The Artist’s Way: Week Two

Week two covers finding your identity when it comes to your creativity. Who are we when we create? What kind of person does it make us? Julia Cameron talks about using affirmations to confirm your creative identity. She also says we can flourish in our creativity when we feel a sense of safety, but if we don’t have that safety net, we can start to feel self-doubt. The self-doubt then can bring on self-sabotage which in turn derails our efforts to find or keep that creative spark. The author also writes about blocked friends who fuel the fires of self-doubt, or “crazymakers” who try to block your creative drive. These so-called “crazy makers” could be someone you have a co-dependent relationship with. These types of relationships create scepticism in yourself, which in turn can also lead to self-doubt and self-sabotage. Another concept the author speaks on is attention - we need to pay attention in order to heal.

Thoughts:

I feel like overall, this chapter doesn’t really apply to me, although I can see a few instances where there is overlap.

Crazymakers: I’ve learned to set boundaries when it comes to my work or creative time. I’ve also learned to schedule time around raising kids. I can work and be creative in the mornings (5am - hello morning pages and good work focus time!) and in the evenings as well. I wouldn’t necessarily call my friends, kids or family crazy makers, but they are huge time and energy suckers. This is simply the way things are at the moment for me, and I’ve learned to accept it. However, I do put boundaries and limits on visits and phone calls during my important work time. I make it known that now is not the time and I’ll have to rescedule. Even though I work from home, I tell people to imagine I’m in an office where they can’t just come on over.

Attention: It’s easy to get involved with the day-to-day grudge and put your head down and just work. We’re so busy crossing off tasks from our list that we forget to be intentional with our day. We can work out - sit in front of a screen on the treadmill and think we’re getting our daily fix of heart rate stimulation. What happened to a good old-fashioned walk; let’s enjoy nature while we get in our daily steps. Let’s tune in to what is, instead of what we have to do next.

For awhile now, I have been thinking about the small things we usually miss: I’m too busy working in the morning from 5-7:30am in the mornings that I miss the bird song at 6am. I want to sit and have more quiet moments - less stress and hustle and bustle. I want to learn how to pay attention even more than I am.

Morning Pages

My experience:

Not only did I still struggle to wake up early all the mornings, I also struggled with morning pages themselves. It’s not that I don’t think they’re worthwhile, because as long as I stick with them, I’m sure there’s some great result to be had. It’s that this week they felt like a chore. Whereas previous weeks, I looked forward to and thoroughly enjoyed the writing process, this week I found very strenuous. All I can do is keep on keeping on and hope it gets easier again.

Artist Date

My experience:

I still did not do an Artist Date this week. I had every intention to do it - I even opened my reverse colouring book out on my desk so I would pay attention to it.

My thoughts:

It seemed every day was a never-ending task list to complete. (Literally) I usually find I have a good grasp on my tasks and task management. I didn’t necessarily feel overwhelmed with my work, just kind of surprised at how the tasks didn't seem to end. For example, I usually make my list the night before. It’s pretty standard, but by the afternoon of the next day, I notice that I keep adding things to do. Not all of the things have to be done this instant, but just seeing the work add up day after day is very defeating - especially when you have no one to help you with it. I found I was still trying to do things right before bed, instead of trying to relax (which is what I would like to do). Then, if I can’t finish something, it gets shoved over to the next day, and then tomorrow’s list is large too.

Tasks

My Experience:

I really enjoyed the tasks this week. I picked eight out of the ten tasks. The last couple were to write down ten small things you want to change (i.e. buy new sheets) and just do one in the current week. I did actually do it, and it feels good, like I was very intentional with my time.

My Thoughts:

I felt like when I was more intentional with my time and picking out things to do for the week (at least in regards to the tasks in The Artist’s Way), I feel like it’s similar to a game of pool. Like when you call a shot and then actually make the shot - it makes you feel like you’re really good at what you’re doing - basically intentionally planning. I also script using the Planner Perfect Method in hopes that as I write out what I want to happen in my day, I’m intentional with it. It makes you pick fewer tasks, because you’re not undermining the amount of time you have in your day. Picking the important things that “gets the needle” moving in the right direction is what’s intentional and what I try to pay attention to.

Conclusion

In writing down my thoughts with Chapter two, I find that I’m still feeling pretty positive with the whole experience. When I don’t do something (like complete a task, or my Artist Date), I don’t get mad at myself. I simply say “ I can (and will) do better next time”. I feel motivation for the new week - I want to write my morning pages and feel good about it, and I want to set intentional goals that mean something to me. That way, when I succeed, it will be so worth it!

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again next week at the end of Week 3!

❤️Sandra