My Artist’s Way journey was life-changing, to say the least, and I can still feel the effects a couple of months after I’ve finished the course. The only thing I regret is not doing it sooner. Hopefully, I can persuade you to give yourself this gift.
Who is the Artist’s Way course for?
Julia Cameron (an artist in her own right) originally created the 12-week course for her artist friends and students who were feeling creatively blocked. The purpose of the course was to help them heal and re-discover their passions and in so doing – regain their inspiration and creativity. After witnessing amazing recoveries, she quickly realized that her course could benefit more people than she originally thought. Since we are all creators in our own right, we can all benefit from becoming unblocked and improving our connection with our inner artists.
This course/book is especially for you if you:
- Struggle with perfectionism
- Struggle with procrastination
- Have a hard time with criticism
- Feel your life lacks joy/fun
- Suffer from depression
- Feel stuck
- Don’t know what you want in life
- Have a hard time finishing things
- Have a hard time starting anything
How does the Artist’s Way work?
The 12-week course consists of:
- Reading one chapter of the book each week
- Writing Morning pages
every morning - Completing as many of the exercises every week at your own pace
- Taking yourself on an Artist’s Date every week
- Doing a check-in at the end of each week
The Book
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron consists of 12 Chapters, one for every week of the 12-week program. Each chapter covers a different recovery process – designed to start you off in the shallow end and take you deeper and deeper as the weeks progress. At the end of each chapter, you will find a series of tasks to be completed that week. You read a Chapter at the beginning of each week and then complete the exercises throughout the week. At the end of each week, you do a check-in with yourself and document any changes or struggles you are experiencing.
Julia also includes very helpful tools like ‘Rules Of The Road’, ‘Creative Affirmations’, and ‘Basic Principles in the book – all of which are great reminders to keep yourself in the right frame of mind or guide you in your recovery process. I copied them all and put it up in my workspace where I can be reminded daily.
Something I completely overlooked was the section about creating a Creative Cluster – basically, a guide to show you how to do the Artist’s Way in a group context (how Julia originally designed it). She speaks about the benefits of having a supportive group of fellow creatives and how doing the course in this setting could add to your recovery process.
The book also includes a very helpful Q&A section that I enjoyed reading.
Right at the back of the book hides an extensive reading list that serves as appropriate suggestions for books to read after you conclude your course.
The Morning pages
You are asked to do your Morning pages every day. This is non-negotiable and forms part 1 of a two-step recovery tool (part 2 being your Artist’s date). You write 3 pages (A4) of whatever comes to mind, first thing in the morning. This becomes such a powerful tool for recovery and discovery.
I actually wrote an in-depth about Morning pages
(this shows how obsessed I am) where I talk more about the amazing benefits of writing these and continuing long after the 12-week program concludes.
The Artist’s Date
This is the second crucial step towards creative recovery and should be taken very seriously. You have to take yourself (your inner child a.k.a your artist self) on a fun little excursion or just have an activity planned for the two of you (it’s just you – no third wheels allowed).
I had the hardest time doing this for a number of reasons but it turned out it was the thing I needed the most to make progress in my recovery. You only do this once a week for an hour or three. If I had to sum an Artist Date up in a sentence it would be – Giving yourself permission to play.
The Artist’s Way exercises
Most of the tasks in each chapter are questions you have to ask yourself and answer. The answers sometimes shock you or they are things you’ve never thought to ask yourself. Some of the exercises are about the past and being a bit of a detective.
There are exercises to clarify your dreams and goals and then there are questions that feel like journal prompts. My favorite exercise was writing a letter to myself from the future.
There are also tasks that you have to physically do like re-create some of your favorite things from your childhood bedroom or making a collage of your past, present, and future. I enjoyed all of them.
The one caveat to all the tasks and questions is that you don’t have to do them all – in case you feel overwhelmed. Some questions might not resonate with you. But keep in mind that the questions you sometimes need to answer are the ones you will immediately try to run from. Answer those first!
What do you need to get started?
All you need is the book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and a notebook and pen to write your Morning pages in. If you want to make your life easier and keep a record of your 12-week process, you can download the Companion Workbook (below) I created while I was completing the course. It is a digital workbook with each week’s exercises laid out for your convenience with enough space to fill in your answers under each question.
I created it out of frustration. I was tired of going back to the end of each chapter to check what the questions are and then filling out the answers in a separate notebook. When I looked back at all my answers, it wasn’t clear what the question was in the first place. I also thought it might be nice to fill it out on an Ipad or tablet and be able to re-use it when you want to complete the course again in the future.
Is The Artist’s Way religious?
The Artist’s Way book is not definitively religious in the sense that it doesn’t prescribe a specific religion. It does however honor and encourage a spiritual connection through spiritual practice.
Whether you are religious or not, I think you should stay open-minded and not let semantics get in the way of your progress. It is in fact this close-minded approach that keeps most of us so blocked and repressed in the first place.
Question your strong reaction to the religious wording instead of robbing yourself of the gift that is this book and course.