The Artist's Way

I just read a really great book titled "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. It's basically a self-help book to creative recovery and discovery. I was a little skeptical while skimming through the book and noticing many references to "god", but in the forward she notes that she believes creativity comes from some sort of higher energy that one taps into, and whatever we want to call it, be it God, Buddha, the universe, whatever, is fine. I guess the word "god" takes up the least space. The book has many exercises to work and think through and is designed as a 12-week program to unblock one's creativity. The two main features are what she terms "Morning pages" and "The artist date". Morning pages are journalling 3 pages' worth of material every morning. This can take any form- but must be done every day in its entirety, no matter how one is feeling. I think this is supposed to show you that good artistic work can be done in any situation, and that all of the things we write down are crowding our mind between us and our work. The artist date is a 2-3 hour block one sets aside to do something alone to cultivate our "inner artist child" (yes, I was rolling my eyes as well). This can be going to look at paint supplies at an art store, checking out a concert, making a collage out of things you find in the street, going on a walk, etc. The idea is that creativity is childlike, and we need to nurture it as such- finding fresh sources of inspiration, and showing it that we value it by giving it some alone time- not placing everything else as more important.

I've been doing the morning pages for a few days and all of my thinking is so much clearer. I did an artist date as well and I really got a lot out of it. I highly recommend this book not just for artists, but for anyone who is feeling blocked in their work, or looking for new sources of creativity in what they are doing.

D Rusak said:

The two main features are what she terms "Morning pages" and "The artist date". Morning pages are journalling 3 pages' worth of material every morning. This can take any form- but must be done every day in its entirety, no matter how one is feeling. I think this is supposed to show you that good artistic work can be done in any situation, and that all of the things we write down are crowding our mind between us and our work.

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I'm definitely dredging this one up from the depths! I still have yet to read "The Artist's Way" but the morning pages are an exercise that many people use from this book as D Rusak notes. I am reading "The Miracle of Morning Pages: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Most Important Artist's Way Tool" by Julia Cameron. I choose this book to start with because I encountered the Morning Pages exercise a few times in the span of a month after not hearing of the Artist Way. One mention was from my psychologist as a suggestion to begin creating again and another was on an Art of Manliness podcast with Brian Koppelman (writer of 'Rounders' and Showtime's 'Billions) who stated morning pages was the single most important exercise he uses for creative work. I have tried this for a week based on some of the tips in the book and feel less anxious, scattered and more focused!

Dr. Pennebaker's writing exercise, carried onSOTT a while back, has been helpful sorting out issues in the past for myself. The 4 day period thought prevents consistency for me. The exercise has helped even while typing it out however, writing may have been more beneficial. I do think the negative thought loops and other types of programming can be gleaned more through consistent journaling more than when a traumatic or crisis situation arises. As things become more turbulent for everyone, I hope this type of journaling exercise can help to focus our anxieties and fears into a medium that we can then use to explore, learn about and 'debug' ourselves!

I found this book to be incredibly helpful in finding my inner artist (again). I was one of those people that attached herself to 'larger-than-life' artist types, promoting their work, only to be frustrated by having to support them with my non-art-related 9-5.
The part about the need for drinking from the well of inspiration was really helpful.

8 years ago I read this book. I think it was the perfect match between my emotional moment and the encounter with the book. I turned to 100% all the tasks mentioned. My creative side experience was very enriching because my regular activity is totally disconnected from the creative. My greatest discovery was that doing creative activities I much lower anxiety and stress.

AutomatedMan said:

As things become more turbulent for everyone, I hope this type of journaling exercise can help to focus our anxieties and fears into a medium that we can then use to explore, learn about and 'debug' ourselves!

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Yes, here too!

A couple weeks ago I randomly purchased Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way' and 'The Vein of Gold: A Journey to Your Creative Heart' at a used book store out of town, so it's pretty neat to see this particular book discussed here. Had been curious what other forum members views were of the author and her works. My cousin actually pointed out 'The Artist's Way' to me, cause our voice teacher would refer to one of her books in our warm up exercises. He'd have us practice sing saying affirmations from this book (not sure the name of the book). Last lesson I actually did a bit of the sing saying..it still feels kind of silly doing it, but it's effective.

Anyway… I really like what I've read so far of 'The Artist's Way.' Find it inspiring. Plan to start the morning pages (interesting how she also refers to them as 'mourning pages') but I keep pushing back the date to start. Kind of challenging to get up even earlier before work to write when I prefer to sleep in till the last minute. Really worth it though so going to work at it.

I also like how she mentions something to the effect of, how the book is meant for people of all professions..not just for people who consider themselves artists or aspiring artists.

An interesting article about the author and book:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ethical-wisdom/201401/the-artists-way-interview-julia-cameron