In his creativity book Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel insists we need to get a grip on our mind, take charge of our own self talk. We talk to ourselves all the time, and all too often what we are saying in our self-talk is not helpful. We talk ourselves out of creating, out […]
Although he has devoted a lot of time and energy to studying, writing about and coaching creative people, Eric Maisel’s life work, in my estimation, is all about helping people learn the skill he terms “passionately making meaning” – or living according to their stated life purpose. He explains how to develop your own statement […]
Over the past few months I have written a number of posts related to The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. This creativity manual or “Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self” is effective for an individual using it alone, reading it by yourself and reflecting on each chapter. […]
In the twelfth and final week of The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron reiterates the importance of using the two “tools” — the weekly recreational inner artist and soul-feeding Artist Date and the daily routine of meditational Morning Pages – as prescribed in the book. She also emphasizes the “inherently mysterious spiritual heart of creativity” […]
Seth Godin says snark = quick ‘n dirty and fun ‘n easy while earnest = less shiny, long term better. He’s probably right, he’s a plenty smart guy. What can we learn, if anything, from either or both kinds of criticism? Sometimes there’s a kernel of truth in the snark, or a hit you over […]
If you have ever said I’m “too old” to chase my dream or too this or too that … I have two words for you: Susan Boyle. We have all kinds of rational and irrational reasons to justify why we can’t create today or this week or whatever. But sometimes, even though all that may […]
Winding up Week 9 of The Artist’s Way creativity program, we look again at how to break through artistic or creative blocks, now from the perspective of how we convince or trick ourselves into thinking that staying blocked — by anger/resentment or fear/resistance — can pay off. Name your Blocks For creative people, there are […]
In Chapter 8 of The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron labels the belief “I’m too old to create” excuse a “Great Block Lie” and considers it on a par with that other old saw, “I don’t have money for it.” Using the “too old” excuse is so convenient. And the longer you wait to begin, the […]
Week 8 of the Artist’s Way program discusses how to nurture hope and the courage to create despite the pain and loss of failure. I’d say, “Non illegitimi te carborundum*” pretty much sums it up; the chapter title is “Recovering a Sense of Strength.” Many Kinds of Artistic Loss Julia Cameron considers artistic survival to […]
Being creative and creating new work involve taking risks and “moving out of the head and into action” as Julia Cameron succinctly describes it in The Artist’s Way. But most of us are very careful not to take risks. We’d rather be safe, but safety keeps us blocked, and so we are stuck. Is this […]