What’s up, family!
Today, I want to start a new series on the blog of me documenting my journey through my Artist’s Way journey. This post will introduce The Artist’s Way, how I came across it, and my Week 1 reflections. Each Friday, I will post a reflection on my pathway and realizations as I complete the work that is the Artist’s Way. Forgive this first one for being late – I’ve been battling how I even want to do this. Honestly, y’all wouldn’t have even knew it was late if I didn’t tell y’all!
“A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity” – The Artist’s Way is a 12-week course to discover and recover your creative self. I literally took that description off the cover page. I came across this 30 year bestseller after following Doechii’s recent ascension to super-stardom. From SNL to the outstanding Grammy performance (winning a Grammy also), shining at Paris Fashion Week, a cosign by Lauryn Hill herself, and most recently being named Woman of the Year by Billboard, Doechii seems to be an overnight success. Only she documented her journey on YouTube, spanning back five years ago. The overnight success we see now is the culmination of years of intentional work on her authentic creative journey. It inspired me to dedicate more to my own authentic work. Doechii completed her Artist’s Way path in 2017 and posted about it on her YouTube channel.
Now, y’all know my blog is my preferred form of expression on Beyonce’s internet, which brings me to my reflection on my first week on the Artist Way. Warning: this will be my honest and vulnerable expression of the Artist Way. The path includes weekly reading chapters, a commitment to completing your daily Morning Pages, weekly tasks, and weekly Artist Date. Your Morning Pages are three pages written daily of your early morning stream of consciousness. Each week focuses on a theme towards reconnecting you to your inner Artist.
Your Artist is very similar to the authentic self mentioned in Human Design, in that it’s the You that you were created to be. You might think “created by whom”, but first, let’s recall that God is a creator, in fact, the original creator of all things. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” One of the first things we learn about God is that he is a creator and that he created us in his image, as creators ourselves. Julia Cameron, the author and master practitioner of the Artist’s Way, focuses the entire pathway on the spiritual effect of creativity and how, when operating in authenticity, it is one in and of the same. The way she outlines the journey is through practical and deeply introspective reflections that require a deep sense of honesty and self-awareness. It’s scary, I think, because if you’ve closed the door or buried something, you may not want to dig it up for the sake of enlightened creative abilities.
But what if your purpose and destiny aligned with that same unearthing or discovery? What if you need to remove those layers of conditioning and trauma to begin existing and creating as the being you were sent here to be, perfect in every way, no mistakes found? I hope to meet that version on this path myself.
Welcome to my Artist’s Way Journey.
Week 1: Recovering Your Sense of Safety
Daily Morning Pages Completion: 6/7
I notice that I’m not getting my pages done on Saturdays. I’ve designated Saturdays as my day, so I don’t get up unless I want to. But why am I not getting up and completing a habit that’s beneficial for me? Hmm, something to think about.
Artist’s Date: N/A
What happened this week was – is that an excuse? It is, but it’s warranted. Maybe? I waited until the end of the week to do something, and then I picked up work, so I was preoccupied. Ew, that wasn’t even a good excuse. Again, why not spend my time doing something I said I wanted to do? I already bought the goddamn book!
Weekly Tasks
- Write my affirmations and blurbs
- Time Travel: Three old enemies of my creative self-worth
- Time Travel: One horror story from my Monster Hall of Fame
- Write a letter to the editor in my defense
- Time Travel: Three old champions of my creative self-worth
- Time Travel: Write out one happy piece of encouragement
- Imaginary Lives: What would I do if I had five different lives?
I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t complete my weekly tasks this week. After a few days, I fell off, and instead of recommitting, I let myself fall off and felt pity for myself. Or better yet, I just avoid thinking about it all together. But who’s to say I can’t get them done this week? I may even record it… lol I don’t know maybe I will.
Weekly Check-In:
Childhood traumas will linger if you don’t address them. What you thought was minor or insignificant will end up becoming the very thing hindering you in your adulthood from your authentic expression. Also, I found out I love being distracted. Not even though I’m easily distracted, I seek out distractions, especially when I find myself nearing an uncomfortable impasse. When my feelings or thoughts turn out to be too much, I run to comfort. The same comfort that comes with stagnation. I know too well that growth can’t exist within your comfort zone. I can be honest and check myself on that!
That’s all for this week, cousins! I’ll be back next week with my Week 2 reflections on this path. I’m considering including some video diaries, too, so be on the lookout for more mixed media posts! Also I may make this subscriber only content, so subscribe to the blog to follow along on this 12-week self-discovery journey!
Ciao,
Cousin Lex
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