The Artist’s Way: A Mother’s Way
Week 0
“Many of us sense we are more creative, but unable to effectively tap that creativity. Our dreams elude us. Our lives feel somewhat flat. Often, we have great ideas, wonderful dreams, but are unable to actualize them for ourselves.” —Julia Cameron
I didn’t discover The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron until venturing into the Substack universe. Since being here, I’ve learned it’s a journey many writers and artists take and swear by. While I don’t readily label myself an artist (more on this later) I felt drawn to the week by week, workbook type format and especially to the overwhelmingly positive experiences people seem to have working through this book. So, I (somewhat impulsivly) bought the book and started reading.
I’ve since decided to embark on the challenges assigned within the Artist’s Way, but there’s a twist—I’m a mom to a 1 year old, I work part-time and I simply don’t have the same 24 hours in a day that I used to. I’m not in a place in my life where I can allow my creative pursuits to be my number one priority. I spent some time wondering if I should just wait until I can fully devote myself to this kind of creative project but then I realized if I did that, I’d probably never do it. So, in the spirit of going for it and giving it our best shot I’m going to proceed and call this experience The Artist’s Way: A Mother’s Way.
Substack has been a really wonderful creative outlet for me, though I’ve struggled to be consistent with posting and therefore consistent with giving my creativity somewhere to go. There are times where I feel creativity and ideas bursting at my seams. But I don’t know how to harness that energy in a meaningful way—so, it eventually peters out. I’m hoping that following the course of the Artist’s Way will help me to make space for, and discover the direction of my creativity.
Also, for the sake of complete transparency, I’ve been working on this post for a few days and have repeatedly thought to myself things like:
No one cares!
You’re not an artist why are you doing this let alone talking about it?
You’re not going to be able to keep up with it—may as well not even start.
I’ve learned that Julia Cameron labels this voice “the censor.” We all have one. I would know both because I’m a person and because I’m a therapist. So, I’m going to do the brave thing and act in spite of my censor. Just to see what might come of it!
Here’s what I’m thinking this will look like:
Morning Pages will be Daily Pages
The Morning Pages: 3 pages of stream of consciousness journaling, hand written, ideally first thing in the morning.
I co-sleep with a 15 month old who wakes up at 6:00am and whose energy goes promptly from 0 to 100. This baby has a zest for life and she’s ready to greet the day the moment her little eyes see the morning. I’m not going to set an alarm for 5:30am just so that I can attempt to sneak out of bed, only to wake my baby up and have to start my day even earlier than I already do. I do, however, love the idea of 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing daily so I will absolutely do my best to complete daily pages at some point every day.
Artist Date — Maybe Solo?
The Artist Date: a weekly date one takes themselves on, solo, to nurture their inner creative and feel inspiration.
I have every intention of going on an Artist Date every week, but I can’t promise it’ll be solo. I may have a toddler in tow—which, let’s be honest, this little girl is a massive source of inspiration. In fact, I think she’s the reason my inner creative has been ignited so intensely in the past year. It’s almost as if, in creating and birthing my daughter, I also gave birth to the creative being living within myself all this time. While nurturing my daughter has felt very intuitive, nurturing my creative self has not come as naturally. I’m hoping these 12 weeks can help me learn how best to take care that part of me.
A few ideas I have in the coming weeks for an Artist Date:
An author event hosted by my local library
Following my toddler around outside as she explores the forest
Checking out a local bookstore I’ve never been to
Taking myself on a solo coffee shop date—using this time to journal and write
Spend an afternoon by the river
Cook or bake something new
Take my film camera out for a photo excursion
A few thoughts before I begin with week 1:
God Talk
I’m not a religious person. The idea of God doesn’t resonate with me, and in fact often makes me cringe or roll my eyes. The Artist’s Way, as the title suggests, is a spiritual guide to creativity. I can get on board with some spiritual exploration and didn’t want a few mentions of God to deter me from reaping the benefits of the book. So, I decided to do what I think many others do which is to replace “God” with “universe” so that I can better relate to the messages within the text.
I hope to check in with a Substack post every few weeks to report on my progress. Yes, this is an accountability tool. I’m not sure what my subsequent posts will look like but I’m imagining it will be a general reflection on my experiences week by week, and a report on how I’m keeping up with things.
I do hope to also keep up with publishing some posts that are gathering dust in my drafts folder as well. So stay tuned!
I hope you’ll join me as I delve into the next 12 weeks. Have you read The Artist’s Way? What was your experience going through the 12-week process? I’d love to know!
I love this!!!! I did the Artist’s Way journey years ago, long before i became a mother and I’ve been yearning to start it again. But now I’m a mom to a two and a half year old. When i do it again i know it will look veryyy different. The Mother’s Way edition is so brilliant. You’ve inspired me to start!!!