Tag: creativity

The Artist’s Way: Week Seven Reflections

Recovering a Sense of Connection

Happy Sunday, and happy first weekend of autumn!

I’ve had yet another busy week1, but feel like I did okay with my progress through The Artist’s Way. The theme of the program this week was recovering a sense of connection, which I understood to mean connection with our inner children, the universe, God, or whatever else we consider to be the sources of our creativity. 

In the text, Julia Cameron began by discussing creating as a form of listening. She explained that creatives often feel as though in order to create, they need to “think up” great ideas. On the contrary, however, if they are connected with their creative sources, creating can become as easy as “getting down” ideas that come naturally. She mentioned Michelangelo remarking that sculpting David was merely a matter of “releasing” him from the marble block he found him in.

The idea that creating is a matter of listening is something that I’ve been engaging with since Week One. In Week One of The Artist’s Way, Cameron invited readers to experiment with using creative affirmations. The affirmation I chose at the time (and have stuck with ever since) was, “as I create and listen, I will be led.” I frequently write and re-write the affirmation in my morning pages. To me, it has been a promise that if I put less pressure on myself to make great things, and instead, just focus on putting pen to paper, creating will come more easily. 

Cameron also talked about perfectionism and learning to take creative risks. Perfectionism is something I struggle with. It regularly impedes my writing process, and makes me avoid drawing certain subjects. This said, it’s important for creatives to keep in mind that, “anything worth doing might even be worth doing badly”. Throughout The Artist’s Way, I have been finding that I’m getting better at combating my perfectionism already. I’m regularly trying out new artistic media and I’m learning to be okay with being a beginner. 

One idea that I found interesting in the text is the idea that no piece of art is ever truly “perfect” or even “finished”. There can always be improvements to be made- but, at some point, an artist needs to put down one project so they can move on to another. A writer can be tempted to edit a manuscript forever, but, sooner or later, they need to stop writing and try to have their piece published. Cameron quotes Paul Gardner: “a painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places”.

Finally, Cameron talked about jealousy, and how it can be used as a “map” to locate areas in our lives we are unhappy with and need to work on. She provided a personal example of jealousy in her creative life: she was jealous of female playwrights until she wrote her first play. The jealousy signalled an unrealized aspiration. Cameron challenged readers to think about the people in their own lives that they are jealous of, why they are jealous, and what changes they can make to quell the jealousy.  

Tasks

I didn’t do very well with the tasks this week. Some of the tasks (collaging, for example, or writing out an inspirational phrase in calligraphy) didn’t resonate with me. Others I didn’t find time for. As I said, it was another busy week. 

One of the suggested tasks invited participants to “listen to one side of an album, just for joy”. While I didn’t do exactly this, I did go to a concert- The B-52’s and Devo. I was mostly unfamiliar with the two groups performing: both seemed to hail from the new wave genre of the 1970s and 80s. I went to the concert with an open mind and ended up having a lot of fun, much to my surprise. Every song made me want to dance. I left with some new songs to add to my Spotify playlists and a desire to explore the wider discography of both groups.

Cameron also invited readers to “create one wonderful smell in [their houses]” and “buy [themselves]… one comforting, self-loving something”. I interpreted these tasks in a very consumerist way. I used the scent exercise as an excuse to go to Bath and Body Works, smell all of the fall-scented candles, and buy myself the one I liked best (Pumpkin Bonfire: “white pumpkin, a bundle of clove buds, glowing embers”). I then went to Uniqlo and purchased a wine-coloured cashmere Heattek long-sleeved shirt- a very comforting, self-soothing article of clothing.2

Artist Date

For my artist date, I went to a café, ordered a sandwich and a drink, pulled out my laptop, and drafted a short story. When I say short, I mean short- just under 1200 words. I’d had the idea for the story in my head for a while; it was just a matter of “getting it down”. It’s been months since I’ve tried my hand at fiction-writing, so this was a nice change.

Other Artistic Endeavours

This week, I painted 2 pictures using my new, better quality watercolour paints, and tried out a new recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. With respect to the watercolour paints, I noticed a quality difference right away between the new ones (Winsor & Newton Cotman paints- which are still not professional quality) and the ones I’d been using previously. The new paints are much easier to use. 

I also re-activated my Instagram and created a public account for my art (@LauraaKatherinee). As you might remember, when I began The Artist’s Way, I started a blog because I had deleted most of my traditional social media. I have now been (mostly) off of traditional social media for almost 2 months. While the break has been great, I feel disconnected from the online art community. By starting a public Instagram account, I’m hoping to connect with other creatives on that platform. My plan is to deactivate my “personal” account again, but keep the public Instagram active and limit myself to a certain amount of time on the app per day. If I find myself falling into the same borderline addictive Instagram use as before, I will reassess whether I should stay on the platform.

I’ll talk to you next week!

Laura Kate

  1. I ran my first half-marathon distance, which I’m sure I’ll be talking about at length in a future blog post ↩︎
  2. In the Winter, I wear at least 1 Heattek article of clothing every day ↩︎

The Artist’s Way: Week Six Reflections

Recovering a Sense of Abundance

Happy last day of summer, and welcome to my new website! While I’d been enjoying using Substack to publish this blog, even after about a month and a half of use, I was still finding the platform difficult to navigate. WordPress seemed like a good alternative as I am relatively familiar with the platform- I kept a blog on WordPress for a number of years in my teens and early twenties. I’m still working out some kinks with WordPress, but I’m optimistic that I’ll feel at home again here soon.

On an unrelated note- is it just me, or is anyone else feeling strangely burned out? I’ve been plagued by a persistent sense of exhaustion since about the start of the month, and I haven’t been able to identify the culprit. The fatigue definitely spilled into my experience with The Artist’s Way this week- while I kept up with my morning pages and went on an artist date, I found very little time or energy to create, even though I wanted to. I’m a bit disappointed!

Lessons from the Text

The focus of The Artist’s Way this week was recovering a sense of abundance. Mainly, Julia Cameron asked participants to examine their relationships with money, because money can be a significant contributing factor to creative block.

Many of us carry the belief that being an artist is incompatible with financial stability. We may not see art as a “productive” hobby, and we may feel like we need to prioritize “practical” pursuits over artistic ones in our lives. Cameron writes: “most of us harbour a secret belief that work has to be work and not play, and that anything we really want to do – like write, act, dance- must be considered frivolous”. I certainly agree with this sentiment- as I’ve discussed before, for many years, I prioritized school and my career over art and creative living. Nowadays, I even see myself prioritizing more “productive” hobbies, such as exercise, over making art. This is something I’d like to change. 

Financial stress can also cause artists to get in the habit of denying themselves luxuries (even small ones) in the pursuit of saving money. Cameron gave an interesting example in the text of a woman who loved raspberries but never let herself buy them because they were too expensive. Not all luxuries need to be expensive, or cost anything at all: time spent in creative solitude, for instance, can be a great luxury. Cameron argues that when we allow ourselves to accept small luxuries, we open ourselves up to a greater creative flow overall.

Finally, the text challenged participants to analyze their own thoughts and feelings about money. I reflected on my own influences when it comes to personal finance- from my parents, who were definitely savers, to the pessimistic zillenial sentiment that young people will never be able to afford things like houses no matter how much they save, so they may as well splurge on small luxuries. My personal philosophy about money is a blend of these influences- while I value saving money, I’m also not afraid to spend on “little treats” like takeout coffee a few times a week.

Tasks

The tasks this week were quite interesting. Participants were challenged to go outdoors and collect rocks, leaves or flowers and notice the natural abundance in nature.

Another task asked participants to track their expenses for the full week, assess where they spend their money and evaluate whether their spending habits reflect their values. For this task, I reviewed my spending habits starting from the beginning of September. I found that (apart from “necessary” expenses like rent, insurance and my phone bill) I had spent the most money on clothes. This was very surprising. For the last while, I’ve been wanting to buy myself better quality watercolour paints, but dismissed the purchase as “too expensive”. The financial audit made me wonder why I denied myself the small luxury of better quality paints when I easily just spent 4x the amount I would have spent on paints on a few jackets and a pair of pants. 1

Artist Date

For my artist date this week, I took myself on a nature walk through the Black Creek Parklands. There, I completed one of the tasks for the week and collected leaves. There seems no better time than early autumn to complete this exercise when the leaves are all starting to change colour. Spending time outdoors always makes me appreciate all the natural (and free) beauty and abundance in the world. 

I made sure to bring my camera along to take some photos, and kept my phone turned off to have a truly sensory, distraction-free experience. I paid attention to the chirping of birds, the changing colours of the trees, and the contrasting sensations of the cool, crisp morning air and the warmth of sunlight on my skin.  

I realize that I’ve done similar artist dates for the past three weeks, so, next week, I’d like to challenge myself to change things up. I’m hoping to either visit a museum or experiment with a new artistic medium. 

Until next week, 

Laura Kate

P.S.- I just realized I’m exactly halfway through The Artist’s Way! I feel like the program has been so beneficial already in encouraging me to live a more creative life. Here’s hoping the next six weeks are just as illuminating. 

  1. Spoiler alert- after I drafted this blog post, I DID end up buying myself some better-quality watercolour paints. All in the name of embracing small luxuries, right? ↩︎