Walking in this world....

I finished working my way through The Artist's Way last week, and started Walking in This World immediately after. I don't know if it's recommended to do that or not, but I did. And I'm glad I did.

One of the things I liked about The Artist's Way is that it continually reminded me of why I am a writer, and why I pursued a creative life and career. And the more connected I felt with my writing through the encouragement and insight of the book, the more at peace I felt in my life.

So I decided to just keep going with Walking in This World.

The first chapter is about starting from where I am and doing whatever I can to be creative. It was what I needed for this week.

Many days I get bogged down in where I think I should be with my writing and life and everything else. But I'm so, so much further than I was ten, five, three, one year ago. I've written more words and made more professional connections and bulked up my portfolio and made lots of progress on the coffee house book.

It's okay that I haven't published a book (yet) and that I'm still working toward buying a house and a new car. It's okay that I probably won't retire early and have to work long hours for now to reach our family goals.

Because this is the path that I'm on. No one else. The only race I'm running is with myself, to be better than I was yesterday.

So every day, I choose to start from where I am and keep moving forward.

And that's how I'm going to win.

My social media hiatus

I've decided to take a bit of a break from Facebook and Twitter for a while.

I've discovered that I've been using Facebook as a distraction too much, which has turned it into a procrastination tool. Yes, I read headlines and get interesting/inspirational information, but I also know that if I don't want to work on something or I'm stuck or feeling lazy, Facebook is my go-to site.

As I've been going through The Artist's Way, I've found myself wanting to get away from things in my life that are only acting as distractions from what I should be/want to be doing. Facebook is one of those things.

So I'm going to very quietly slip away from Facebook for a while (I have an end-date in mind), and at the end of this time, I will re-evaluate if, when, and how I will reincorporate Facebook and Twitter into my life.

Halfway through The Artist's Way

I've been working my way through The Artist's Way over the last five weeks (today is the beginning of week six for me).

I've gone through part of the book before, but I've never gotten this far, so it's been a very different experience for me.

So far, I've been enjoying it, and I'm starting to see where some of my obstacles and challenges are in my career and writing. I'm trying to push past my discomforts and continue to remember why I wanted to do this in the first place.

I have been able to see a change in myself when I stand back to compare where I was in mid-February and where I am now. I'm optimistic that the progress will continue, and my writing will benefit.

One of the biggest changes I've seen in myself is a shift in how I spend my time. Things I used to do to fill time or distract myself hold little interest to me anymore. Instead, I find myself drawn to things that have better purpose in my life: meditation, listening to music, writing, reading, yoga. I'm even taking a hiatus from Facebook for the next several weeks (more on that tomorrow).

I don't want to be (nor do I think I am) one of those people who gets all judge-y about people who watch a lot of TV, especially because I am/used to be one of those people. I can't say what is good or bad for anyone else except myself, and I know that, right now, The Artist's Way is helping me see what is best for me, and move away from things that are not good for me.

And that is making the whole process worth it.

Finding balance -- spirit

I have a copy of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I've started it a couple of times, but never finished it.

I've started it again.

I think that where I am in my life puts me in a better position to complete the book and all that goes along with it this time around.

From a spiritual perspective, I am an atheist. However, I do value a connection with the world around me through mindful, compassionate living, and I believe that that connection can be a vehicle through which I can increase my creativity, improve my career, and continue to live my happily ever after.

In finding a mind-body-spirit balance in my life, I had sort of struggled with how to apply the spiritual aspect. How can I have balance in my spiritual life if I do not practice some sort of religion?

However, I have found that there are aspects of my life that feed my spirit (my heart and passions) that I can use to create spiritual balance in my life. One of these is my connection to the world around me--through the natural world and people around me--and another is in my writing.

Cameron's book seeks to combine an individual's creativity with the spiritual elements of life. While she uses the term "God" to refer to the creative energy in an individual or connection to the universe. Though she does indicate that anyone who goes through this journey should use whatever term or concept that best resonates with that individual.

I'm optimistic that going through this book over the next few months will help me remember the importance of creativity in my life, and find the motivation I once had for writing fiction.*

And if I can find better spiritual balance as a result, then I'll count it a success.






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*It is true that I use creativity in my daily career. However, I have not spent nearly as much time writing fiction as I would like to, and progress on the coffee house book has suffered. I keep making excuses, and I'm frustrated with that.

The Artist's Way

Though I've gone through it before, I've decided to go through The Artist's Way again.

Lately I've felt disconnected from my life as a creative writer, and I think Cameron's book will help. If nothing else, it will get me back into the habit of writing every day and making creativity a priority in my life.

The coffee house book won't leave me alone. I think about the characters and their stories constantly, and it bothers me that I haven't gotten further in the process of writing the collection. I'm hopeful that the daily writing and weekly tasks in The Artist's Way will get me back on track.

I've set deadlines for myself in regards to the coffee house book, and I'm determined to meet them. I have big plans for 2013. And this will be one way of ensuring I can follow through on those plans.

Have you read The Artist's Way? Was it helpful to you?

Way back in the beginning of February, I started working through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I didn't know what to expect other than becoming "unblocked" (which I didn't think I was) and cultivating a link between my creativity and my spirituality (which I thought I already had).

(Continue reading)

The Artist's Way check-in

How many days did you do your morning pages this week? How was the experience for you? 

The Artist's Way check-in: weeks ten-twelve

I've officially completed The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Just tonight I finished the last of my tasks, and signed my contract for the next ninety days.

At about week ten I got off track. That's the week Hubby, Bean, and I were visiting my family and I was still waiting to find out about the possible heart problems I was having. So I didn't do the morning pages or any tasks for a couple of weeks. But I used the last week or so to get caught up. I'm glad I did the last three weeks again instead of giving up or setting it aside for longer. It was definitely worth it to me. The last few weeks were particularly beneficial.

I'm optimistic about the next phase of my journey, my artist's way. There are specific things I'd like to accomplish during the next ninety days (and beyond), as well as continuing some things I've picked up during the process from the last three months. I'm excited about what's to come. Of course, I have some reservations about stepping away from the book and on my own way, but I know it's going to be good for me. I've learned a lot. I'm a new person, a new writer.

So here is my check in for the last few weeks. I will be continuing my weekly check-in for the next few months to help keep myself on track.

How many days did you do your morning pages this week? How was the experience for you? I averaged six days a week for the past few weeks. It was wonderful to get back into it. I didn't realize how badly I'd missed the daily writing until I came back to it. It's something I look forward to each day.


Did you do your artist date this week? What did you do? How did it feel?
I did my artist date this week; I met with my friend Kelly (online) to chat about writing, The Artist's Way, life, the universe, and everything. It was fun! We hadn't been able to meet the past couple of weeks, so it was great to catch up with her and talk again.

Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?
I did! I had an appointment, and C--'s wife has gone through a similar situation I'm going through right now. Not only is he giving me good advice about it, but he told me about a great networking opportunity that I think will be very beneficial to me.

The Artist's Way check-in: week eight

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (Have you been very tempted to abandon them?) How was the experience for you? I'm happy to say I did my morning pages every day this week!  Yay!  I haven't been tempted to abandon them.  In fact, I feel "off" if I don't do my morning pages.  It's always a good experience for me to do the morning pages.  And the more I do them, the more beneficial they seem to be to me.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? (Have you been allowing workaholism or other commitments to sabotage this practice?) What did you do? How did it feel? Once again, I skipped the artist's date.  I don't know why, but this is something that's very hard for me to do.
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? I didn't experience any synchronicity this week.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant to your recovery? Describe them. The task about listing five things you aren't allowed to do (and then doing them on paper) was very helpful to me.  I was bottling up some unhappy emotions and holding onto some anger, and this task allowed me to vent what I was thinking/feeling, let go of it, and move on from it.  It was a great relief after that task.

This Week's Task List

I have quite a bit to do this week in preparation for our Easter trip (we leave April 2), so the bulk of my task list is over on my personal blog.  But I do have some writerly things to do this week.

• Continue working on the coffee house book
• Continue rewriting Newly Wed (NaNo novel 2009)
• Finalize prep for ScriptFrenzy
• Continue working on the grant application
• The Artist's Way tasks for week 8
• Goal Search (#1)
• Color Schemes (#3)
• Things you're not allowed to do (#4)
• Ideal Day (#6)
• Ideal Ideal Day (#7)
• Start looking for poems for National Poetry Month on the blog (that's right, folks! It's that time again!)

Lenten Reflection and The Artist's Way

We're coming to the end of the Lenten season.  (Next week begins Holy Week!)

Lent is a time to really look at your life.  When you give something up, your intention should be to give something up (or add something, as I did) in order to strengthen your faith life and be a better person.  And that's what I've been doing.

Shortly before Lent, I started The Artist's Way.  It's a tool for creative people to become "unblocked," and shows creative people how important spirituality (not specifically Christianity) is to the creative life.  When I started it, I didn't really know what to expect.  I didn't think I was blocked.  I thought I had a strong faith/spirituality.

As the weeks progressed, though, I learned that I was blocked.  And I learned that, while my faith was good, it could've been quite a bit better.  I trusted the process and kept going.

As the weeks went on, my creativity was opened up.  I learned more about myself as a writer.  I found my niche.  My writing life has blossomed.  I learned more about myself as a woman of faith.  I grew stronger in my faith, which changed how I lived my life (in a good way).

This has been a good Lent for me.  I feel good about my life and where it's headed.

The Artist's Way check-in: week seven

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? Have you allowed yourself to daydream a few creative risks? Are you coddling your artist child with childhood loves? I did my morning pages every day this week!  Yay!  In fact, today marks nineteen days in a row I've done my morning pages!  I'm so proud of myself!
2. Did you do your artist date this week? Did you use it to take any risks? What did you do? How did it feel? I didn't do an artist date this week.  (Oops.)  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a crazy week.
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? I didn't experience any synchronicity this week.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. This was a bit of a difficult week for me.  I think because most of the tasks were more abstract this week, and I'm really a paper-and-pen type of person.  Then again, even my morning pages seemed...off...this week.  I kept pushing through, though.  I trusted the process.

The freedom of knowing your niche

The process of The Artist's Way has been a very good one for me.  I won't say I've had thunder and lightning changes the way others do, but I have felt myself changing in quieter ways.  My spirituality and creativity are linked more closely, my faith is strengthened, and my writing life has been...clarified...to me.  I know what I'm going to write now.

I don't know that my writing path has a genre name the way some writers can declare Mystery or Young Adult or Speculative Fiction.  But it's what I'm going to write.  Let me explain my plan for the coffee house book.  (And if you steal my idea, I will hunt you down.  Fair warning.)

The coffee house book is a collection of vignettes that are threaded together by the owner of the coffee house and the coffee house itself.  Each vignette will reveal something about the owner, as well as something about the coffee house.

This is how I decided to set up the coffee house book some time ago, and it's what I've been working toward.  But an amazing, wonderful, scary thing happened this past week.  I got about seven additional project ideas that seem to go along with how I've set up the coffee house book.  (Looks like I know what I'm writing for the next seven years or so.)

When I first started getting the ideas, I was afraid it was my brain's attempt to sidetrack me from the coffee house book.  But something else strange happened.  As I was getting these ideas (and they were half-developing in my head), I was excited about them, but I didn't want to stop my current projects to jump into one of these new ones.  Instead, I wanted to finish the coffee house book so I could start the next one.

The ideas came because this is the way I'm supposed to be writing.  This is my niche.  And once I discovered it, my creativity opened up in the form of these ideas, and the progress I'm making on the coffee house book!

It's a wonderfully freeing feeling to know you're on the right path.



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Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Artist's Way check-in: week six

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (Have you used them yet to think about creative luxury for yourself?) How was the experience for you? I did my morning pages every day this week! (Hoorah!)  Actually, I've done my morning pages for twelve days in a row!  I'm very proud of myself for that.  It was a good experience for me, and I've found the content in my morning pages is changing.  It's no longer quite so... complain-y.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? (Have you considered allowing yourself two?) What did you do? How did it feel? I did have an artist's date this week.  And I used it to take a much-needed nap!  It felt wonderful!
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? I did experience synchronicity this week.  And, once again, it has to do with something personal, so I'm not going to share here.  Sorry!
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them.  I had a breakthrough in terms of my writing this week.  I've discovered my fiction niche, which has really freed my creativity.  Not only am I making a lot of progress on the coffee house book, but I have ideas lined up for post-coffee house writing.  Yay!

The Artist's Date

Yesterday afternoon I went out for a late lunch with a friend, Shannon, who is also going through The Artist's Way.  (We're on the same week.)

It was so fun!

We met at a great little cafe called Dandelion Communitea Cafe.  It's organic, vegan- and celiac-friendly, and locally owned/operated.  The atmosphere is great; I can't wait to go back!  The food was delicious, too!

It was very nice to get away for a few hours.  I spent good time with a friend, didn't worry about Bean (he was spending some quality time with Hubby), and just relaxed for a while.  We talked about writing, life, the universe, and everything.  I'm so glad to have met Shannon in person, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with her.

Yesterday was a very good day.

The Artist's Way check-in: week five

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? Are you starting to like them--at all? How was the experience for you? Have you discovered the page-and-a-half truth point yet? Many of us find that pay dirt in our writing occurs after a page and a half of vamping. I did my morning pages five out of seven days this week. I do enjoy them, actually. And I'm finding that if I don't do the morning pages, I feel different and out of sorts for the day. I have discovered the page-and-a-half truth point, and it was weird. When I read this question, I looked back through my morning pages and found that many, many days included some sort of emotional/spiritual revelation or breakthrough about a page and a half into the morning pages.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? Have you had the experience of hearing answers during this leisure time? What did you do for your date? How did it feel? Have you taken an artist date yet that really felt adventurous? I had such a great artist date this week! I met with a friend who's also doing The Artist's Way for a late lunch. We talked about writing and life and everything, and it was wonderful to get away for a little while, to not worry about what I should have been doing and just enjoy being where I was for the moment.
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? Try inaugurating a conversation on synchronicity with your friends. I have experienced synchronicity. This week was a significant experience, actually, but it's of a private matter, so I won't share it here. I think, for some people, synchronicity is easier to see and believe than for others. I find it easy to see and believe.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. I'm beginning to learn who I am and what I want now, and I've realized I don't have to apologize for that or feel guilty for wanting to take care of myself or spoil myself every now and then. I think it's helping me realize that I am important, and that my creativity is important.

The Artist's Way check-in: week four

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (Tantrums often show up as skipping the morning pages.) How was the experience for you? I did my morning pages five days this week. The experience was good. The morning pages are very cathartic for me, and I'm able to think out problems and situations to find good solutions.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? (Does your artist get to do more than rent a movie?) What did you do? How did it feel? I did play, but I didn't have an official artist date.
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? I did experience it, but since it's of a more personal nature, I'm not going to share it here.  Sorry.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant to your recovery? Describe them. Nothing comes to mind.

My week of reading deprivation is over!  Hurrah!

10 on Tuesday: things I've learned about myself through morning pages

Part of the process of The Artist's Way is "morning pages."  That means that every morning, before I do anything else, I write three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing longhand.

At first, I just did the pages without really thinking about the content.  Now, though, I'm seeing the real purpose of them.  If I let go and really write, my heart takes over, and I learn things about myself.  Problems are solved, true worries surface, and my creative self makes herself known.

Here are some things that have been revealed to me through the morning pages (in no particular order).

1. I'm worried about my heart.
2. Great things happen when you trust your creativity and God (or creative flow or whatever you believe in that feeds your creativity).
3. I'm excited about the changes I'm making in my life. (Details to come on my personal blog.)
4. I love staying home with Bean!
5. I'm happier now than I was before I started this process.
6. I need a vacation.
7. I don't take care of myself as well as I should.
8. I have champions in people I didn't expect, as well as creative "enemies" in people I didn't expect.
9. My handwriting gets messy when I'm trying to keep up with my brain.
10. I've felt very out of control for a long time, but it's getting better.

No reading allowed?

I'm in week four of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.  As part of the process this week, I won't be reading.

All week.

At all. ::shudder::

I know, but I'm trusting the process in this.  I won't be reading any blogs this week.  I'll have a lot of catching up to do next Monday!

The Artist's Way check-in: week three

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? If you skipped a day, why did you skip it? I did my morning pages six out of seven days!  It was cathartic for me to write every day. I'm starting to learn where some of my creativity blockers are, and where some of my stress sources are.
2. Did you do your artist date this week? (Yes, yes, and it was awful.) What did you do? How did it feel? I did not, in fact, do my artist date this week. Big whoop. Wanna fight about it?
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? I did not.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. See answer #1.