It’s Part 2 of my summer project, which is completing ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron. In this episode I debrief on Weeks 5-8 of ‘The Artist’s Way’ and speak about:
Showing up to create even when you’re not feeling yourself.
‘Feeling behind’ versus allowing time to be elastic.
Week 5 | Possibility
Exploring what might be possible for our projects, our craft, our collaborations, our platform.
Uncovering the ways we might limit what’s possible for our art and our creative expression.
Reframing what being ‘self-destructive’ can look like and making sure we’re not undermining our progress. - Ugly duckling phases of growth - we can’t ‘look good’ all the time, especially if we’re exploring new territory.
Week 6 | Abundance
Cultivating a rich and enriching arts practise that’s well-resourced, and finding new ways to make our creative process spacious, generous and luxurious.
Bringing more sensorial beauty and sensorial stimulus into your writing routine.
Noticing if we’re being unnecessarily stingy with ourselves. Something we think, ‘Well, if I were a ‘real’ writer I'd be able to write with this crappy pen and broken laptop and it shouldn’t affect the art.’ Well yes, but also are withholding tools that could make your process more enjoyable?
The arts don’t have to be productive and efficient all the time. Neither does your creative practice. You’re allowed to be indulgent, inefficient, meandering and luxurious.
Week 7 | Connection
Practising deeply listening to ourselves, our muses, our ideas to connect more intimately with our writing.
How perfectionism is pervasive, adds noise, and crowds out our ability to listen to ourselves.
The gap between your taste and your abilities. Trusting that you got into this work because you have killer taste and all you need is time for your abilities to match your taste levels (Ira Glass quote below).
Jealousy is just another way to listen to yourself and connect with the deeper desires in your heart.
Week 8 | Strength
Setting goals.
Committing to tiny steps, taken consistently, that are going to add up. This is the ‘bread and butter’ of your project.
It takes a lot of strength and courage to consistently show up (often privately, often quietly) and repeat this again and again.
References:
Ira Glass quote: “Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” ― Ira Glass
Thank you for listening. You can learn more about me on my about page or say hi and ask me a question via @emilysheehan__ on Instagram.