First Steps on The Artist’s Way
Mapping my creative revival: Zuko’s redemption, cosmic libraries, and why cartography is the perfect metaphor for making art my own. An entry into my commonplace book: quotes, ideas, and observations I find interesting in the preface, introduction, basic principles, and basic tools chapters of The Artist’s Way.
Owning My Creative Agency
And so, the journey begins. I have Howard Shore Radio playing, ready for my own adventure and watching my feet, so I don’t get swept off. And from these beginning steps, I am reminded of my agency:
The sentence is always the same: “Your book changed my life.” “No,” I often reply. “You changed your life. You used the tools I laid out for you.” I think it is important for people to own their own spiritual practice. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
The message in any personal growth/self-help/motivational book or speech is always the same: nothing changes if nothing changes – you have to actively create the life you want. And with the millions of copies sold, it makes you wonder how many willingly step into their power and choose the hard things.
Maybe unexpectedly, I think of Zuko. Zuko wants to change and there are times when he credits other people for his change, but ultimately, he stuck to the course and chose to fight (mentally, emotionally, physically) for his new life. Yes, Uncle Iroh and being with the trio helped. But it was up to him to use the tools given to him and not fall back on the familiar, on what was expected of him by his powerful family. When he is alone and struggling to know his next steps, he thinks about what Iroh would say to him, and he comes up with this: “Zuko, you have to look within yourself, to save yourself from your other self - only then will your true self reveal itself.” How much will my old self hold back my new self on this journey? How much power will I give to other – which will I keep choosing to be? (Truly, Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the greatest series ever written.)
The preface tells of success stories and the struggles along the way, preparing the reader to face down personal demons with the help of these pages. As the music of Middle Earth plays, and I write this, I think about something I haven’t thought about in years – the armour of God. Having not looked at my Bible in an incredibly long time, the passage of Ephesians 6:10-18 is still marked. I think of the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the shield of faith and the sword of Spirit. And while it would be great to see myself as a knight in armour, I think of Pippin in armour that’s too big steadying himself for a battle he’s not sure if he’s ready for but knows he needs to be a part of.
Stepping Out of the Shadows
Artists love other artists. Shadow artists are gravitating to their rightful tribe but cannot yet claim their birthright. I urge them to step forward out of the shadows and into the sunlight of creativity. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Thinking back to what I wrote before and how my FYP is filled with artists in all forms. This is the journey I need to be on.
The next minute I suddenly knew that I should begin teaching people, groups of people, how to unblock. Maybe it was a wish exhaled on somebody else’s walk. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
I have just finished The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh (a historical fiction) set on the beautiful island of Crete. This quote reminded me of one of the concepts brought up was the Akashic Record (Theosophy). It was described as a cosmic archive where all knowledge is stored, and reincarnations or past lives are recorded within a personal book in this library. On a similar note, I heard or read that an idea will find the person who will act on it. Many people may have the same idea, but it is as if the idea keeps going until it finds someone who will create it.
Author Kurt Vonnegut says, “Everything that ever has been always will be, and everything that ever will be always has been.” And Ecclesiastes 3:15 states, “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before.” Astronomer and scientist Carl Sagan says, “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us -- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
I do find these ideas fascinating. Taking this on a surface level, there is a part of me that finds it lovely to believe that we could all be connected with each other through this ancient record, sharing ideas between ourselves (knowingly and unknowingly) to create a beautiful world for ourselves and each other.
Creative Cartographer
I imagined I was turning into a creative cartographer, mapping a way out of confusion for myself and for whoever wanted to follow. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
As a geographer, I loved this. So often, and what I’m realising is likely too often, I think there is nothing left for me to create because there are so many great authors, writers, speakers – the space is taken. I can’t add anything new. And this quote made me think about the different types of maps, the different colours the cartographer could choose, the different scale, and varying legends depending on what is (and is not) shown. I have seen maps that frustrate me, some I never want to see again, some with interesting colours outside the norm, and some designed in the easiest to follow and aesthetically pleasing way.
I know I am taking this quote deeper than what Julia intended, but I realise that the same information can be presented in different ways so that it can resonate with different people. Now, this isn’t some great realisation. In fact, I have thought about this before. But maybe the words expressing this in the different books I read, in the interviews and podcast I heard, said in so many ways, finally resonated with me. Maybe I’m just open to the message right now. I think of the rejoice in the universe with my angels and guides, saying ‘finally, she’s listening and not just hearing.’
As you work with the tools in this book, as you undertake the weekly tasks, many changes will be set in motion. Chief among these changes will be the triggering of synchronicity: we change and the universe furthers and expands that change. I have an irreverent shorthand for this that I keep taped to my writing desk: “Leap, and the net will appear.” ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
I was ready for this, open to receiving and being guided. I was excited for synchronicity. I opened Pinterest and these are the quotes I read:
The joy of walking quietly through your days, feeling your life wrap gently around you
The vibration of being who you are and doing what you love is magnetic. You will align everything you need in your life with that energy.
When you dwell in an energy of positivity and power, you become a magnet for miracles ~ Gabby Bernstein
The Duality of Two Brains
Artist brain is our inventor, our child, our very own personal absent-minded professor. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Julia describes our logic brain as the survivalist and our artist brain as the holistic creative. I think strengthening this duality of thinking is what helps us create. Where the artist brain dreams (generates ideas), the logic brain builds (refines ideas) and together we see innovation (creation). These two brains or ways of thinking are like yin yang for cognition: both have their place, and together they make a whole.
I learned to get out of the way and let that creative force work through me. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
This is what I want to learn on this journey. To get out of my own way. To choose the self that Uncle Iroh would believe is possible for me.
In a sense, as we are creative beings, our lives become our work of art. ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Links to the commonplace book entry for each week (updated when available):
How I came to start The Artist’s Way
Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety
Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity
Week 3: Recovering a Sense of Power
Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity
Week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility
Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance
Week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection
Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength
Week 9: Recovering a Sense of Compassion
Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection
Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy
Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith
