Work through The Artist's Way (Julia Cameron)

It’s taking me two weeks to properly get through each chapter – even 3 sometimes but it means I’m doing more of the exercises and thinking things through properly instead of doing each week poorly.

Week 7 took me two weeks, yet I feel I’ve really done well with it. I did exercises 1,2,5,7 and 10. A thoroughly good selection. I loved the collage particularly and have it up in pride of place in my sewing room. I’m looking forward to showing it to Richard this evening.

I’m still loving the morning pages. Love, love, love them. This week again I was a little vague about my artists date. It was either my cycle to Mile End, or Highgate. Possibly both. Both were fabulous and energising, empowering and so much fun. They’re helping to put my strong woman clearly in focus.

Money has been a constant issue this week. So learning about my own strength is wonderful. I feel very alive as I begin this new week.

This week is a ‘reading deprivation’ week according to week 4’s chapter. I didn’t think I read much these days – but I’ve been surprised at how tricky it is not to read anything at all. I’ve extended the deprivation to non-structured TV or Radio as I think I use them as background static just as much, the radio perhaps more.

A long bus journey on Friday became a business planning session and I’ve enjoyed the extra head space a lot. Not creative necessarily but interesting. The author says eventually I’ll run out of things to do and get playing instead. My to-do list however is pretty endless. Still I’ve gained an insight into my use of time and avoidance tactics that alone has been very worthwhile.

I didn’t get to the reading deprivation exercise in the book until Thursday. So I’m officially extending this week till next Sunday. It gives me two weeks to do the exercises and this is a hectic fortnight so that’s very helpful.

I have done my morning pages every day which I’m loving! Surely nothing this enjoyable can be good for me?

Morning pages 7/7
This seemed easy to me – other than keeping my eyes open at 5:30 and focusing on the page. It threw up a few intresting points and was fun to do. Mainly all that vapid writing gave me a chance to focus on creativity and the pursuit of it, first thing in the morning which was really useful.

Artists date – YES but only just.
This was extremely revealing. I found it almost imposible to set time aside for something frivoulous (yes even now I’m using negative words unintentionaly). When I twigged just how I was viewing it I got up at 6:30 on Sunday and made myself get on with it. But the guilt and the excuses were coming thick and fast. For a couple of hours enjoyable relaxing quilting this was more like restling a tiger. It’s obviously something I need to work on over the next 11 weeks quite hard.

All kinds of revalations came from the excersises but I’m going to put those thoughts on LJ locked to my fellow Artists. Have any of you read the section at the back about groups working through the book together – The Sacred Circle?

Perhaps we can all use locked group posts on LJ to share anything we feel comfortable discussing from the course.

xx