đŸ’¬ Let’s chat about Week 5 of The Artist’s Way
On recovering a sense of possibility
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?
This was a better week. I’ve felt burnout nibbling at my heels over the last while, but I think I’ve turned it around. This week, I accepted my limitations, prioritised taking care of myself and sought out small moments of presence and joy. My Artist’s Date was a mindful nature walk and while it wasn’t a particularly exciting activity, it helped me feel more grounded and connected to myself than I have in a long time. I noticed the leaves beginning to unfurl from their buds, and soaked up the bright, Spring light.
My Morning Pages were much shorter this week, but I still managed to write something on 5 out of 7 days. I skipped them on Tuesday morning because I had to finalise this week’s post. This rarely happens, but when it does I think it’s OK to give myself a break.
Over to you….
There were lots of challenges in last week’s thread, so I’m hoping that life has improved for those of us navigating difficult moments. Remember: you don’t need to do The Artist’s Way perfectly in order to be part of this. Even if you’ve had no time or headspace for this week’s activities, you’re still very welcome to share your experiences in the comments.
đŸ’¬ Did you enjoy chapter 5? Are there any insights from your experience that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear how your relationship with Morning Pages and Artist’s Dates are evolving as we progress through the book too.
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Thanks so much for being here. It’s an honour to be in community with you đŸ’•
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I'm late to this, but wanted to share my experience of Week 5..
I’m grateful to have had a good week, and enjoyed the tasks I completed though (as usual), I didn’t get to everything.
During my Morning Pages, I asked myself what payoff I was getting from remaining stuck in my creativity. To be honest, I didn’t uncover anything groundbreaking. I circled the same themes - not having enough time to be creative, dealing with the negative voices inside my head, feeling lost in my work. It was helpful to tease it out, but I have the sense that there’s much deeper ground to explore here.
I found it quite emotional to make a list of the ways I’m mean to myself. It brought me close to tears to see all the ways I criticise, belittle and undermine myself, without really noticing that I’m doing it. In particular, I saw how often I ignore my artist child and expect her to thrive without giving her any nurturance or attention. It was one of the most useful tasks I’ve done throughout the whole process so far.
I also made a list of the things I’d like to own, but don’t. Surprisingly, the only thing on this list was a quiet space where I could be creative. I don’t want any more stuff, I just want time and space for deep creative play.
I just learned about The Artist's Way and this chat but I am excited to be part of it in the future. My last few months have been really difficult ever since I was admitted into a hospital with anorexia after starving myself for months. My illness has been very secretive, both before I told my parent's the truth about my eating behaviors, and now, because I'm hiding my reality from friends, teachers and extended family members. But last week, something changed. I became tired of the secrets and lies, but more so, I didn't want to hide my story anymore. I have been struggling for the past few weeks to release my emotions using a healthy mechanism, but a week ago, I created my own Substack calling "Swimming Through Molasses" to form a community to bond over life's hardships and to provide a place for me to write about my difficulties. Swimming through molasses is how I like to describe my current movement. It's slow and frustratingly sluggish, but each step I take, I'm one step closer to freedom. Journaling and writing has been my savior as a way to release my emotions, and I am excited to join this discussion and complete The Artist's Way next week!