Reflections from the Artist’s Way, Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety

This week's tasks were aimed at instilling a sense of security in us while also allowing us to reflect on the support we have in our lives as artists. These are absolutely necessary in order to progress on the path of discovering your creativity.

In Week 1, Julia Cameron spends a lot of time discussing shadow artists. Shadow artists are those who live in the shadow of true artists and are unable to see their own creative potential. They frequently seek shadow careers that serve as a substitute for their creative goals, such as working as an editor or an author's representative, rather than, say, writing. I've been thinking a lot about this in terms of my willingness to pursue a PhD. Are doctoral studies something I truly want or are they a result of my fear of pursuing a career as a writer? Stephen Pressfield in his book Turning Pro. Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work, which I also happened to revisit this week, summed up my reservations perfectly:

Another important practice this week was identifying negative beliefs about our own creativity and replacing them with positive affirmations. We paid special attention to remembering those in our lives who either encouraged or discouraged us from being creative. I suppose I'm lucky in that I remember more folks who praised my abilities than those who chastised me. However, I've come to the bitter realization that I'm often the harshest critic of my own work, and I still have a lot of work to do on this front.

Starting the days from morning pages was effortless. I am used to journaling in the morning, and it always helped me to stay grounded. This week, my morning pages have been filled with hope and gratitude. The fact that I began daily blogging played a significant role in this. The program's launch coincided with the one-year anniversary of my blog. It was then that I realized I wanted to start writing and publishing on a daily basis. I've written more in a week than I had in an entire month previously, and establishing my practice has given me a lot of confidence that I can carry out my creative goals.

For some reason, I picked up a book on writing, Writing Down the Bones. Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg. I believe the universe has been conspiring to get me to read this book right now. What a beautiful book it is, and what an inspiration to treat my writing as it were a matter of life and death from now on. Maybe it's because Cameron's book opens me spiritually, but no other book on the art of writing has had such an impact on me.

I began jotting down ideas for future stories and recording memories in special notebooks. Taking Shaun Levin’s writing course last year inspired me to keep separate notebooks for each of my writing projects. I’ve also gone over previously written materials and organized them in order to take inventory and decide on future writing activities. I grabbed a few unused notebooks and labeled them with the writing projects I want to work on. The notes now have their own dedicated box, which I return to whenever I have an idea, memory, or situation that I want to record. I'm excited to start filling them up! 

Taking walks was strongly encouraged this week. That proved to be the most challenging task. I must admit that I have been struggling with walks lately, and I would not have gone if it hadn't been for my husband, who insists on walks. I'm hoping that as the weather improves, going out will get easier. However, I really enjoyed reading on the balcony yesterday, which was the warmest day of the year so far.

For my artist’s date, I went to a new branch of my public library. I picked up two graphic novels. One of them, Lights, Planets, People! by Molly Naylor and Lizzy Stewart was particularly good. I spent the afternoon reading them with a cup of tea and munching on Koala's March. Next week, I’ll try to be more adventurous instead of going to the library as usual.