You may have seen me chatting on social about The Artist's Way, a book written 30 years ago by Julia Cameron and subtitled, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. My friend April Mann and I are leading a cohort of creative people through this powerful book in my lovely space at Flourish Ayurveda Center.
We gather there on Tuesday evenings, put our phones in the basket if we want to (everyone wants to) and spend time discussing the path we are walking together to unleash our creative flow. Tomorrow is our third gathering and I dare say we are all looking forward to it. Of course life lifes and there hasn't been one week when everyone has actually made it in person, but there is comfort in knowing that we are walking this path together with friends.
Last week the question came up whether it is too late to join and the answer the group decided together was that it is not. So if you are a bit curious about what we are up to drop a note and I'll let you know more and how you might join if you are feeling so called.
The Basic Tools
Julia Cameron gives us two basic tools for unlocking our creativity - morning pages and artist's dates. There is so much more in the book that leads us toward creative freedom, but these two practices are the foundation on which all that work is built.
Morning Pages
Morning pages are three pages of stream of consciousness writing you write every morning, ideally before doing anything else.
This week I'm pairing my morning pages with the Flourish Ayurveda Fall Cleanse so instead of coffee, warm water with lemon accompanied my writing. (I'm on coffee now obvi.) I woke up earlier than normal without the alarm, in the time when the veil is thin if you know what I mean, and eagerly made my way to my creative desk. I joyfully spent an uninterrupted hour there writing and then poring over some favorite books that I regularly consult during my morning pages time.
I started writing the morning pages 3 years ago this fall when I entered a big transition of motherhood as our firstborn left home for school far away. I've been writing them ever since and credit them with much progress in my life. It's in the morning pages you start to see your own patterns and become more conscious about how you want to allow them to unfold.
Artist's Dates
Artist's dates are a weekly commitment to your inner artist to do something that interests you. They don't have to be complicated or costly - in fact they are best when kept simple.
For example last week (ok and all the time) I was feeling called to be by water and the Ohio River is my closest opportunity. I took myself to the swings at Smale Park. It was a grey day but still beautiful to be there, feeling a hint of fall in the air as the Cincinnati Parks ground crew tended to the beauty of the park.
As I approached the swings I was thrilled to see the most monarch butterflies I've noticed this year feeding on the flowers. I found a swing and sat down and took some deep breaths. I put my airpods in and checked out John Coltrane's Meditations having just seen a page in Patti Smith's Book of Days about it. It wasn't for me so I switched gears to Chet Baker, jazz that's more my vibe and read Chapter 2 of The Artist's Way.
I spent an hour alone on that swing reading, sometimes looking up to notice the passers by and the others near me enjoying the same kind of time to themselves. When I got up to leave I found I had been nearby a beautiful patch of marigolds, one of my favorite flowers, with more monarchs flitting about.
Leaving the park there was yet another treat - a kaleidoscope planter that I hadn't noticed upon entry but now got to enjoy with some guys who were appreciating it. As I left the park to pick up my kiddo from school I was so content, renewed with the time to myself and my inner artist. The next day my morning pages flowed like they haven't in some time.