On my Artist’s Way (week one)

Slowly but surely I’m unblocking my wounded artist child.

Hello, and welcome back to Creative After Hours. It might be old news to some of you, but I recently learned about The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron during one of

Joanna Penn Cooper

’s personal essay writing courses.

I’m already on chapter two of the book, but I thought it would be nice to share my experience and reflections here each week. So let’s start with week one, and don’t worry, I won’t subject you to my morning pages. 

The morning pages and the artist date 

The first week involved learning about the basic tools to help unblock your creativity. Two of the tools are the morning pages and the artist date.

I managed to write morning pages all seven days of week one. For those who don’t know, morning pages are three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing (on paper!). There’s no right or wrong way to do them and most of the time they’re gibberish (slash I wouldn’t want anyone I know to read them). But sometimes when I finish my hand keeps moving across the page and I write something worth sharing. That has been an interesting experience for me. 

✍️ Side note: I’m loving this Penco glider pen. So smooth! I bought it in person at this store, but I bet you can find it elsewhere.

The other weekly exercise is the artist date. It’s basically something you plan just for you. Something to do alone. It can be a simple trip to a shop that you haven’t been to before or a more extravagant outing, like treating yourself to dinner at a fancy restaurant. Regardless, it’s a time to be with yourself, to observe, and open yourself to inspiration. 

Author, Julia Cameron explains these two concepts much better than me.

“Think of this as a combination of tools in terms of a radio receiver and transmitter. It is a two-step, two-directional process: out and in. Doing your morning pages, you are sending — notifying yourself and the universe of your dreams, dissatisfactions, hopes. Doing your artist date, you are receiving — opening yourself to insight, inspiration, guidance.”  

During week one, my artist date spanned most of the day with a few other activities breaking it up (I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way to do it). It involved going to a wellness class at Saints & Stars in the morning — 20 minutes in the sauna followed by a three minute cold bath. Loved the sauna, but the cold bath, not so much. I entered fight or flight mode the second I dipped my feet into the water. It was cold as fuck — my ankles and feet felt like they were burning. Strange sensation considering it’s an ice bath. 

Once I dried off and slipped into my comfy sweatpants, I hopped on my bike and on a whim decided to eat a bagel at Breadwinner, a sourdough bagel shop here in Amsterdam (it’s almost as good as NYC bagels). I sat on a bench outside the cafe and observed passersby while enjoying pastrami on an everything bagel. 

A very generous portion of pastrami.

Later that day, I sorted through some of my sentimental belongings like photographs, birthday cards, notes, and other odds and ends. Earlier in the week, I was at dinner with two girlfriends and one was talking about a huge box she has filled with sentimental items she’s accumulated over the years. I realized most of my things are still in my apartment in Brooklyn and at my Dad’s or brother’s homes in the US. But I do have a few special things in Amsterdam that I’d like to make sure I don’t lose. They were scattered around my apartment, in my sock drawer, on a bookcase, in a storage bin. So I spent the afternoon sorting through the items and finding a place to keep them all together. On one of my next artist dates, I’ll go shopping for a nice box to put everything in. 

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When you’re ready, here are more Artist Way recaps:

• Week two

• Weeks three and four (coming soon)

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Reflections and exercises 

As soon as I finished chapter one, I felt myself wanting to rush ahead to chapter two (week two) rather than focusing on the morning pages, artists date, and the exercises at the end of week one’s reading. I like that the book is forcing me to pace myself and not rush through (something I do often in other areas of my life). 

Food for thought

These are two lines I jotted down from chapter one: 

“All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage.” 

“You could do it better if only you let yourself do it!” 

I love these reminders to put yourself out there. Be willing to fail. Be ok with something that’s not perfect, let yourself create, and grow from there. 

Creative affirmations

The creative affirmations (20 total) at the end of chapter one felt a bit silly to me at first. Things like: 

1. I am a channel for God’s creativity, and my work comes to good. 

2. As I create and listen, I will be led. 

3. My creativity heals myself and others. 

4. I am allowed to nurture my artist. 

And so on.

I’ve warmed up to them and have a few favorites that I refer back to every day. In week two, I’ve even noticed myself using my own positive affirmations when I’m doubting myself and my creative work. 

Some of them are: 

1. People care about what I have to say. 

2. You’re funnier than you think. 

3. You deserve to create freely. 

Thinking and learning

Two interesting concepts in chapter one are either/or thinking and logic-brain/artist-brain learning tricks. 

Either/or thinking

Apparently, most blocked creatives unknowingly carry either/or reasoning that stands between them and their work, but if we can recognize this pattern, we can break it. Here’s an example of either/or thinking, “I can either be a successful career woman or an artist.” But really, I can be both. 

Logic-brain/artist-brain learning tricks

These are tricks like the creative affirmations I listed above (and other exercises) to help you get rid of internalized negativity. For example, is there someone who didn’t support your creativity when you were a kid? You can write a letter or a quick note to them in your defense to nurture your wounded artist child. 

Tasks (+ a letter to myself)

There are 10 tasks at the end of chapter one. My favorite was the one about writing a thank you note to yourself. A happy piece of encouragement. This is what I came up with: 

Dear Alexis,

Thank you for always exploring your creativity. Painting, writing, photography, making jewelry — whatever it is, keep on exploring and creating. It adds joy to your life and other people’s lives as well, and that’s all that matters. It’s not about the finished product or how good your art is. It’s about leaning into your interests and being open to new experiences. Your appetite for creativity and your curiosity to learn new things and then just start and share with the world are two things I admire most about you. Keep on going. Keep on creating. 

Your best friend in creativity and life, 

Alexis 

It feels a bit cheesy as I rewrite it here, but talking to yourself has some positive effects (at least that’s what I’m telling myself!). 

I submitted a piece to McSweeney’s!

Last but not least, the whole reason I’m here on Substack is to explore new writing styles and genres (and maybe have my personal work published? Or write a book?). I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but during week one, I was pulled to submit an “Open Letter” piece to McSweeney’s. The response time is at least two weeks, so I haven’t heard back yet, but I’m proud of myself for sending the submission. If it doesn’t get approved, I’ll share it here at some point. Actually, I’ll share it with you regardless, whether it’s a link to McSweeney’s or a post here. Cross your fingers for me! 🤞

See you next week

For future editions of my Artist’s Way experience, I’ll likely dive into specific concepts that catch my attention from each chapter instead of explaining what the book is all about.

I’ll see you then,

Alexis

Let’s meet in the comments!

1. Have you read The Artist’s Way? What were your key takeaways? Do you have a favorite creative affirmation?

2. If you haven’t read it, are there any other books on creativity that you recommend?

3. What are your strategies for unblocking creativity?