The Artist's Way

A friend of mine was reading this book recently, and as soon as I saw the title, I knew I had to see what it was all about. It’s called The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I’m always looking for ways to be more creative, so I immediately picked up a copy. 

I’m not even finished with it yet, but I already love the book. I love it because the author believes we are all creative, and we are all artists. We just have to learn how to harness that creativity and the artist inside each of us.

In the book, Cameron takes readers through a series of exercises that are designed to help you find creativity within yourself. I’ve already added two of these exercises to my weekly routine, and I’ve found them to be so helpful that I want to share them with you.

The first is an exercise called “morning pages.” The idea is that every single day when you wake up, you write down three pages of your thoughts—just whatever is on your mind. It can be in a journal, in a random notebook, on a computer, whatever. You don’t need to stick with a certain topic or theme; you can literally write, “Hi. It’s Monday, and I don’t know what to say. I am sitting in my chair working on my morning pages. I’m really stuck. I’m not sure what’s on my mind today.” The act of writing these morning pages is supposed to help you get past the thoughts, emotions, or negative self-talk (“I’m not good at this,” “Why am I even trying? etc.) that might be blocking you.

Since I’ve been doing my morning pages, I’ve found that I’m having an easier time working on book #2. If I’m stuck on something, doubting myself, or feeling overwhelmed, I write about it, and I’ve found that just getting those thoughts out on paper helps me approach the rest of my day with better focus and clarity. My morning pages have become like a form of meditation for me, where I clear away whatever is on my mind.

It’s interesting to see where my morning pages go. Many times, it’s about what I have going on that day, who I want to be, and how I want to show up. In my last few morning pages, I’ve written about the day ahead and who I’ll be interacting with, and it’s helped me to be more intentional with those interactions.

What would it look like if you started a morning pages exercise? What if you started every day by writing down three pages of your thoughts? I highly encourage you to try it and see if it improves your focus and clarity like it has for me.

The other exercise from the book that I’ve started doing once a week is what the author calls the “artist’s date.” It’s a solo “date” where you take yourself out to do something fun that might inspire you. It could be going to a museum, seeing a movie, going to a thrift shop . . .  It could even be bringing a box of crayons outside and coloring. It’s just something that involves only you where you do whatever activity you’re drawn to. Cameron says that the more you go on these artist’s dates, the more you fuel that artist inside of you. As long as you keep up the practice, you will have a funnel of inspiration and creativity available to you.

For my dates, I like to go to coffee shops and read books or go for walks and look at nature. Sometimes, I sit on benches and just look at what’s around me. I love going to movies by myself or going on adventures in unfamiliar parts of town where I just start walking, not knowing where exactly I’ll end up. I just go with the flow and see what I discover. I also love going out to meals by myself and watching how everyone at the restaurant works together and functions as a team.

My biggest takeaway from the book so far is that we can each be our own sources of inspiration and creativity. Just like anything else, creativity takes practice. The more we exercise our creative muscles, the more creative we’ll become.

Let me know if you try either of these exercises! I would love to hear what they inspire for you.

Big hugs,

Kristen