💬 Let’s chat about Week 3 of The Artist’s Way
On recovering a sense of power
Welcome to Life after Trauma; I’m Clare Egan. We’re currently taking part in The Artist’s Way, a community exploration of the intersection of creativity and recovery and it’s not too late for you to join us! Our goal is to explore our creativity in a gentle, low commitment way and to show up each week to cheer each other on. Here’s an overview of our approach if you’d like to learn more!
How did you get on this week?
I’ve had a hard week. I developed an agonising ear infection which ended up needing an antibiotic. As you can see from my journal, I tried to write my Morning Pages through the pain but, I didn’t get very far..
I did get back on track toward the end of the week, but it was a stark reminder that when your body suffers, your creative life often does to.
For my Artist’s Date, I played with Lego. My partner has gotten really into Lego over the last few months, so I decided to try it out too. I really enjoyed the mix of structure and creativity, and am very proud of this little heart-shaped box of chocolates.
Over to you….
How did you get on with your Morning Pages this week? Maybe I’m not the only one who had a difficult week?
How was your Artist Date?
and I were chatting in last week’s comments about prioritising both more cereberal Artist’s Dates with something a little more embodied. Most of my Artist’s Dates have been quite “heady” so I definetly want to prioritise something a little more somatic in the weeks ahead. Maybe a massage? I’m not sure yet.. Now that I’ve solidified the habit of having a weekly Artist Date, I feel able to stretch outside my comfort zone a little. It might also be because I’ve been house-bound all week!💬 What about you? I’d love to hear your reflections. Did you enjoy chapter 3? Are there any insights on anger, serendipity or shame that you’d like to share? I'll get us started in the comments with some reflections on my tasks from this week.
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This was a tough week, but I managed to tick off a few of the tasks I set for myself.
First, the book suggests that I review the habits which “interfere with self-nurturing and cause shame.” I was supposed to list 3 obvious and 3 more subtle rotten habits. I don’t love the word “rotten” because I think there’s often a good reason that our “bad” habits persist. But there are certainly some small, self-defeating habits which would benefit my creativity if I managed to change them. In particular, I’d like to prioritise more deep, focused creative work rather than checking the news six times an hour! Anything that I can scroll or refresh feels like a bad habit TBH.
I made a list of the people who nurture me, which was a fun exercise. It included my partner, Martino (our cat!), close friends, my siblings, and people in this community who show up to cheer me on each week!
I also made a list of people I admire which I won’t share, but I found it fascinating to look at the traits they have in common. I really admire women with a sense of self-ownership/self-possession, who seem embodied and who prioritise feeling good. They don’t delay or postpone joy, but embrace it now! I’d love to embrace those qualities more in my life.
The Lego heart is wonderful. I'm realizing I'm not in the best place to be revisiting The Artist's Way at this moment. Maybe eventually. I loved The Artist's Way, and I do my artist dates all the time. But there's too much pulling my attention now to attend to it in any kind of systematic way. On the brighter side, I am in a very reflective and creative period anyway!