Have any of you heard of that book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron? It covers a 12 week course designed to completely turn your creative life around by listening to that inner artist’s voice we usually kicked to the curb years ago in order to get through surviving in today’s society. You don’t have to be an artist to partake in this 12 week long course because everyone has that creative voice inside themselves, whether it be through public speaking, writing, making that winning sales pitch, or whatever it may be to enhance your creativity. Some people have called it life changing. Some have come away with a solid foundation of a new creative direction. Some became more confident to pursue what they always wanted to do. However, I’m sure many attempted to start this course, but may have never made it past the first week because life got in the way.
At least that was my case about five years ago when I first bought the book in 2019. I had high hopes that I would get through the 12 week long course, but abruptly abandoned this pursuit over feeling overwhelmed by the daily mundane work-life balance that took over my day. I deprioritized taking time for myself to complete the daily tasks which included the daily morning pages which is a 30 minute commitment. I never took myself on a weekly artist date. I never got past the first chapter. I wasn’t willing to prioritize myself and put in the work at the time, at least not with this book specifically.
That’s one of the key takeaways from this 12 week course: you need to prioritize yourself for just for a little chunk of time per day.
In 2024, I decided to give The Artist’s Way 12 week course a go again, but this time I decided to do it alongside a small group and offered to host weekly check-ins. I figure it’s a win-win: we can all keep each other accountable to complete the course while working on ourselves. I created worksheets of sample artist dates, the contract, and detailed instructions. I would host a once-a-week call to go over key takeaways from the prior week’s tasks. At least that’s what I’m hoping. Twelve weeks feels so far away.
However, week 1 is already complete! Eleven more to go. Last night, I hosted our first check in call. We all had an engaging half hour discussion that covered our experiences with the morning pages, artist dates, key points from the chapters, and what we’re looking forward to in future weeks. I was worried about hosting because I figured that I would freeze up several times and the conversation would fall flat, but I found that not to be the case at all. Everyone had a chance to raise a point and overall the conversation was very engaging and comfortable. I think part of the success leads to the group size: there are four of us total, myself, my mom, sister, and a friend. The familiar group was also an easy way for me to feel comfortable right away to ease myself into hosting. Before the discussion, I wrote an outline of key items from the previous chapter to discuss along with a flow in how I wanted to structure the meeting. I don’t think it even has to be that complicated. Something along the lines of: how did everyone’s week go?-can be good enough to start a discussion once you throw in your experience. The important thing to remember with hosting these groups is that we are all equal—the host is also in the course and sharing the same experiences.
So how did week 1 leave me feeling? I’d say fairly good and grateful I made it through the first week. That’s more than I did five years ago. Honestly, I didn’t get that trigger of enlightenment some have claimed to feel after a few days’ worth of writing morning pages. For a bit of background, morning pages is the name of the daily task you do first thing in the morning. You must write (by hand!) THREE pages (1.5 sheets, front-to-back) of just stream of consciousness writing. If you’re absolutely blocked, you can just write “I have no idea what to write” every line like Bart Simpson in detention until you fill the pages. Just make sure you fill the pages. I never had a problem figuring out what to write, maybe a few times where I would write “not sure what I have for you today” but then sure enough, my mind jumps to a bunch of random garbage thoughts, so I decided to scribble those down. This is intended as a way to “clean up” your mind to give you a clear head to be creative that day. The first couple of morning pages were grueling. My hand hurt and I was looking forward to that last bit of white space on the third page. By the third day, I was surprised to find that my hand scribbled along the page fast without feeling like a sack of weights was on top. Does that mean I will be able to read these pages later? Good luck to my future self with that.
The artist date is a once-a-week commitment to yourself to explore something new and/or take time for yourself to do an activity that’s out of your daily routine. It can be as simple as browsing a new thrift store or using some art supplies may be collecting dust under the bed. I decided to a solo hike in a park that was a few blocks away. Usually when I go on walks, it’s mostly to give my dog Hannah exercise and not me. I no longer take her to the hiking trail because the trails can be bit narrow and hard to navigate around several other hikers and possible loose dogs (Hannah turns into an excitable Price is Right contestant when she’s around too many dogs). Sadly it’s been years since I’ve been to that park, so I decided to make that my artist date. I took about an hour long walk without listening to music or podcasts, just walked in silence to myself and took extra care to notice my surroundings and really appreciate it. I even found a little mouse buddy enjoying some snacks on the edge of the trail. I enjoyed taking the time to get some fresh air and escape being inside all day. As I’m writing this, I actually want to go back there now, a true sign of a successful artist date!
With week 1 successfully down, let’s see what week 2 has in store!