"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron a 12-week adventure designed to help anyone rediscover their creative mojo.
Each chapter mixes motivational essays, fun exercises, and some serious soul-searching tasks aimed at breaking down the barriers we set up against our own creativity.
It’s Basia here and I just wanted to take a moment and share this book and the beginning of my journey through it.
Rachel has completed the book several times and said that each time, she seemed to uncover new depths of herself as well as her creativity that even she didn't know existed. She recommended that I give it a try, and I'm embarking on this journey once again, alongside her.
Especially since moving an hour up North, I was in the thick of change and needed some guidance. I felt stuck with which direction to go, art wise, as well as in other facets of my life.
There are a bunch of tasks, and activities and such which go with each week, but there are two things you need to complete every week, consistently.
ONE:
The first is an artists date. This is a date with yourself, the artist, doing whatever it is you want to do! It can be as simple as going for a walk, to visiting the museum, to making a new art piece... It’s a chance to intentionally treat yourself!
My last date included going to the a small local greenhouse with a gardening store attached to it. I didn’t go with the intention of buying anything; I went with the intention of perusing slowly through the isles and looking at all the flowers, taking photos, getting inspired by all the colours, textures and nature. It’s such a simple thing, yet it made a big impact on my mood and inspired me in many ways… It was also really nice to slow down and literally smell the roses.
TWO:
The second part of this journey includes writing daily. It’s journaling but in a freestyle, nonsense way. More like brain dumping than anything.
I've never considered myself a writer; in fact, writing has always given me anxiety and felt like a chore. Previous attempts at journaling felt forced and were invariably brief. It took long and always came out sounding forced.
Julia Cameron suggests this freestyle way of writing that's all about just letting it out. Now I write quickly and freely, without concern for structure, spelling, or even readability. The purpose is to simply let the words flow, knowing I'll never revisit these pages (I actually burn a lot of the pages I write and my writing is so messy, i can barely read it)! This has proven to be incredibly cathartic and freeing with many many many micro epiphanies about myself, my life and everything around me!
My biggest epiphany so far is about the style of writing itself. Writing in this way allows me to slow my mental chatter to one thought at a time, helping me to process each thought thoroughly instead of letting them all swirl around unexamined (and worst of all, usually repeating). It’s a simple, yet profoundly effective, way to clear the mind, which I never knew I had to do… I really never knew this kind of expression existed and I never really knew I needed it!
If you've ever felt stuck, unsure, or just curious about what your creative mind can do, "The Artist's Way" could be a thrilling experiment for you. It’s not just about becoming an artist—it’s about becoming more yourself. You don’t need to be good at drawing, writing, or anything at all; you just need to be open to exploring what creativity means for you.
Click here to see the book on Amazon. This is an affiliate link; I strongly recommend this book to anyone in search of inspiration, self-reflection, self-exploration and motivation.
Possibly, in time, I will share more about my creations and how my dates go, as well as give insight into my journey with this book.