Journey through the Artist's Way, again.
Combining Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection and Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy.
I believe these chapters compliment each other, and in fact, one leads into the other. Many distractions and dangers can potentially derail us from our creative goals and what passions we long to pursue. Its not always easy, but naming and facing them can help remove the block. My personal favorites mentioned were fame and competition.
In a recent trip to New York, it isn't hard to see why fame confuses the picture and has us longing for attention and credit rather than feeling good about something we've done or accomplished. Posters of the famous and the up-and-coming stars and faces (or bodies) of today are everywhere: from the subways, billboards, magazine stands, sides of buildings to the corner where I stand as Beyonce's face flashes by on the side of a bus. Fame and competition have some of the same in common, a compare and contrast game that leaves us feeling deflated and lacking. In her book,The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron encourages us to stay true to ourselves-our own originality. "Let us concern ourselves first and foremost with what it is within us that is struggling to be born." Then we can begin to focus on the work and "creating what wants to be created", instead of worrying about the market or whatever else we tend to let determine our value. Naming what causes us to doubt ourselves leads us to reclaiming our autonomy-reclaiming our right to be an artist.
"The creator made us creative. Our creativity is our gift from God. Our use of it is our gift to God. Accepting this bargain is the beginning of true self-acceptance." A tall order for some of us, but if we are happier, more fulfilled when we are writing, painting, sculpting, etc., then we need to be about writing, painting, sculpting, etc.
We are nearing the end of our journey, our next chapter: Recovering a Sense of Faith, is the last one. I have been reminded again and again of truths I read in this book some five years ago that proved life-changing, and yet this time around I'm writing in the margins,"I have forgotten so much of this stuff." Thankfully, this book is not going anywhere and will be around for us to reference and draw encouragement from, for a long time.
Enjoy,
Sherry Scott
Goodreads Author
I believe these chapters compliment each other, and in fact, one leads into the other. Many distractions and dangers can potentially derail us from our creative goals and what passions we long to pursue. Its not always easy, but naming and facing them can help remove the block. My personal favorites mentioned were fame and competition.
In a recent trip to New York, it isn't hard to see why fame confuses the picture and has us longing for attention and credit rather than feeling good about something we've done or accomplished. Posters of the famous and the up-and-coming stars and faces (or bodies) of today are everywhere: from the subways, billboards, magazine stands, sides of buildings to the corner where I stand as Beyonce's face flashes by on the side of a bus. Fame and competition have some of the same in common, a compare and contrast game that leaves us feeling deflated and lacking. In her book,The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron encourages us to stay true to ourselves-our own originality. "Let us concern ourselves first and foremost with what it is within us that is struggling to be born." Then we can begin to focus on the work and "creating what wants to be created", instead of worrying about the market or whatever else we tend to let determine our value. Naming what causes us to doubt ourselves leads us to reclaiming our autonomy-reclaiming our right to be an artist.
"The creator made us creative. Our creativity is our gift from God. Our use of it is our gift to God. Accepting this bargain is the beginning of true self-acceptance." A tall order for some of us, but if we are happier, more fulfilled when we are writing, painting, sculpting, etc., then we need to be about writing, painting, sculpting, etc.
We are nearing the end of our journey, our next chapter: Recovering a Sense of Faith, is the last one. I have been reminded again and again of truths I read in this book some five years ago that proved life-changing, and yet this time around I'm writing in the margins,"I have forgotten so much of this stuff." Thankfully, this book is not going anywhere and will be around for us to reference and draw encouragement from, for a long time.
Enjoy,
Sherry Scott
Goodreads Author
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