My Artist Date started off splendidly—until I spilled coffee all over the book I had checked out from my local public library.
Okay, checking a book out of a public library and returning it coffee-stained is no big deal. But this wasn’t just any book—this was my book. Now there were mocha stains on the words that had taken me over twenty years to perfect.
I had no idea this would be the disastrous outcome when I boldly asked the librarian for my book by name. What a thrill it had been to see my book’s cover appear on the library’s computer screen. I kept it a secret that I was the book’s author.
I wanted my book to have a genuine checkout experience—to hear the librarian’s footsteps as she walked down the fiction aisle, and then to feel the heat as it was slid under the scanner’s bright orange ray to receive its new designation: checked out.
My book would never again feel the joy of being selected off the shelf. It was now a damaged book, never to be checked out again.
My censor flipped into high gear. “You’re a stupid idiot,” it screamed. I covered my ears and shuddered. “That’s only a negative belief, not a fact,” I said weakly, quoting a few brave words from Chapter One of The Artist’s Way.
That was all it took. Just one tiny, weak act of courage, and my bloodthirsty censor slithered away. “What would Julia Cameron do?” was my next bold thought. Then the answer came to me. “She’d turn this into something good.” The plan for the next Artist Date was hatching.
Thank you Graham, I’ve really been enjoying reading The Artist’s Way book so far, I will try and catch up on my reading this weekend.
I'm also so grateful to have found my little tribe in Cluster Room #7, the Down Under team. Looking forward to growing together through this journey.
One thing I’m doing a little differently is writing my morning pages in the evening when the house is quiet and there are no distractions while my husband is still at work. Early mornings don’t work with my work schedule, but I’m learning this journey is also about finding what works for each of us.
As I wrote in the comments during the live I had a great Artist Date at the beach during sunset time as I took my painting stuff and had fun creating a painting .
So far so good. I am enjoying the morning/afternoon pages. I get them done when I can during the day. My cursive writing is actually getting better from all this writing. And it's almost time for more lead in my mechanical pencils. My Artist Dates have been based on experiences from my childhood and youth. Picking out special greeting cards, visiting the rose garden and today going to a photography exhibit at a local art gallery remind me of my younger years. It's fun for me to find dates that I want to do and can do with limited time. I'm not completely connecting with the themes in Chapters 1 & 2. That's okay as I still find it interesting reading. I'm looking forward to finishing Chapter 2 and Sunday's zoom.
Week 1- found myself looking more to my inner self. My artist date was a nature hike. I was able to destress. Look at surroundings as well got the opportunity to see a deer. So I stopped, and was able to watch the deer until the deer noticed me, huffed at me and ran away. This was the highlight of my artist date. Overall, morning pages in writing found helped to slow down my thoughts.
Week one was the beginning of the journey of discovery and it was a great start. I found myself questioning my self censorship and gaining a new childlike sense of possibilities. My Artist date started out as a walk in the park to dancing in the mud from recent rains. My favorite task was working with blurts and affirmations, turning the negative into a positive and examining the gift of creativity as not rare but often blocked or hidden. When creativity is unleashed or rediscovered it can help me move through vulnerabilities to my dreams. My group is awesome! Thank you, Graham for an energizing beginning!
Thank you for this replay, Graham. I missed the Sunday meeting. Last night, we shared our homework with each other in our CanBelUsa group. This is very stimulating. This project has a lot of potential. My Artist's date didn't turn out so well. I wanted to connect with animals again, but during a visit to the sheep pasture, I was attacked by the ram. Now I have broken my ankle and am covered in bruises. Six weeks of rest... I now have a lot of time to read, write and do the tasks. I 'll have to go looking creatively for indoor Artist's dates now. Another challenge...I look forward to being there on Sunday. Blessings🌱☀️
I am totally out of my usual routine as we are on a trip and staying with friends. I am doing the morning pages whenever I have a break, but I have found first thing in the morning is a struggle for me. I tend to start mentally slower in the morning so I've had more success with waiting till later in the day.
I wasn't able to connect with my group in the zoom this week, but we are communicating on the side and I was able to catch up with them. We pop into our own chat whenever we have a question or insight. The support and accountability are great!
My first artist date was a shopping trip to a dollar store to gather items for Easter baskets and then took myself to lunch at a Thai restaurant. I never eat out alone and found it a treat to sit by myself and people watch. I look forward to more creative outings after we return home.
What I have enjoyed most is connecting with my group who are not people I usually chat with regularly. It's given me the opportunity to get to know them all better and sharing the journey with them has been very positive!
The first session was great, sharing and listening to others on this journey, thanks for the replay.
What stood out for me in the readings, I had two takeaways: 1. the concept of shadow artists, those who choose shadow careers, close to the area they had a desire to explore but didn't due to negative beliefs of success. 2. Imposter syndrome that becomes negative in pursuing creative dreams, the self-doubt, which is something that is a challenge for me. I liked Julia's suggestion of picking an affirmation and writing it ten times in a row. There were inspiring parts and others I struggled through.
I am enjoying the morning pages, some days words just flow, other times it takes more time. As I shared in the zoom, I so enjoyed writing my candlelight..the words just flowed. I did it again this week.
Am artist's date was going to opening reception for new exhibit at a local art gallery. It was an exhibit of "print making", an enjoyable experience, I even chatted with a couple of the artist's. As I was getting ready to go I was very nervous about what to where and going by myself....once there I learned no one is really noticing that I am by myself or what I am wearing. It become more enjoyable when I reframed the story in my head..looking forward to this week's date: going solo to a musical event.
My favorite task was the artist's date and taking my artist for a walk..both were inspiring for me. The other tasks became just that "a task", some easier than others.
I had a teacher in high school tell me I wasn’t 4 year college material. I took that as a challenge and completed with my B.S. in Business Management and completed my MBA (Master’s in Business Administration).
My Artist Date started off splendidly—until I spilled coffee all over the book I had checked out from my local public library.
Okay, checking a book out of a public library and returning it coffee-stained is no big deal. But this wasn’t just any book—this was my book. Now there were mocha stains on the words that had taken me over twenty years to perfect.
I had no idea this would be the disastrous outcome when I boldly asked the librarian for my book by name. What a thrill it had been to see my book’s cover appear on the library’s computer screen. I kept it a secret that I was the book’s author.
I wanted my book to have a genuine checkout experience—to hear the librarian’s footsteps as she walked down the fiction aisle, and then to feel the heat as it was slid under the scanner’s bright orange ray to receive its new designation: checked out.
My book would never again feel the joy of being selected off the shelf. It was now a damaged book, never to be checked out again.
My censor flipped into high gear. “You’re a stupid idiot,” it screamed. I covered my ears and shuddered. “That’s only a negative belief, not a fact,” I said weakly, quoting a few brave words from Chapter One of The Artist’s Way.
That was all it took. Just one tiny, weak act of courage, and my bloodthirsty censor slithered away. “What would Julia Cameron do?” was my next bold thought. Then the answer came to me. “She’d turn this into something good.” The plan for the next Artist Date was hatching.
Thank you Graham, I’ve really been enjoying reading The Artist’s Way book so far, I will try and catch up on my reading this weekend.
I'm also so grateful to have found my little tribe in Cluster Room #7, the Down Under team. Looking forward to growing together through this journey.
One thing I’m doing a little differently is writing my morning pages in the evening when the house is quiet and there are no distractions while my husband is still at work. Early mornings don’t work with my work schedule, but I’m learning this journey is also about finding what works for each of us.
As I wrote in the comments during the live I had a great Artist Date at the beach during sunset time as I took my painting stuff and had fun creating a painting .
So far so good. I am enjoying the morning/afternoon pages. I get them done when I can during the day. My cursive writing is actually getting better from all this writing. And it's almost time for more lead in my mechanical pencils. My Artist Dates have been based on experiences from my childhood and youth. Picking out special greeting cards, visiting the rose garden and today going to a photography exhibit at a local art gallery remind me of my younger years. It's fun for me to find dates that I want to do and can do with limited time. I'm not completely connecting with the themes in Chapters 1 & 2. That's okay as I still find it interesting reading. I'm looking forward to finishing Chapter 2 and Sunday's zoom.
Week 1- found myself looking more to my inner self. My artist date was a nature hike. I was able to destress. Look at surroundings as well got the opportunity to see a deer. So I stopped, and was able to watch the deer until the deer noticed me, huffed at me and ran away. This was the highlight of my artist date. Overall, morning pages in writing found helped to slow down my thoughts.
Week one was the beginning of the journey of discovery and it was a great start. I found myself questioning my self censorship and gaining a new childlike sense of possibilities. My Artist date started out as a walk in the park to dancing in the mud from recent rains. My favorite task was working with blurts and affirmations, turning the negative into a positive and examining the gift of creativity as not rare but often blocked or hidden. When creativity is unleashed or rediscovered it can help me move through vulnerabilities to my dreams. My group is awesome! Thank you, Graham for an energizing beginning!
Thank you for this replay, Graham. I missed the Sunday meeting. Last night, we shared our homework with each other in our CanBelUsa group. This is very stimulating. This project has a lot of potential. My Artist's date didn't turn out so well. I wanted to connect with animals again, but during a visit to the sheep pasture, I was attacked by the ram. Now I have broken my ankle and am covered in bruises. Six weeks of rest... I now have a lot of time to read, write and do the tasks. I 'll have to go looking creatively for indoor Artist's dates now. Another challenge...I look forward to being there on Sunday. Blessings🌱☀️
I’m so sorry to hear this Bie 🥹wishing you a speedy healing and recovery 🫶🙏♥️
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Bie. Definitely an unexpected Artist Date for you. My prayers are with you. 🤗❤️🙏. ❤️CanBelUsa
Week 1 I haven’t able to joined my group due to traveling and also traveling with my little humans out of town games.
I am totally out of my usual routine as we are on a trip and staying with friends. I am doing the morning pages whenever I have a break, but I have found first thing in the morning is a struggle for me. I tend to start mentally slower in the morning so I've had more success with waiting till later in the day.
I wasn't able to connect with my group in the zoom this week, but we are communicating on the side and I was able to catch up with them. We pop into our own chat whenever we have a question or insight. The support and accountability are great!
My first artist date was a shopping trip to a dollar store to gather items for Easter baskets and then took myself to lunch at a Thai restaurant. I never eat out alone and found it a treat to sit by myself and people watch. I look forward to more creative outings after we return home.
What I have enjoyed most is connecting with my group who are not people I usually chat with regularly. It's given me the opportunity to get to know them all better and sharing the journey with them has been very positive!
The first session was great, sharing and listening to others on this journey, thanks for the replay.
What stood out for me in the readings, I had two takeaways: 1. the concept of shadow artists, those who choose shadow careers, close to the area they had a desire to explore but didn't due to negative beliefs of success. 2. Imposter syndrome that becomes negative in pursuing creative dreams, the self-doubt, which is something that is a challenge for me. I liked Julia's suggestion of picking an affirmation and writing it ten times in a row. There were inspiring parts and others I struggled through.
I am enjoying the morning pages, some days words just flow, other times it takes more time. As I shared in the zoom, I so enjoyed writing my candlelight..the words just flowed. I did it again this week.
Am artist's date was going to opening reception for new exhibit at a local art gallery. It was an exhibit of "print making", an enjoyable experience, I even chatted with a couple of the artist's. As I was getting ready to go I was very nervous about what to where and going by myself....once there I learned no one is really noticing that I am by myself or what I am wearing. It become more enjoyable when I reframed the story in my head..looking forward to this week's date: going solo to a musical event.
My favorite task was the artist's date and taking my artist for a walk..both were inspiring for me. The other tasks became just that "a task", some easier than others.
Looking forward to Sunday's zoom...blessings!
Barbara that's my grandson's favorite museum. We go every time they are in town🥰
I’m still needing a group
LeAnn you are welcome to join the Down Under girls in cluster 7 anytime you wish at the time of the live .
I had a teacher in high school tell me I wasn’t 4 year college material. I took that as a challenge and completed with my B.S. in Business Management and completed my MBA (Master’s in Business Administration).