The Artist’s Way Week 1: Recover A Sense of Safety

As I mentioned last week, I’m re-sharing and completing The Artist’s Way Series again this year. Last week, we looked at the introduction. We’re on to Week 1 – a week in which we work to recover a sense of safety for our inner artist.

We’re looking now at Week 1 the course. I will only touch on some concepts and ideas and would urge you to buy the book to get the complete picture.

Recover A Sense Of Safety

This week, we focus on realizing how our inner artist needs to recover. Perhaps, down the years, our creativity has not been encouraged sufficiently. Often our family of origin has allowed us to pursue our creative interests as hobbies, but told us to be practical in our careers, etc. We’ve often heard expressions like: ‘Stop dreaming! Your head is in the clouds!’ ‘Be practical’, ‘Grow up’. Slowly, we learn to suppress our creative instincts. But we’ve got to realize someday that we’ve been conned!!

It’s never too late to start over and we must.

What You Need to Do In Week 1

1. Read Pages 25 to 37:
   • These pages explain the foundation of Week 1, introducing the idea of recovering your creative safety and recognizing negative influences.
   • Focus on Julia Cameron’s examples and practical tools, especially around the concept of the “Censor.”
2. Complete the Exercises on Pages 37 to 40:
   • Use a separate notebook for journaling and responses.
   • Exercises include:
     • Writing out affirmations and addressing your reactions to them.
     • Listing your “enemies of creativity” (people, situations, or events that have hurt your creative confidence).
     • Listing “champions of creativity” (those who supported or inspired you).
     • Exploring your early memories of criticism or praise.
   • Reflect deeply, but don’t overthink. Let your intuition guide your responses.
3. Morning Pages:
   • Write three pages of freehand journaling every morning. Stream-of-consciousness writing, no editing or rereading. I’ve posted FAQ regarding Morning Pages – read here.
4. Do One Artist Date:
   • Spend time alone doing something fun, playful, or inspiring. Examples: Visit a gallery, watch a favorite movie, take a walk somewhere new.
   • The aim is to nurture your inner artist and refill your creative well.

Some exercises recommended for Week 1 from the book

This week, let’s give our inner artist the space to flourish again. Some exercises I recommend from the book are:

Identifying our core negative beliefs and countering them with affirmations.

Our creativity is often blocked because we feel safer that way. Our psyche equips us with negative beliefs that keep us from feeling threatened. Some of these beliefs might be:
– I’ll never be good as other artists.
– I can’t make a living this way.
– I may not be as good as I think I am.
– I’ll embarrass myself and my family.

The only way to counter these negative beliefs is to use affirmations. It’s funny how we are so comfortable thinking and saying negative things about ourselves, but the moment we try to use affirmations, we feel uncomfortable. For example, take the affirmation, ‘I am a fantastic writer’ and say that aloud. You’ll find that negative voice in your head saying, ‘Who are you trying to fool?’ or ‘There are so many better writers than you’. Try to find the source of that voice – when did the comparisons start, who said those negative things, how did you pick them up. This is hard work, but totally worth it.

Identifying our Hall of Monsters and sending them for a walk.

Think of 3 people who, intentionally or not, said negative things about your creativity when you were growing up. Three specific people. Write their names. Now select one of these individuals and attempt to recall all the details about what happened. Write it down. The more details you can recall about the situation- the setting, their words, how you felt, what others said etc – the better. Now counter these by writing a letter in your defense stating how you felt and why s/he should have known better than to put you down. Post the letter to yourself, email it yourself, or put it under your pillow to read the next day.

How to Approach This Week

1. Be Gentle with Yourself: Expect resistance, doubts, and fears. Acknowledge them but don’t let them derail your process.
2. Stay Open: You may encounter emotional triggers as you revisit past creative wounds. Stay open to reflection and healing.
3. Commit to the Process: Even if the tasks feel uncomfortable or tedious, trust that the work is setting the foundation for lasting change.

Please ask questions or give me suggestions about how I can make this more useful for you.