The Artist's Way

First of all, I'm seeing a glimmer at the end of the "sucky improv" tunnel. Maybe articulating the problems made them start to go away. Not gone yet, but a little better. The extra practice certainly isn't hurting either! And there are ups and downs with Grandma and other family things, but I'm learning to roll with the tide. I like surfing metaphors lately. Maybe I should learn to surf someday.

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity is a book with tools for strengthening or regaining one's artistic side. It seems to me a little more directed toward writers - it's by a writer - but it's a worthy resource for any type of artist, or anyone who wants to live an artistically richer life. It's set up as a twelve-week program, of the personal development type, and in fact draws some principles from addiction recovery. It's heavy on the introspection.

There are a couple of non-negotiable structured activities involved: daily Morning Pages and weekly Artist Dates. The Morning Pages are three longhand pages of writing, preferably stream-of-consciousness, as soon as you wake up in the morning. Every morning. For three months. I didn't hit a perfect record either of the two times I've attempted the course. An Artist Date is when you take yourself to do something that gives you a new reference, knowledge, mental stimulation, all of the above. Going to a museum or concert, sketching in a coffee shop, picking wildflowers.

Oh, yes, the author is sort of a hippie without a grasp on the fact that people have to have jobs and earn a living. But she's an employed hippie, with tons of writing credits and a bunch of books published. She does expect you to be willing to give up everything you know to fulfill your destiny as a creative force in the Universe. "Leap, and the net will appear," is how she puts it. That's an important principle throughout the course. At any rate, whether the whole course suits you, or you just half-ass it and read the quotes in the margins, there is something to it. Even half-assed, it helps shake you out of a drought.

Sometime in the near future, I'm going to open up the book and try the course again. I might make it through this time. If not, no harm done. A few years ago, I started the course at the same time as a group of friends, and we met weekly (or as weekly as a bunch of artsy people can meet) to discuss it. If anyone I know is interested in doing the course as a small group, please get in touch. Here's more information:

Official Website: http://www.theartistsway.com/
View available copies at Biblio.com Used Books