I’m well into the 12 week course of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Some artists I’ve discussed this book with swear by it and others don’t, suggesting other avenues to rehabilitate the “inner artist”. All I can say is that I think it’s working for me.
Cameron instructs the artist to journal each and every morning for three pages in long hand. Remember using a pen and paper, anyone? Now that every thing is on computer, going back to writing long hand in a book is like a new discovery. She insists these “Morning Pages”, as she calls them, be written without fail and is crucial to the artist’s recovery. I’ve been journaling for a few months before I found this course, so to continue for three pages, well I can do that!
Cameron asks to pay attention to a slight shift in attitude by one and a half pages and I think she’s right. By then I’ve rehashed all the stuff of my day floating around in my brain and really get to the heart of creative thought. As another favorite book, The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace Wattles suggests, thought becomes the thing thought of. The tasks for each week eventually lead the artist to their art.
At least it’s working for me. Today is going to be a day of art, after the errands, farmer’s market, laundry, bed making, vacuuming….
I’ve heard great things about that book. I read The Right to Write by Julia Cameron and got a lot out of it. You’re right, it totally depends on the individual 🙂
The book is great. Trying to do the tasks has been a trial!