The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron

I've been surprised to find how many people have NOT heard of this book / method / journey. I lived in California on Venice Beach when I first heard of and bought the book. It may actually have been a therapist from Colorado who recommended it... not sure, doesn't matter, it was a lot of years ago when I first heard of it.

I never managed to finish the process... it's a guide to a 12 week journey to uncover, unshackle, discover, find, remember, your inner creative being or child. No surprise I never finished it - but I did find it again... an amazing God Wink type experience at the Barnes and Noble recently.

How to access that elusive internal creative genius is the purpose of the journey, for me anyhow. One of the primary access points for this journey is writing and something she calls "morning pages"... 3 pages both sides, written, long hand each day. There are no rules about what to write and no one will ever read these pages. It's basically an intense venting discovery process that happens as you force yourself  or allow yourself to pour out stream of consciousness on paper. Now I've known the value of writing since 1979 or before when I first started a diary. The wonder of it is that the more you do it the better the result. I've seen a marked improvement in my own internal sanity, as measured by myself of course - hee hee... a bit subjective but the point is I feel better.  I've also noticed that like a good set long standing exercise routine is sorely missed if it's missed... I miss writing and notice a difference when I skip it. 

I figured out during the course of this morning writing a nice daily routine that I can choose to adhere to or not. It's nice because it encompasses so many of the toys and tools that I've acquired over the years. The buffalo skin drum, the abalone shell and sage, the various prayers and positive thought books... daily reflections and an opportunity to actually do step 10... a daily inventory in a weird and wonderful way... the photos below are Post-It note type flip chart pages... (LOVE IT!! Instant Whiteboard!!)

All this yap just to explain why I haven't been writing here as often. I've found I'm even more free on the hand written morning pages... no web or image distractions. Not a single thought about any potential audience comments or lack thereof. I've nearly filled up my biggest, thickest spiral journal!  

---