š¬ Letās chat about Week 1 of The Artistās Way
On recovering a sense of safety
Welcome to Life after Trauma; Iām Clare Egan. Weāre currently taking part in The Artistās Way, a community exploration of the intersection of creativity and recovery and itās not too late for you to join us!
Donāt worry about doing it āperfectlyā, or having the time to complete every single activity. Our goal is to explore our creativity in a gentle, low commitment way and to show up each week to cheer each other on.
How did you get on this week?
Iāve had a pretty good week. I managed to do my Morning Pages most days (though not Wednesday, when I had to rush to an early meeting).
For my Artistās Date, I planted some seeds. I didnāt have the proper supplies, but I made it work with old egg boxes. I also used expired seeds which I know is risky, but I wanted to see what would happen. I had some initial success (pictured!), but Iām not feeling very optimistic. š¬
Over to youā¦.
How did you get on with your Morning Pages this week? 7/7 is always the goal, but I actually think it takes more commitment to come back to the practice after youāve skipped a day or two (or 6!)
How was your Artist Date? Or maybe you have something planned over the weekend? Remember it doesnāt need to be anything fancy. A simple walk in the park works. Or taking the time to serve your lunch on nice dishware with a cloth napkin. I ate too many meals out of tupperware this week!
Iām also curious about your reflections on chapter 1. Did you have any insights on shadow artistās, core negative beliefs or creative affirmations that youād like to share?
š¬ In the comments, please share your experiences from Week 1. I'll get us started with some reflections on the tasks I completed/skipped this week.
The Artistās Way is a powerful experience, which I want all subscribers to have access to. Sincere thanks to our paid subscribers: your support makes this community possible. If youād like to make this work more sustainable, please consider upgrading your subscription:
If youāre new here, please review our community guidelines before participating too.
I ticked off most of the tasks I outlined in my post on Tuesday.
Saving the basic principles of The Artistās Way as my desktop background was a great idea. They were there to greet me every time I opened my laptop. I probably wonāt see them over the weekend, but I think thatās OK.
I made my Monster Hall of Fame which ended up being quite emotional. I remembered so many mean, critical people especially from childhood! š But it was a useful exercise and Iām glad I did it.
I didnāt make the time to dip into my āNice Things People Have Said About My Writing Fileā. It doesnāt feel like a coincidence that I made time for the difficult task, but didnāt prioritise the nice one so I guess Iāll need to journal my way through that one.
Iāve been writing morning pages since Wednesday and have already experienced how they can spark ideas for my writing so Iām excited to continue.
Iāve done some of the tasks and would like to do more of them. I did list out a few enemies of creative self-worth, but theyāre mostly internal - general ideas/feelings rather than specific people and events. Maybe something will come to me later, but I cannot recall any specific words said or events against creativity. I donāt have many recollections from childhood and beyond, and I feel like I have been my worst enemy (although I can psychologize why that is from my overall childhood experiences). Does anyone else feel similar?
I havenāt made a purposeful artist date yet - maybe I can before the weekend is over. I may take the time to finish a small art project I started over the holidays.