The Artist’s Way, Week One: Recovering a Sense of Safety
Welcome to my 12-week series on The Artists Way, a workbook meant to inspire greater creativity in the lives of its readers. This is about the sixth time I’ve started this series, and I never made it past week four, I’m hoping that publishing about the experience on this blog, it’ll hold me more accountable to follow through with the whole journey.
Shout out to my Aunt Loreena, whom I originally stole the book from when I was housesitting for her in 2018. Also, check out my friend Catherine’s blog posts about her Year of Creativity, she’s got really useful printables and inspiring insights everyone could utilize.
Basic Tools:
Morning Pages: A crucial exercise in completing this journey is writing Morning Pages, these are three pages of short-hand writing done first thing in the morning, every single morning. I cannot emphasize enough how much Cameron stresses the importance of this activity. It feels weird at first, especially if you’re not used to journaling. If you really hit a block and don’t know what to write, Cameron suggests writing “I don’t know what to write” until your mind starts flowing again. These pages are not meant to serve any purpose or to be re-read again, they are just supposed to be a steady stream of consciousness written out on the page.
I used to be a very diligent journaler, I would record all my thoughts, feelings, dreams, and interactions in messy scribbles every day. This practice did wonders for my mental health as I could get all my anxious thoughts out of my head and onto the page. Sometime during university, while drowning in a sea of research papers and required readings, I stopped writing in my journal. I’m excited to push through the initial awkwardness to build this muscle again.
Artist Dates: Another non-negotiable exercise in this journey is taking yourself on Artist Dates, these are solo outings to fuel your creativity and should be done weekly. Cameron emphasizes going on these dates alone in order to spend quality time with your “Inner Artist.”
What you do on these dates is completely up to you, the key is engaging in activities that bring you joy and inspiration to fill your artist reservoir. Some ideas for Artist Dates are: writing or sketching at a local coffee shop or library; going on a nature walk at a local park; visiting an art gallery or museum; taking a creative class like cooking or pottery; taking yourself out to brunch at a fancy little bistro; wandering the aisles of a local nursery to admire the different plants; going on a strenuous hike up a mountain; or attending a live music performance.
“Audacity, not talent, makes an artist”
Identifying and Challenging Your Core Negative Beliefs
The main point Cameron touches on in Chapter One is identifying what your core negative beliefs are about being an artist and how you can counter these with positive affirmations.
To identify some of these beliefs, try starting with a positive affirmation about your artistry. I repeated out loud and in print the phrase: “I, Andrea, am a brilliant prolific writer.” Perhaps your phrase might be something like, “I am a successful, creative artist with the power to accomplish my dreams.”
As you write and/or repeat this phrase to yourself, notice the negative thoughts that start popping up in your head. For me, I thought straight away about money and education. My core negative beliefs were that I would never make a decent living as a writer, I’d always be broke and hustling, and I don’t have the right education or degree to get a good job as a writer.
Once you’ve identified these blockages, try to identify the source of where they first originated in your life. What or who are the enemies of your creative self-worth? Then, come up with affirmations that nurture and cherish your Inner Artist. These are the affirmations I repeated to myself to counter my negative beliefs:
“I, Andrea, will make a great living as a writer, enough to provide for myself and my family’s needs; money and opportunities flow easily into my life.”
“I, Andrea, have enough skills and abilities to land the writing gigs of my dreams.”
Cameron points out the irony in how easily negative self-talk comes to us, but how embarrassing it feels to simply say nice things to ourselves. It may seem weird or hokey to do at first, but just saying simple affirmations like, “I deserve fair pay”, and “I am allowed to nurture my creativity” get easier over time.
Tasks
At the end of every chapter, Cameron lists several ways we can take action on this week’s lesson, we are meant to just choose a couple that speak to us and complete them throughout the week. These are the ones I chose to engage in:
“Time Travel: List three old champions of your creative self-worth. This is your hall of champions, those who wish you and your creativity well. Be specific. Every encouraging word counts. Even if you disbelieve a compliment, record it. It may very well be true.”
“Imaginary Lives: If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? Whatever occurs to you, just jot it down. Do not overthink this exercise. The point of these lives is to have fun in them – more fun than you might be having in this one. Look over your list, and select one. Then do it this week.”
For example, I’ve always dreamed of running off and joining a circus, so maybe I learn some circus arts this week, like juggling or hula hooping.
Thanks for tuning in! Come back next week for Week Two!
