Clare, once again your thoughtful analysis of your process and generosity towards yourself and us as artists came through in this great distillation of Chapter 10. I too was put off by God coming up in the first sentence. This is a really hard week for me to engage with the Artist’s Way and our joint experience as I am down for the count with a nasty cold, headaches and sinus congestion and coughing and the works, so haven’t even opened my morning pages in days. I read Chap 10, however, and the exercises looked intriguing. Like you, my workaholism is more or less a thing of the past. I strive for high quality in any writing I do but don’t push myself the way I did earlier in my career (the hard-earned wisdom of a woman in her mid-60s😀). I don’t really have any other negative habits that are blocks in the way she suggests. Fame is interesting; I don’t seek it on the best sellerdom level (but wouldn’t reject it 😀). I write to connect my human heart with other human hearts. That’s all. The quantity of hearts, I’ve come to realize, matters less than the authenticity of those connections. That is why writing my Substack newsletter and engaging with so many heart-led writers here has been the most rewarding writing experience of my life. My artist self has really blossomed here, something I reflected on in my essay this week on the subject of solitude. So perhaps beneath the surface these weeks of taking in Cameron’s words and being in conversation with all of you has released blocks without really being aware of it. Like you, Clare, I’m even writing poem-ish things for the first time in my life. Anyway, you have inspired me to dip into the exercises this week if I feel well enough. Thanks for the encouragement 💗
I hope you're feeling better Amy. It's miserable to be sick 💕 I hope you've been able to give your body the rest and care it needs.
I love what you say about writing being about finding authentic connections with other human hearts. That's what I love about my work too. It's less about the external metrics of success, and more about the depth of that intimacy.
Best of luck with your poem-ish things, when you're feeling up to it. I haven't had the brainspace for poems this week, but fingers crossed I'll find some before the end of this process.
I forgot to say, thank you for the generous opportunity to share our experiences and to feature our Substacks in your roundup in June and yes, I'd love to join the call on June 8,
I am way behind, while still doing the morning pages just about every day, and the artist's date, I have fallen behind on the weekly inquiries and exercises. But I will do my best to join the call on the 8th, I have really enjoyed the calls and would love to be featured-I want to write one TAW related/inspired post for each of my two Substacks before June 13th, so it would be great to be featured here and have people see the connection. Thank you again Clare, for creating this space.
It'd be lovely to have you share a little of your experience, Liza. I look forward to receiving it. Glad to hear that you're still doing your Morning Pages and Artist's Dates - they are the foundational practices of The Artist's Way in my opinion, and far more important than reading the chapters or completing the tasks. Please don't be too hard on yourself if your participation doesn't look the way you think it should. I'm grateful that you're still here, sharing your experiences and connecting with your inner artist. 💕
I haven't opened TAW in weeks and I wasn't at the previous zoom calls so it would be weird if I showed up, but know that I'll be cheering you from the sidelines (the internet). And if/when you do TAW again, I'll probably try to do it again.
I did have, maybe, a few creative breakthroughs -- not sure how much of that can really be attributed to Julia Cameron, but certainly being in community with creative people didn't hurt.
Thank you Albe. This process wouldn't have been the same without you, and I'm so glad that you've continued to show up (even if you're not technically "doing" The Artist's Way, whatever that means!)
If you'd like to contribute a little something for the round up post, I'd love to receive it. There are no "qualifications" to entry, so if it interests you and you have the time to write a little something, I hope you'll consider yourself strongly encouraged to do so!
And yay for creative breakthroughs! Delighted to hear that, and would love to hear more if you're open to sharing. 💕
Clare, once again your thoughtful analysis of your process and generosity towards yourself and us as artists came through in this great distillation of Chapter 10. I too was put off by God coming up in the first sentence. This is a really hard week for me to engage with the Artist’s Way and our joint experience as I am down for the count with a nasty cold, headaches and sinus congestion and coughing and the works, so haven’t even opened my morning pages in days. I read Chap 10, however, and the exercises looked intriguing. Like you, my workaholism is more or less a thing of the past. I strive for high quality in any writing I do but don’t push myself the way I did earlier in my career (the hard-earned wisdom of a woman in her mid-60s😀). I don’t really have any other negative habits that are blocks in the way she suggests. Fame is interesting; I don’t seek it on the best sellerdom level (but wouldn’t reject it 😀). I write to connect my human heart with other human hearts. That’s all. The quantity of hearts, I’ve come to realize, matters less than the authenticity of those connections. That is why writing my Substack newsletter and engaging with so many heart-led writers here has been the most rewarding writing experience of my life. My artist self has really blossomed here, something I reflected on in my essay this week on the subject of solitude. So perhaps beneath the surface these weeks of taking in Cameron’s words and being in conversation with all of you has released blocks without really being aware of it. Like you, Clare, I’m even writing poem-ish things for the first time in my life. Anyway, you have inspired me to dip into the exercises this week if I feel well enough. Thanks for the encouragement 💗
I hope you're feeling better Amy. It's miserable to be sick 💕 I hope you've been able to give your body the rest and care it needs.
I love what you say about writing being about finding authentic connections with other human hearts. That's what I love about my work too. It's less about the external metrics of success, and more about the depth of that intimacy.
Best of luck with your poem-ish things, when you're feeling up to it. I haven't had the brainspace for poems this week, but fingers crossed I'll find some before the end of this process.
I forgot to say, thank you for the generous opportunity to share our experiences and to feature our Substacks in your roundup in June and yes, I'd love to join the call on June 8,
Would love to include some of your reflections Amy, and look forward to seeing you on June 8th 💕
Clare, your writing is so brave! I am so glad you shared your "poem-ish thing." Glad to be here with you. We will keep showing up together!
Thank you Jeannie. Honoured to be in community with you 💕
Likewise, friend!
💕💕
I am way behind, while still doing the morning pages just about every day, and the artist's date, I have fallen behind on the weekly inquiries and exercises. But I will do my best to join the call on the 8th, I have really enjoyed the calls and would love to be featured-I want to write one TAW related/inspired post for each of my two Substacks before June 13th, so it would be great to be featured here and have people see the connection. Thank you again Clare, for creating this space.
It'd be lovely to have you share a little of your experience, Liza. I look forward to receiving it. Glad to hear that you're still doing your Morning Pages and Artist's Dates - they are the foundational practices of The Artist's Way in my opinion, and far more important than reading the chapters or completing the tasks. Please don't be too hard on yourself if your participation doesn't look the way you think it should. I'm grateful that you're still here, sharing your experiences and connecting with your inner artist. 💕
I haven't opened TAW in weeks and I wasn't at the previous zoom calls so it would be weird if I showed up, but know that I'll be cheering you from the sidelines (the internet). And if/when you do TAW again, I'll probably try to do it again.
I did have, maybe, a few creative breakthroughs -- not sure how much of that can really be attributed to Julia Cameron, but certainly being in community with creative people didn't hurt.
You rock, Clare!
Thank you Albe. This process wouldn't have been the same without you, and I'm so glad that you've continued to show up (even if you're not technically "doing" The Artist's Way, whatever that means!)
If you'd like to contribute a little something for the round up post, I'd love to receive it. There are no "qualifications" to entry, so if it interests you and you have the time to write a little something, I hope you'll consider yourself strongly encouraged to do so!
And yay for creative breakthroughs! Delighted to hear that, and would love to hear more if you're open to sharing. 💕
Every group needs a jester :)
I appreciate the offer to contribute, and I'll give it a think and I see if I have anything actually meaningful to contribute.
Sounds good, Albe. If you feel inspired to share something, please do but there's no pressure either way 💕