The Artist’s Way: Introductory Week
Good morning! I would like to introduce a new series to my blog: The Artist’s Way. When Jenny Penton from Planner Perfect had first introduced morning pages, she had said it came from a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Now Julia Cameron did not invent the idea of morning pages, but she uses the technique in her system of removing creative blocks so you can be artistic and creative no matter who you are.
This blog is an introduction to my experience with the book (namely the Introduction, the Principles, and the Tools of this course). It is a course in that it is laid out into twelve chapters that are labeled as weeks. (Week one, week two, etc…) The course takes you twelve weeks, or three months, so I would like to detail my experience here as part of my check-in for the course and to share it with you.
I have been watching other youtube’s experience’s with this book (you could simply read the book front to back and call it a day, but I really think you’ll get more out of it if you treat it like the course it’s meant to be). There is the weekly reading of course, but there are tasks to be done.
Two of these tasks are the most important aspect of the process, as Julia Cameron states. They are the morning pages and the Artist’s Dates.
Morning Pages
This is defined as three pages of stream of consciousness long-hand writing in the morning. This means you write out your thoughts as they come to you. If you have nothing to write you simply write “I don’t know what to write” until something comes to you. They are meant to dump the non-consequential thoughts from your brain onto paper so you can forget about them, move on and actually focus on your creative endeavours each morning. You know all that nonsense and jargon floating through your brain - your worry thoughts, thing you should do, project ideas… those ones. Write them down and leave it behind (for now). Julia says the morning pages are the most essential part of this process and should be done every day without fail.
My experience: I started early with this - I started my first morning pages on June 3, 2025 and didn’t actually start the course until July 3, 2025. I wanted to establish the habit before actually beginning the entire thing. I have been struggling, I must say. I can write the three pages, but I don’t always write them in the morning. Sometimes they’re afternoon pages, or even evening pages. I have three kids, so sometimes, instead of taking 45 minutes, it takes me two hours to write.
My Thoughts: From watching other YouTube videos, I picked up on some things that aren’t necessary. First off, Julia Cameron states that there is no wring way to do morning pages. Other YouTubers have stated that it’s not ok to write a lot of negative things, but technically, it should be whatever comes to mind; if it’s negative, so what? Julia says this is to get used to ignoring our inner critic. Who cares - no one else is supposed to read the morning pages after they’ve been written - not even yourself! (I mean, they’re your morning pages, so you can do whatever you want). Julia says the morning pages are like meditation - really, that it is meditation. I tend to agree, as long as the process is completed in solitude. Instead of thinking the thoughts and letting it go, you sit there is silence and write the thoughts and then let them go.
Artist Date
The artist date is a date with yourself, but with the “inner artist” that is within you. It can look like going to Michaels and browsing art supplies, knitting, needlework, taking photos, going for a walk and looking at the beauty that surrounds you, painting, drawing, singing - really, the ideas are endless. This happens weekly and you take about an hour for yourself, by yourself. The process is to help you get in touch with your inner artist and become creative by practicing creativity. One of the examples in the book is going to the dollar store and bring some cheap supplies and making and decorating a card. It’s as simple as that.
My experience: I am currently in Week 1, and have yet to do my artist date. ( I will update you next week with my experience on that). I wanted to do one just for giggles in my introductory week, but I had a lot going on in my personal life at the time.
My thoughts: It’s easy to say “oh, ya, I’ll get to it”. If you don’t schedule this date into your life, it may never happen. At least, that’s how it works for me. The only way to actually do the things is to write it down and say “this is when I’m going to do it, and I’m making time for me!” Commit to it and it will happen. Another thing is that Julia Cameron wrote this book for everyone, not just artists or want-to-be artists. I feel like a lot of it is directed towards people who feel like they don't have a creative bone in their body, and it gives directions on how to remove that feeling. Personally, I am a very creative person - I have been my entire life. I think I kept my child’s perspective on things - that wonderful imagination that children have, that “je na say pa”. (No wonder my younger sister always tells me to grow up!) Most adults lose it because they’re too busy trying to be responsible grown-ups. For example, I feel like I live creatively, I don’t just do creative things. My creativity is in the way I organize my home, my planner stuff, my desk (my pens, markers and brush pens are organized in a rainbow arrangement). The things I do in my everyday life have always been creative (I draw, paint, do counted cross-stitch, crochet, knit, take photographs, sing, write, decorate). I’d have to say I’m the most creative person I know personally. I even think of creative answers to problems (aka: looking outside the box) for solutions that someone else may not think possible. I believe in manifestation which is also a creative endeavour. I believe very strongly that the things we think and say are called into existence as soon as they enter our minds. If this isn't magic, I don’t know what is. It’s creative magic and it’s called into existence by the spiritual electricity that Julia Cameron talks about in the intro of her book.
Conclusion
I am very excited to start this next chapter in my personal development journey. I don’t really feel like I’m blocked creatively, but everyone so far that I’ve watched on YouTube talk about this life changing experience they go through. I want to also experience that - the thrill of learning something new and maybe even breaking through my own limitations to reach even more magical things!
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you at next week’s check-in with Week One!
Sandra
