My Creativity Needed a Boost
Last week I started participating in Julia Cameron’s 12-week course The Artist’s Way. It might seem odd that I would start such a course at this stage of my writing life. I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, I’ve had short stories and articles published since 2000, and Her Dear & Loving Husband was published in 2011.
I was doing all right, right? I was writing, publishing, and finding success where I could.
I hit the wall of resistance pretty hard, leaving me with bruised extremities and a soft-boiled ego. What happened? You name it, and it was probably right–I was lazy, I was afraid of failing, I was afraid of dreaming too big, and I was tired of battling between what I wanted to write and what I thought I should write.
I’ve always believed that you will find what you need if you open yourself to receive it. On a whim, I pulled Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way off my bookshelf. I bought the book years ago after hearing so many wonderful things about it. I slipped the book onto my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it.
Finally, in search of that creativity boost, I skimmed through the book and realized that The Artist’s Way is a 12-week course that needs to be worked through instead of simply read. I knew I needed to get back in touch with my creativity, so I took the plunge and began following the weekly lessons.
Completing the Weekly Creativity Lessons
For Week One, I completed my morning pages for each of the seven days. If you’re not familiar with Cameron’s morning pages, it’s a journal that you keep every day. The only rule is you have to write at least three pages, but otherwise, you can write whatever you want.
The idea is just to get the thoughts flowing. Natalie Goldberg refers to it as writing practice. I use Goldberg’s idea of using sensory detail and memories and life happenings as fuel for my writing. Here’s a sample from my morning pages from last week:
I have been to this hospital too many times to count. It is as though the hospital itself waves “Hello! Welcome back!” whenever it opens its sliding glass doors to me and I walk from the 115-degree dry desert heat into the cold, stale air of the waiting room. If I think about it, I can count the number of times I have been here: one…two…three…four…five…six…seven…
My mother calls this hospital her home away from home, and it is. The hospital is located at the north end of Tenaya Way, the medical district with doctors’ offices, physical therapists’ offices, blood-draw offices, and MRI offices. There’s also a post office and a pub for those in need of a pick-me-up from waiting in tight-fisted doctors’ offices or hospital waiting rooms where people are packed tighter than pencils in a box.
There is the serenity of the mountains in the distance, but there’s also the freeway just a few feet away, and if you stop and listen you can hear the zoom of the car-chase-type speeds as vehicles zip past, as though the drivers believe they are race-car champions.
I won’t bore you with the rest of it, but you can see that I’ve incorporated Goldberg’s idea of including sensory details as a way of practicing the pinpoint eyesight through which I can observe the world and use in my writing.
I used my art journal for my Week One artist’s date. Here’s one of my art journal pages.
I Pulled Out My Much-Loved Art Journal
I also completed my weekly artist’s date. An artist’s date, according to Cameron, is a weekly chance for us to get in touch with our inner creative person. It’s a chance to do something fun and creative.
I did a page in my art journal for my artist’s date. I discovered art journaling last summer and fell in love with it, and then I didn’t touch my journal for months. It was great fun pulling out my paints and stencils, and I’m sorry I let it go for so long.
The inspiration for the page above came from Mimi Bondi, a French mixed-media artist living in Australia. I love Mimi because she’s all about finger painting, having fun, and creating whatever you want however you want. You can’t do an art journal page wrong, which goes right along with the intention behind the artist’s date. If you’re looking for art journaling inspiration, check Mimi’s YouTube page.
I also answered the questions and completed the tasks at the end of Lesson One. I wrote my responses into my morning pages journal. I took a walk in 115-degree nose-bleed dry desert heat, which is a great commitment, I must say.
The Artist’s Way is a Creativity Wake-Up Call
It’s only been one week, but so far so good. I’m looking forward to the discoveries ahead.
No matter how long you’ve been creative, it’s always good to take time to remember why we love being creative in the first place. I can already tell that The Artist’s Way is going to be my creativity wake-up call.
Whether you’re new to creative pursuits or you’ve been at it for a while, as I have, I believe you’ll find Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way an important and eye-opening experience.