The Artist's Way ~ Begin Again

Today I started playing catch-up with the AW group. This involved:

• Discovering that the dusty book by my bedside is not The Artist's Way, but another by the same author, Julia Cameron: The Right to Write. This book has many of the same exercises, which is why I was confused.
• Finding a copy of The Artist's Way on my bookshelf, nice and shiny, back unbroken.
• Doing my first (in awhile) morning pages.
• Beginning to explore the other blogs participating in this activity. There are a lot; I decided to start with the A's.

I was going to say something about Natalie Goldberg, but needn't, as A Creative Pilgrimage says it just fine:

When I did morning pages for the first time over a decade ago, I did them on the heels of reading Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones. She promotes a method called "writing practice." When I write morning pages, I follow Julia Cameron's guidelines with the influence of Natalie Goldberg.

This is also true for me, except for me it's closer to twenty years. I've not been practicing this for a long time, and I think it will be useful to do so again. I was a bit worried about so much longhand, but managed my three pages this morning without difficulty.

The second primary activity recommended by Cameron is what she calls an artist date; a weekly date with one's creative self. Marilyn also gave me an idea for this -- she went to a bookstore. As my regular readers know, I don't get out much (though my daily walk with the dogs counts, I think, as an artist date.) We have a lovely local bookstore, Fact & Fiction, and a big Barnes & Noble, neither of which I've visited in a long time. If I can keep my wallet in my pocket, it's an exciting idea.

One of the problems with finding more cool blogs, is that they point to even more cool stuff. I found this at All Things Creative:

This is a very neat idea: 52 weeks, 52 questions, 52 creations, 52 opportunities to think outside the box, make something up, ponder your most outlandish dreams and have some fun. At the beginning of each week for 2006, I will post a downloadable pdf foldable mailer with a new question. Some questions will be silly, some challenging, some straightforward and some completely outrageous. Print the file, cut along the dotted line, create your answer - write it, draw it, collage it, anything goes - and mail it to me!  The host, or creator, or questioner, then posts the entries into a set at Flickr. Here is the first; here is the second.

I am overwhelmed with the amount and quality of personal, creative work I see on these blogs. It is amazing. It is -- lifting. It has wings.

And, silliness.

This via A Mindful Life:

You're a scientific intellectual.

What Sort of Intellectual Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Clearly, perusing this blog list is an artist date. I think I've gone from famine to feast in one day.

Comments

[Cathy]

Have fun!!

[kat]

hehe, yes, you're right, it is much like an artist's date perusing all these creative sites!

[Ken]

And, a delightful feast it is!

[Ken]

Oh, and what about libraries -- cheaper than bookstores, usually.

[linda]

Going to read your posts as I go through my weeks...and just love what you wrote here "As my regular readers know, I don't get out much (though my daily walk with the dogs counts, I think, as an artist date.) " That sounds like me!!! :D