The Artist's Way

A few months ago, a friend of Bobbi's loaned her a copy of "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. I think I may have seen it before, but this time something about it struck me and I started writing my "Daily Pages." Daily Pages are a ritual that Cameron recommends: each day write, in longhand, three pages of whatever comes into your head. Don't read it. Just write it. So starting sometime in February, I started doing it. I've missed a day or two, no more, and some days I've written more than three, to catch up.

Cameron's got a whole program, not just the morning pages, but I did not have time to start before we left, so I just kept writing my pages.

When we got home I pulled out the book and started her Eight Week Recovery Program. I'm on Week One which is called "Recovering a Sense of Safety." The idea is to "protect the artist child within" using affirmative weapons." Part of this is just writing down positive thoughts about yourself, letting shit come out that denies the positive, and then being positive in spite of the crap.

So that's what I have been doing for the last few days. It's been interesting. The first day, just as soon as I wrote something positive, The Critic came roaring out to deny my affirmation. I talked back and fought it to a draw. The next day when I said something positie, there was something far weaker trying to contradict me. It was quite easily overcome.

We'll see how it goes.