And yes, I think the rigidity of the process is offputting for a lot of people. 12 weeks is a huge commitment, and we all have busy live. I'm hoping this experience will feel a little more creatively sustainable. I can't wait to get started!
I'm really glad to be here. And my apologies for arriving late.
Having been asked many times if I'd ever 'done' The Artist's Way, I think I began to answer the question with a question - should I?
I imagine my curiosity has gotten the better of me or maybe it's simply time.
Really, though, I think the true instigator was Clare's substack, Life after Trauma, that made me feel as if this was a safe place to undertake The Artist's Way and to do it with others.
And thank you, Clare, for that.
Someone in my women's group was talking about relationship behaviours/patterns that we learn growing up/family etc and subsequently bring into other areas of lives. It's been helpful (and painful and enlightening) to look at this within my own practices, writing and otherwise.
There's a lot in the first chapter. And my thoughts kept reverting to Blake.
Followed by Keats
Followed by the holiness of the heart's affections.
And I suddenly felt very contrary - the thought of 'morning pages' etc turned to is this some kind manufacturing to I can't possibly be this impossibly grumpy - what a tangle.
I think someone else wrote that they too do variations on the morning pages, as do I, as I've always done -but I'd like to stretch and find more space, and it's another reason why I'd like to explore The
Artist's Way. I can't really explain why I felt cynical about 'morning pages', but having commenced, I'm grateful of and for the air they've brought.
The date business.
Janey. Maybe I should be little less of eyes to the ceiling on this one.
I am having a hard time with this, I'll have to give a bit more thought.
Or maybe a little less thought and do it. I'm not sure.
I think it might be a bit like the morning pages, I'll have to get over myself & see what happens,
Maybe if I think of the internal breeze from the morning pages, surely the date can't be rained on? Hmmm... I'll come on the date front.
You're so welcome Michelle 💕 I'm really glad you're here, and will be a part of this Artist's Way adventure!
Morning Pages have also provoked much grumpiness in me over the years! It feels similar to exercise in how much I sometimes resent it, despite knowing how useful it is for me.
I'm glad that you're adapting the rigidity of the process to make it work for you. To me, that's a great example of self-care which will hopefully make it more sustainable for you over the long-term. In this space, we're not that interested in the rules someone else makes. Instead, our focus is on finding a rhythm that works for us in this moment of our lives.
As for Artist Dates, I think you can adapt them so they work for you. Pick something you already enjoy and spend 30 minutes doing it. That's all it takes. You might hate it, or you might love it, but I think it'd be interesting to give it a shot!
Please do keep us posted on how you get on too 💕
I always fail The Morning Pages (( I'm not a morning person at all and it just scares me off to write 3 pages - an obligation I mean. But. I need to unblock myself and to get back to my writing, so I'm giving it a try (I completed the course two times). This time though I won't get fixated on The Morning Pages obligation, I'll approach this in a relaxed way: a sentence or a paragraph a day and in the afternoon.
Feel free to do The Morning Pages at another time of day if that works better for you, Victoria. Julia Cameron recommends the morning to help sort through the brain's daily gunk but if you're more of a night owl, perhaps they could be an evening ritual for you? Or a lunchtime checkin? I know of lots of folks who just can't make the mornings work, and I think it's absolutely fine to adapt the program so it works for you.
I'm looking forward to exploring this process with you! Thanks for being here 💕
I love THE ARTIST'S WAY and have read it twice. Most recently last year, and I think I ended the twelve weeks in the fall. The second time around I purchased the accompanying journal, where I diligently wrote my three morning pages a day.
I still do that, but I have struggled to maintain the weekly "artist's date." I think I've only done that a handful of times. I'm not sure why. Maybe I don't consciously attribute my alone time as my artist's date, I don't know. But it's something to think about, and when I did the book the second time, I did think how lovely it would be to go through it as part of a community. So I am glad you are offering that!
If you're open to it, I'd love for you to weigh in on your experiences throughout the coming months. Even if you're not doing it at the same time as us, I bet you've got a lot of wisdom and insights to share and I'd really love to read them!
I hear you on The Artist's Dates - I struggled with them too. For me, I think it was something about the flexibility of the process. Having to choose something new each week and find the time for it made it trickier to prioritise. But hopefully, I'll have more artist dates this time around!
I loved seeing this show up in my email, because I just found a copy of The Artist’s Way in my nearest Little Free Library! Can’t wait to take this journey.
I just found this group - disappointed to be late to start, but glad to find this supportive, adaptive, inexpensive approach. I have been trying to do this on my own, but would love to be in a group that is practical about life and its obstacles (I have chronic illness, so a lot of life is surrender to what is). Even your words about adapting the morning pages a bit have been a relief. The perfectionist in me is still very noisy, and I need to do this with radical imperfection or it won’t happen.
I did do the pages and an artist’s date yesterday. It felt good.
Thank you for this space. I am curious to see what will develop. 💖🌺🦋
Welcome Kai. We're thrilled to have you. Lots of folks are jumping in later in the process, so I hope you'll feel very welcome. The earlier posts are there in the archive if you'd like to dip into them too!
I really want this experience to feel accesible and adaptable for everyone who's interested in it. This is a space where we strive to keep showing up, even if things aren't going perfectly. Many people in this community are managing illness or injury, and surrender is a theme that's come up a lot too.
We're having our next virtual gathering on Sunday. Let me know if you'd like to join and I'll forward to meeting details. 💕
I'm so glad to hear that Jessica. We all need to pause or deprioritise things sometimes. Life happens! But what matters is that we find our way back to the things that matter to us. Maybe you stopped this process in the past, but you also returned to it and I think that's something to be proud of 💕
I "failed" the first three times I attempted The Artist's Way, though I don't really consider it to be a failure. I wasn't ready, but the chapters I read and activities I completed were still incredibly worthwhile.
This is wonderful! I love The Artist's Way and first encountered it and worked through it many years ago. This feels like the right time to revisit it and I look forward to joining you!
Amazing! I just commented on your Note asking if you were going to take part and now I see that you're on board. Hooray! I'm delighted that you'll be part of this adventure Kimberley. 💕
I hope you enjoyed your first week of The Artist's Way. It's a mindset shift, isn't it? Look forward to hearing your reflections when we start next week. 💕
I've been eyeballing the copy on my bedside table recently. The last time I tried to get through it, I didn't make it all the way. Maybe this is a sign to get back into it with some cool people alongside me! 🤔
I'd love for you to join us Kaitlyn. I didn't complete The Artist's Way, until I did it in community with other people. That was the key for me. As well as being a little more gentle with myself. I was being too hard on myself and it extinguished all the joy and play from the experience.
Anyway, we'd love to welcome you if it feels right for you! 💕
This is really inspiring, Clare! Being gentle with myself was definitely how I made it as far as I did, but I think the community piece will get me to the end.
It's been many years since I did the Artist's Way, but I think I have been yearning for it without realizing it until now. I used to create all the time but have only gone through periodically artful times since becoming a parent. In more recent years I've discovered that I could make art with less time and space. Now in burnout, I am often waiting for inspiration that never comes, but I keep trying to remind myself that the inspiration will find me if I just open the door! I also know that I could really lean into a community about it right now too...so voilà , here is the answer to all that! Thank you Clare!!
Thanks for sharing this. It was interesting to read how your creativity and creative work has ebbed and flowed over the years. That's been the same for me. Sometimes, I've got capacity for it. And other times, I just.... don't.
It'd be great to welcome you to some of our Artist Way conversations if you'd like to join us. Folks are very welcome to dip in and out however serves them best, so consider it an open invitation 💕 🙃
Hi, I'd love to join. I recently bought the book, I did morning pages for several years, but that was probably 6-7 years ago and I never followed through all the steps. I want to start again, to help me recover after a difficult breakup, and I need outer accountability.
I love how gentle your approach is. The rigidity is what always put me off. I hope to be able to join parts of this.
Amazing. It'd be great to have you Leigh 💕
And yes, I think the rigidity of the process is offputting for a lot of people. 12 weeks is a huge commitment, and we all have busy live. I'm hoping this experience will feel a little more creatively sustainable. I can't wait to get started!
I'm really glad to be here. And my apologies for arriving late.
Having been asked many times if I'd ever 'done' The Artist's Way, I think I began to answer the question with a question - should I?
I imagine my curiosity has gotten the better of me or maybe it's simply time.
Really, though, I think the true instigator was Clare's substack, Life after Trauma, that made me feel as if this was a safe place to undertake The Artist's Way and to do it with others.
And thank you, Clare, for that.
Someone in my women's group was talking about relationship behaviours/patterns that we learn growing up/family etc and subsequently bring into other areas of lives. It's been helpful (and painful and enlightening) to look at this within my own practices, writing and otherwise.
There's a lot in the first chapter. And my thoughts kept reverting to Blake.
Followed by Keats
Followed by the holiness of the heart's affections.
And I suddenly felt very contrary - the thought of 'morning pages' etc turned to is this some kind manufacturing to I can't possibly be this impossibly grumpy - what a tangle.
I think someone else wrote that they too do variations on the morning pages, as do I, as I've always done -but I'd like to stretch and find more space, and it's another reason why I'd like to explore The
Artist's Way. I can't really explain why I felt cynical about 'morning pages', but having commenced, I'm grateful of and for the air they've brought.
The date business.
Janey. Maybe I should be little less of eyes to the ceiling on this one.
I am having a hard time with this, I'll have to give a bit more thought.
Or maybe a little less thought and do it. I'm not sure.
I think it might be a bit like the morning pages, I'll have to get over myself & see what happens,
Maybe if I think of the internal breeze from the morning pages, surely the date can't be rained on? Hmmm... I'll come on the date front.
I'm glad to be here, and looking forward
Goodnesses in meantime,
Michelle
You're so welcome Michelle 💕 I'm really glad you're here, and will be a part of this Artist's Way adventure!
Morning Pages have also provoked much grumpiness in me over the years! It feels similar to exercise in how much I sometimes resent it, despite knowing how useful it is for me.
I'm glad that you're adapting the rigidity of the process to make it work for you. To me, that's a great example of self-care which will hopefully make it more sustainable for you over the long-term. In this space, we're not that interested in the rules someone else makes. Instead, our focus is on finding a rhythm that works for us in this moment of our lives.
As for Artist Dates, I think you can adapt them so they work for you. Pick something you already enjoy and spend 30 minutes doing it. That's all it takes. You might hate it, or you might love it, but I think it'd be interesting to give it a shot!
Please do keep us posted on how you get on too 💕
I always fail The Morning Pages (( I'm not a morning person at all and it just scares me off to write 3 pages - an obligation I mean. But. I need to unblock myself and to get back to my writing, so I'm giving it a try (I completed the course two times). This time though I won't get fixated on The Morning Pages obligation, I'll approach this in a relaxed way: a sentence or a paragraph a day and in the afternoon.
Good luck everyone!
Feel free to do The Morning Pages at another time of day if that works better for you, Victoria. Julia Cameron recommends the morning to help sort through the brain's daily gunk but if you're more of a night owl, perhaps they could be an evening ritual for you? Or a lunchtime checkin? I know of lots of folks who just can't make the mornings work, and I think it's absolutely fine to adapt the program so it works for you.
I'm looking forward to exploring this process with you! Thanks for being here 💕
Clare,
I love THE ARTIST'S WAY and have read it twice. Most recently last year, and I think I ended the twelve weeks in the fall. The second time around I purchased the accompanying journal, where I diligently wrote my three morning pages a day.
I still do that, but I have struggled to maintain the weekly "artist's date." I think I've only done that a handful of times. I'm not sure why. Maybe I don't consciously attribute my alone time as my artist's date, I don't know. But it's something to think about, and when I did the book the second time, I did think how lovely it would be to go through it as part of a community. So I am glad you are offering that!
Thank you so much Jeannie. 💕
If you're open to it, I'd love for you to weigh in on your experiences throughout the coming months. Even if you're not doing it at the same time as us, I bet you've got a lot of wisdom and insights to share and I'd really love to read them!
I hear you on The Artist's Dates - I struggled with them too. For me, I think it was something about the flexibility of the process. Having to choose something new each week and find the time for it made it trickier to prioritise. But hopefully, I'll have more artist dates this time around!
I’d be happy to weigh in, Clare! I keep up with your essays in my inbox, so I’m sure I’ll have a comment to share. :)
Amazing! I'm excited that you'll be part of this Jeannie 💕
Happy to participate, Clare!
I loved seeing this show up in my email, because I just found a copy of The Artist’s Way in my nearest Little Free Library! Can’t wait to take this journey.
It's a sign!
I'm so delighted that you're going to be part of this Lizzy! I can't wait to get started, and see what we might uncover 💕
I just found this group - disappointed to be late to start, but glad to find this supportive, adaptive, inexpensive approach. I have been trying to do this on my own, but would love to be in a group that is practical about life and its obstacles (I have chronic illness, so a lot of life is surrender to what is). Even your words about adapting the morning pages a bit have been a relief. The perfectionist in me is still very noisy, and I need to do this with radical imperfection or it won’t happen.
I did do the pages and an artist’s date yesterday. It felt good.
Thank you for this space. I am curious to see what will develop. 💖🌺🦋
Welcome Kai. We're thrilled to have you. Lots of folks are jumping in later in the process, so I hope you'll feel very welcome. The earlier posts are there in the archive if you'd like to dip into them too!
I really want this experience to feel accesible and adaptable for everyone who's interested in it. This is a space where we strive to keep showing up, even if things aren't going perfectly. Many people in this community are managing illness or injury, and surrender is a theme that's come up a lot too.
We're having our next virtual gathering on Sunday. Let me know if you'd like to join and I'll forward to meeting details. 💕
Thank you, Clare! Yes, please do share the meeting details.
Will do Kai! Hope to see you at one of our gatherings someday 💕
I too have started and stopped twice and have been beating myself up a lil for stopped again this year. This is revitalizing me
I'm so glad to hear that Jessica. We all need to pause or deprioritise things sometimes. Life happens! But what matters is that we find our way back to the things that matter to us. Maybe you stopped this process in the past, but you also returned to it and I think that's something to be proud of 💕
Just read chapter 1
Tasks completed
What an eye and mind opener
Can’t decide if I want to do morning pages in a journal or loose leaf and put in an envelope when done
Better make up my mind fast on that one.
Way to go, Jewel! I'm so glad you found it useful. My post about chapter 1 will go out tomorrow too 💕
I started a year ago but didn’t manage to finish. Really looking forward to this opportunity
Amazing Jewel! I'm so delighted to have you 💕
I "failed" the first three times I attempted The Artist's Way, though I don't really consider it to be a failure. I wasn't ready, but the chapters I read and activities I completed were still incredibly worthwhile.
This is wonderful! I love The Artist's Way and first encountered it and worked through it many years ago. This feels like the right time to revisit it and I look forward to joining you!
Amazing! I just commented on your Note asking if you were going to take part and now I see that you're on board. Hooray! I'm delighted that you'll be part of this adventure Kimberley. 💕
I’m in. I only made it to week 9 last time and I think I lost steam because it was a solo endeavor.
I love the loose parameters that you are implementing in your invitation.
I look forward to this.
Amazing! Welcome aboard Allison. I'm so glad you'll be joining us 💕
(Also, I just signed up to your newsletter and am looking forward to reading more from you.)
Thanks, Clare! Likewise! I look forward to getting to know you and your work, too!
💕 💕
I just finished week one! But I'd still love to be in the group even if I'm slightly ahead. I was hoping to connect with folks doing the Artist's Way!
We'd love to have you Devon! Welcome aboard.
I hope you enjoyed your first week of The Artist's Way. It's a mindset shift, isn't it? Look forward to hearing your reflections when we start next week. 💕
I've been eyeballing the copy on my bedside table recently. The last time I tried to get through it, I didn't make it all the way. Maybe this is a sign to get back into it with some cool people alongside me! 🤔
I'd love for you to join us Kaitlyn. I didn't complete The Artist's Way, until I did it in community with other people. That was the key for me. As well as being a little more gentle with myself. I was being too hard on myself and it extinguished all the joy and play from the experience.
Anyway, we'd love to welcome you if it feels right for you! 💕
This is really inspiring, Clare! Being gentle with myself was definitely how I made it as far as I did, but I think the community piece will get me to the end.
Thank you 🫶
💕💕 Thanks Kaitlyn. Hopefully we can continue this conversation through The Artist's Way - I'm so excited to get started!
It's been many years since I did the Artist's Way, but I think I have been yearning for it without realizing it until now. I used to create all the time but have only gone through periodically artful times since becoming a parent. In more recent years I've discovered that I could make art with less time and space. Now in burnout, I am often waiting for inspiration that never comes, but I keep trying to remind myself that the inspiration will find me if I just open the door! I also know that I could really lean into a community about it right now too...so voilà , here is the answer to all that! Thank you Clare!!
Thanks for sharing this. It was interesting to read how your creativity and creative work has ebbed and flowed over the years. That's been the same for me. Sometimes, I've got capacity for it. And other times, I just.... don't.
It'd be great to welcome you to some of our Artist Way conversations if you'd like to join us. Folks are very welcome to dip in and out however serves them best, so consider it an open invitation 💕 🙃
Hi, I'd love to join. I recently bought the book, I did morning pages for several years, but that was probably 6-7 years ago and I never followed through all the steps. I want to start again, to help me recover after a difficult breakup, and I need outer accountability.
I'd love for you to join us, Liza. Can't wait to get started 💕
I am so keen for this!
Hooray! Welcome aboard Val. Can't wait to get started 💕