what Julia has you look at involves internal hang-ups. Did you have a parent who wasn’t supportive of your art? Was your schooling harsh on creativity and forced you toward a different path? Did you feel especially judged by your peers for your art? Things of that nature. If you’re not ready to take a very deep look at your own mind and especially your past….you won’t have a fun time.
For me, these 12 weeks also lined up with starting therapy for my anxiety. The things that these prompts brought up were almost directly tied to my anxiety. Luckily, I was able to talk through a lot of them with a professional therapist. So, when the prompts dug up an uncomfortable truths, I had somebody I could speak with about these without fearing judgement. The fact that my therapist was also able to give me direct tools to help was a clear bonus (and the whole point of therapy).
I think that’s what I was missing with this book. Julia’s tasks and prompts dig up a whole lot of grief but she can’t give you the direct tools to help. The prompts are undeniably helpful, but her only big suggestion is to treat yourself gently and give yourself grace and “give it up to God” as the saying goes.
The Book’s Limits
It’s not called “A spiritual path to higher creativity” for nothing. Julia does not shy away from acknowledging that a belief in a higher power is what helps her get through her own creative blocks. She encourages readers to find their own definition of God. When you’re coming to the program with a hefty dose of Catholic Guilt and general disillusionment, it can cause a bit of a flinch whenever she uses the “give it up to God” mentality.
Now, I am still a very “spiritual” person. I believe in a higher power. It’s just that my knee jerk reaction is the Catholic version (the one filled with contradictions). I won’t go into those issues here, but just know that I still believe in a higher power that I prefer to call “the universe” and keep in my mind as the mystical power I can never fully understand. “The universe works in mysterious ways.”
I did like that Julia constantly reminds us that the universe works with us…just not always in the ways we want or plan. I heard someone the other day say that when you manifest something, right before it comes to you your life looks like it’s falling apart. You want to start a business, you suddenly lose your stable job. You want a new car, you get in an accident that totals the one you have. You wish you could work from home more, suddenly there’s a global pandemic and you are forced to stay home.
There’s another phrase “be careful what you wish for” that comes to mind here. Often, the things we want and ask for come to us in ways we either don’t expect or are the least convenient. Why is that? Julia would say that it is the final test. Would you still want this thing even if it accompanies the worst things? Can you take the good with the bad? Will you work through these terrible circumstances to achieve your goals? Seems unfair, but it’s usually how it works.
Julia would say that even if we don’t take the opportunity then, it will come back around in a different way if we still want it. When one door closes, the universe opens a window. If we’re always looking for doors, we might not see the window. Sometimes what we think we want doesn’t actually align with our goals. Don’t get so focused on one way of living that you forget to live your own life.
The Benefits
Like I mentioned previously, I did these 12 weeks at the same time as therapy…so take my breakthroughs with that in mind. A lot of the good these past weeks has come from having another outside entity to discuss my thoughts as they came up. However, this book at the same time allowed me to dig a little deeper.
I love books that make you think about yourself…that sounds very self-centered, but hear me out. A lot of times we go through life comparing ourselves to other people. It’s very easy to go through life based on what society tells you is important – money, beauty, sex, vices, possessions, fast-paced lifestyles, workaholism. But what do you ACTUALLY value? What ACTUALLY makes you happy?
When faced with a creative block, we first have to figure out where it came from before we can work through it. It’s usually fear and usually based on something from our childhood. Our creativity is a child. Our love for art and creating usually starts when we’re young and is slowly whittled away by school, society, relationships, etc. To reconnect with it, we must first reconnect with our childhood self.
Creativity is meant to be play. It’s tempting to assume we know how, but what we consider play when we’re older is probably not the same as what filled our childhood self with joy. The childhood filled with chalk on the driveway and bike rides around the neighborhood and mixing “potions” in the backyard and chasing the dog around the house and writing fan fictions and going to midnight releases and movie nights and playing sims together for hours and stickers and ice cream and art classes and crafty summer camps and playing pretend at recess and passing notebooks full of stories during lunch and car rides belting out songs and truly being yourself while hanging out with friends who make you laugh so hard it sets off your asthma. That’s the childhood I remember and that’s the kind of creativity I crave.
What Next?
I need to re-establish play in my creative routine. Writing should feel more like a play date than a chore. I want to publish my books. First, I need to finish those books. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of “should” versus “want to.” Or in my case…need to versus want to.
So, I’m starting my journey to find the fun in writing again. I have already started by writing whatever I want. Working on the project that’s stuck in my brain when I sit down seems to be a good start. I want to re-establish a report with my child-like creativity. That yes, editing is going to feel like work, but we get to do this fun thing while we work on it. I just…haven’t found that fun thing yet.
Some ideas I’ve had:
- Playlists
- Moodboards
- Candles
- Tarot cards
- Art commissions of characters
- Group writing nights
- Book club for friend writing projects
- Sharing writing logs for each writing session
Small things to tap into those same things I loved as a kid. None of these are groundbreaking, and they have worked for me in the past. I think I’ve just lost touch with what I loved about writing. Those nights when I could write 3500 words in a sitting because I was obsessed with getting the story down to show to my friends.
The other piece is dealing with my fears—the fear of being strapped for cash, the fear of abandonment, the fear of being judged, the fear of never achieving my goals, the fear of being successful but then being overwhelmed, and so many more.
I have very strong anxiety that tends to get worse depending on the time of the month. During the hard weeks, those fears catch up to me. During my strong weeks, I feel as if the only thing holding me back is me and I can’t believe I haven’t done certain things sooner. It’s so strange to live in a mind that swings so drastically between being fully capable of anything I put my mind to and recoiling from the thought of putting in effort because “what’s the use?” all because of hormones. I’m on the path to stability…it’s just not an overnight thing.
I’m going to keep doing the morning pages, and I’m going to try to get in more solo artist dates. All of this in the hopes that I can reconnect with my child-like creativity and get my projects out in the world.
I want to be an author. I want you all to read what I write. I want to embrace a more creative life. I want to create.
Rachel
Subtle Stories 