When I was traveling a lot for business, I was always on the look-out for good books / activities for the hours spent in airporta and on planes. For a tip to New Orleans, I picked up the book, Drawing on the Right Side the Brain, and tried some of the exercises. As a totally UN-talented artist, I was amazed when I sketched an accurate copy of a woman’s portrait – drawing it UPSIDE DOWN. It changed my self image as “creative” – and sparked a new creative lifestyle – from designing my clothes to pouring mosaic concrete tiles to decorating my homes to Victorian crazy quilting to…
Fast forward a few decades to this week, and I was looking for a new creative spark – a new form of expression. Synchronistically, I saw the book, The Artist’s Way Toolkit, and immediately got it, expecting a similar experience from the same author. SURPRISE! It turned out to be a spiritual practices how-to book. Intrigued with the author’s shift to spirituality, I checked into the author’s path since I used her other book. SURPRISE AGAIN. The two books were written by different authors! Betty Edwards wrote the drawing book: Julia Cameron wrote the spiritual toolkit.
Despite his enemies’a attacks on his character and behaviors, there can be
no dispute about his spiritual stature. Charismatic experiences – ecstasies
and apparitions – began when he was five, when he dedicated his life to
Jesus. His visions, especially of Mother Mary, were so frequent he thought
they were normal and that everyone had them. Characterized by
phenomena associated with the paranormal – bilocation, levitation, mind
reading, premonitions, clairvoyance, and omniscience – he was venerated by
the people. About these activities, he simply said, “They are a mystery to me
too.”
REFLECT:
Reflect on a time you thought you were getting one thing and got another –
which was what you needed (not what you wanted)?
Julia Cameron, author of the renowned book, The Artist’s Way (1992), is dubbed “The Queen of Change”. She contends that creativity is an authentic spiritual path. Her path has been full of creative expression – as a teacher,
author, poet, artist, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer and journalist. Briefly married to Martin Scorsese with whom she collaborated on three films, she lived in the fast lane. Her memoir, Floor Sample, details her descent into alcoholism and drug addiction. After realizing writing and drinking could not co-exist, she became sober and began teaching creative unlocking.
Her toolkit outlines four fundamental steps for creativity / consciousness / connection to spirit.
- Morning Pages
- Artist Dates
- Walks
- Guidance.
1. Morning Pages
Carl Jung said we have forty-five minutes after awakening before our ego wakes up and our defense mechanisms kick in. This is the window for Morning Pages – writing with and to and for the authentic self.
“Write three daily pages, longhand, first thing upon awakening”. Cameron instructs. She believes there is a direct connection between the heart and the hand, and writing by hand leads to forging a handmade life of
creativity, consciousness and spiritual connection. It sparks action.
Write about whatever comes to mind, and nothing is too small or petty to discuss with yourself. The writings are personal and private, and there is no way to do them “wrong”. If you don’t feel like writing, start with “I don’t feel like writing”. If you can’t think of anything to write, start with “I can’t think of anything to write”. If a to do list for the day dominates your thoughts, add the to do list and go back to writing. If you feel negative, write about the negative. Engage with where “you’re at” – and keep writing until three pages are full.
Cameron distinguishes between Morning Pages and Journaling, saying journaling has a topic, while Morning Pages are a more random “brain dump”.
After decades of following this practice herself and guiding students through it – consistently – Cameron is convinced of the huge benefits. She feels we become ourselves, and provides ample examples of life changing success stories.
2. Artist Dates
These are once-weekly solo expeditions for FUN – to replenish inner reservoirs. The activities do not have to be connected to anything, and are something you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Cameron’s favorite Artist Date is visiting a pet store where they allow her to pet George, a gigantic grey and white bunny. But she avoids doing it often – making it routine – so it maintains a sense of an expedition.
Her students visit toy stores, gardens, different neighborhoods, new restaurants, playgrounds, museums, zoos, bead and craft stores, yoga classes, foreign and independent films…
To identify appropriate Artist Dates for you, ask:
*Does this excursion spark joy?
*Does it make me feel more playful?
*Does it nurture my inner child?
Then set the date and keep it! Every Week!
3. Walks
Walk twice a week solo for twenty minutes – without an agenda. Aborigines go on walkabouts. Druids go on pilgrimages. Native Americans take vision quests. Buddhists do walking meditations.
Walk with mindfulness, a step at a time, “as if each footfall was kissing the earth.”. What begins as a physical tool becomes a spiritual process. Be gentle but alert. Walk into a new sense of self.
4. Guidance
Ask for guidance in writing, with a specific question. Write out the answer. Keep a journal of these requests and responses, or integrate them into your Morning Pages notebook.
The end of Cameron’s book has a twelve-week checklist to support follow-up and continuity. And while her approach is simple and easy to integrate, it provides great cumulative benefits. She ends with several quotes (Note: she
equates creativity to consciousness and spirituality):
* Creativity thrives on small doable actions. The key to a creative life is is sustained, consistent, positive action. This is possible for all of us.
* It is self expression, not self scrutiny and correcting, that brings healing and happiness.
*Creativity is medicine. It is not dangerous or egotistical. It is life-affirming and essential.
* Enlightenment therapies urge us to “accept how we feel”. Art teaches us to express how we feel and to alchemize it.
Thirty years later, after exhaustive investigation, Padre Pio was canonized.
APPLY:
If this feels like a good practice for you, get a notebook and begin your
Morning Pages, followed with each of these activities!
