I did move on to week 6 this week. It’s not that I did terribly well at week 5 after spending nearly a month on it. I never did do my artist date. Those continue to be a challenge for me. I also went through a rebellious stage where my morning pages weren’t done for 3 days during a 4 day stretch. I did complete some of the assignments though, and with the morning pages I did do, I consider that a passing grade. 2 months ago

I was going along fairly well until Week 5. This will be my third week trying to do more in Week 5 than write morning pages. I have a major life-changing event happening in a couple weeks. I will be quitting my regular day job of ten years to start freelance writing. There are so many things I need to do that my Artist’s Way assignments and artist dates have taken a way-back burner. If there was ever a time when creativity is important though, it’s now. So I will make this week my week to complete Week 5 and move forward. 2 months ago

I just attended the first meeting of our Artist’s Way group and it was great. I think the group is going to be a good fit for me. Looking forward to becoming more creativity and productive with this eclectic group of artists. 2 months ago

I’m excited at the invites accepted :) although if it just occurred to me if this is emailing you every time I write an entry and this is my third, then I’m sorry?

But I’m glad you’re here? the low-demand, low-pressure ‘team’ effort/environment helps me with a little nudge of motivation, and a reminder to keep going with this goal.

so thank you all :) 2 months ago

Most of that was reading the chapter and getting an idea in my head of what was going on. Did most of the actual writing it asked for at end of chapter in one sitting.

So I got through most of the tasks and did morning pages on half to most days of the week. I would say I half-did artist dates in half hour to hour segments, but maybe not as organized and designated as suggested in the book?

I have to note: I know the point of this is to nurture and recover creativity and creating a sense of safety, but on that count I also don’t like to extensively dwell too much on the past. I feel I’ve already done that so much, in written form especially, and lately I’m not so much in the mood for that as getting through a stuck moment on the present.

Although, the key to that could be writing about the past some more? I don’t know. But I do know I glossed past some of the tasks on past enemies or whatnot… I did them but briefly. I don’t think I’m being scared as much as impatient, or just a bit tired of exploring certain things at present moment. This could of course change later, or tomorrow.

So on to ‘week two’ ... try for it in two weeks this time instead of three :D 2 months ago

So yes, I have noticed, unless I finish my pages in the AM, they don’t seem to get done. EVEN if they have been started, they don’t usually get finished once that magic noon has passed and AM is gone for another half day.

So here I am. Doing them. Are they the very first thing getting done today? Or any day? No. Because I don’t want my dog to eat me for breakfast. Or be driven to howl in my face after patiently waiting for an hour (or longer) for my butt to get out of bed to walk her.

Note to self: another goal for working on that morning routine. But step one is just about always: 1. fall out of bed, make self publicly palatable. next steps: 2. walk dog 3. the rest of life now follows.

What that has to do with the Artist’s Way and morning pages? Something. Fitting in the pages. Or making life fit around the pages. In the AM.

And I’m just sticking to use 750words.com. I am recently a patron (donate $4 a month) and the site is about to go to pay-only anyway, so… it’s been the most successful in the past. I like paper journals and writing too, but have had trouble maintaining one I can find again.

And I like to think of a page as ‘250 words’ ... because it is stable and countable. An actual written page of mine? Could be 8 words, depending on if I’m shouting or lazy. 2 months ago

I don’t think I made any progress, in fact. Well, it’s a new month, and I’ll begin again tomorrow on week 5. 2 months ago

Wrote my morning pages today. They’re taking me a long time to write, but I’m really enjoying the process. 2 months ago

So many things going on during last week that I haven’t payed any attention to the “Artist Way” and since I was behind with the course, I think the best is to restart now in week two. 2 months ago

I started writing morning pages again today! It felt good to get some words down on the page. They won’t always be three full pages of writing, nor will they be written in the morning, but I don’t think it makes a difference. I have to be very careful to schedule an hour each day to write. 3 months ago

I really should be a couple of weeks ahead of where I am now, but I took last week off since I was going on a four day vacation and knew I wouldn’t do the morning pages while I was gone. I’m just beginning week five. 3 months ago

So I do actually like writing morning pages by hand and all the freeform and doodling that can be involved but problem one and two: it takes forever and yes my hand cramps pretty quickly. Both of these things would get better with time and practice, however…

using 750words.com or simply using the notepad application is just waaaay faster, and after handwriting a page or two, feels pretty darn smooth.

if this is my biggest conflict today, that makes this a lucky day. 3 months ago

The past couple weeks have been trying for me, and it has nothing to do with this goal, but it has affected the goal. I am glad to report I have done Morning Pages every single day. I am sad to report I have yet to go on an Artist Date.

When I saw that assignment, I thought, “That won’t be hard at all.” It’s not just that I’ve been sick or busy, which I have been, but that I am simply not making the time to do it. I decided if one plan falls through, I need a backup plan. One of my planned dates didn’t happen because one of our vehicles died and had to go in the shop. Being a one-car family prohibited me from doing what I wanted, so I did nothing instead. One of my goals today will be to make a list of Artist Dates I can do, so I have a fallback if something gets in my way again.

Coincidentally, today will be my first Artist Date. I found it appropriate I would have my first date with myself on Valentine’s Day. 3 months ago

So I did receive the book in the mail about a week or two ago, and I’ve been reading and then processing the sections even before the week 1 chapter starts. It’s been little bits & pieces of reading here and there, and I’m having a harder and slower time than usual really making progress through to the end of the Week 1 chapter (really, it’s a bit strange, not sure what’s up with that)

BUT I’m finding it enjoyable and interesting, but I think I’m still in a sort of prep-stage before properly getting down to work. The rest of life has been being, well, life, so I’m on a fairly slow pace right now.

It occurs to me that I could modify the course to work on week 1 over the course of a two week period instead. Not sure of the ramifications of that, but that sort of modification for my speed level (lack thereof) may be the thing to keep me from being frustrated and giving up entirely. We shall see. I mean, I am at a particularly stressful point at the moment, so I don’t see the cause to add stress on top for something that is supposed to nurture creativity… so might have to alter some of the timing, BUT SAVE QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE :D so… yeah. 3 months ago

Yay! A girl I know is putting together an Artist’s Way group. It looks like the day and time will work for me, so I’m eagerly anticipating the first meeting. I think she will be a great facilitator. I’ve started and stopped TAW a few times now. It would be great to have a group to see us all the way through the 12 week program. Excited! 3 months ago

Maybe it’s sad that I find this so exciting, but I do. I might have gotten a little more accomplished, but it, also, really messed up my sleep. I couldn’t find anything to do at night, so I just went to bed early. While I did get more sleep overall, I, also, woke up really early, which made me more and more tired over the course of the day. I did, however, complete a vision board for myself, and I don’t think I would have done that without the extra time. It was, also, good that I allowed myself another week to complete some of the exercises. I missed one day of morning pages, did all the reading and 3 exercises, and took myself on a date to the Jewish Film festival’s showing of Paris-Manhattan. I’d been wanting to see some of the films in this festival, but I never seem to find out about the festival until it’s over. 3 months ago

I’m holding myself back a week. Firstly, I missed 3 days of morning pages this week again, and I feel I should have some consequences. Secondly, I want to do some more of the end-of chapter tasks for this week. The main reason, though, is that this week was supposed to be a week of reading deprivation, and I didn’t find out about it until midway through the week because I hadn’t read ahead. I’ve had time to prepare for this week without reading, but I have a lot of anxiety because I do use reading to block a lot of things, and I read A LOT. I think it will be good for me, and in an effort to comply and get the most benefit, I won’t post or visit this site for the next week beginning tomorrow. 3 months ago

I’ve had the 10th anniversary edition of this book since 2004. I completed the contract that first time, and it has a date of 10 March 2004. I never completed the book. Seeing sue820 working on this inspired me to dig the book out and try again. 3 months ago

Progress fair. I missed 3 days of the morning pages, did the reading and 3 exercises, and had my date with myself. I dislike the morning pages and can never seem to remember to do them. Nonetheless, I am committed to completing this. It’s only 12 weeks. This is just about the time I tend to slack, but I’ll just keep pushing through it. 4 months ago

Went to Bulloch Hall, thus completing one of my 43things goals that was about 2 years old. The weather was absolutely breathtaking, the home was gorgeous, and I ate lunch at a tea house that I have passed by many times and wondered about. It’s always been closed. One time, I even stopped, but the hours are just 11:00-3:00. The tea and food were both wonderful, and the people watching was good. The entire room where I was had only women in it. 4 months ago

I made excellent progress this week. I did the reading, 3 exercises, wrote the morning pages every day, and had my date with myself. The morning pages have been difficult to keep up with. I’m still not doing them first thing- just don’t think about them at all until some later point in the day. If I wasn’t keeping close tabs on them as part of this goal, they would have fallen by the wayside after the first two days. So far, it seems I’m just writing one long TO DO list, which is definitely not what I wanted from this. I’m very hopeful that it will morph into something else. One day, it was more of a gratitude list, and I’d be happy if it turns into that instead. 4 months ago