The Artist's Way check-in: week two

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (We're hoping seven, remember.) How was the experience for you? How did the morning pages work for you? Describe them (for example, "They felt so stupid. I'd write all these itty-bitty disconnected things that didn't seem to have anything to do with one another or with anything..."). Remember, if you are writing morning pages, they are working for you. What were you surprised to find yourself writing about? Answer this question in full on your check-in page. This will be a weekly self-scan of your moods, not your progress. Don't worry if you pages are whiny and trite. Sometimes that's the very best thing for you. I did morning pages about half the mornings this week, but the mornings that I did them, I found them incredibly helpful.  Afterward, I feel more relaxed and that I've let go of things that have been bothering me.  Sometimes my morning pages are disjointed and they almost don't make sense, while other times they flow and feel more like traditional journaling.  I seem to write about some of the same things over and over, and so far I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere by writing about them.  I expected I'd write about writing in my morning pages, but usually I write about life things, and most often the things I write about are worries, problems, or frustrations I can't seem to let go of.  When I let myself write about my worries and frustrations, I always feel better afterward.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? Remember that artist dates are a necessary frivolity. What did you do? How did it feel? ::blushes:: I did not do my artist date this week.  Oops.
3. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. I feel like I'm more connected to my creativity.  I think, through the morning pages and tasks I'm doing each week, I'm surrendering myself to being a "big double-u writer" so I'm feeling much less guilty about taking time for my writing.  The affirmations of "Creativity is the creator's will for me" and "Through the use of my creative, I serve God"* have helped me immensely this week.  I've felt guilty in the past for taking time to write because I always felt like I should be looking for a "real" job or that writing should only be a hobby.  But now I see the real purpose of creativity in my life, and I don't feel guilty about it anymore.

---

*Julia Cameron uses the term "God" to tap into the spiritual journey of this process, but is not necessarily referring to the God of the Bible.  In her introduction she says:

Because The Artist's Way is, in essence, a spiritual path, initiated and practiced through creativity, this book uses the word God. This may be volatile for some of you--conjuring old, unworkable, unpleasant, or simply unbelievable ideas about God as you were raised to understand "him." Please be open-minded.

Remind yourself that to succeed in this course, no god concept is necessary. In fact, many of our commonly held god concepts get in the way. Do not allow semantics to become one more block for you.

When the word God is used in these pages, you may substitute the thought good orderly direction or flow. What we are talking about is a creative energy. God is useful shorthand for many of us, but so is Goddess, Mind, Universe, Source, and Higher Power.... The point is not what you name it. The point is that you try using it. For many of us, thinking of it as a form of spiritual electricity has been a very useful jumping-off place. (Cameron, xxi-xxii)