Any Artist's Way practitioners in the house?

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

For the uninitiated, I'm referring to Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. It's not easy to explicate, but the book outlines a set of spiritual principles and practical exercises that lead to greater creativity.

I am trying to figure out if anyone else on DU practices TAW. If so, perhaps we could do a cluster to work through The Vein of Gold, the Artist's Way sequel?

[Zooza]

1. yes, but I've been slipping

I'd be interested in checking in on this subject and I'm glad you brought it up. I've been slipping as far as my journeling practice foes but I've been using techniques presented in this book for over eight years. It's made a profound difference in my life and I'd be intersted in sharing ideas with others here. I'm not a writer so I'm not sure I could contribute much along those lines.
Even though I am a musician I found The Vein of Gold a little harder to get into but keep coming back to it.
Thanks for checking in.

[NJCher]

2. I was in an artist's group

We went through the entire book.


Cher

[Chovexani]

3. I love it but am awful about following it

The only Artist's Way exercise that I practice regularly is writing morning pages. My brain works at a mile a minute and the morning pages really help me "drain" my head and focus better when I start to write.

I had no idea there was a sequel. How is it?

[Zooza]

4. yeah, here too

Hello again. I found The Vein of Gold a little harder to get into but must admit I didn't even attempt to do many of the exercises. I was looking at it last night and I think the first part of the book reminded me a lot of "survivors" type therapeutic exercises and much of it is indeed geared towards getting out of "victim" role as artist. It seems to go a little deeper into the psychological aspects of blocks.
I have been doing morning pages for about 7 or 8 years and am pretty good about doing artist dates.
I think I'll start trying some of the exercises in Vein of Gold. I'd forgotten how much interest J. Cameron has in music. There's actually a song of hers in there titled "Avalon". It's a bit insipid, but I'm the first to admit a second look or listen can often yield a little more debth.
Let's keep checking in!

[Chovexani]

5. Thanks for your input

And welcome to DU. :hi: I will have to give The Vein of Gold a try, it sounds fascinating.

[Zooza]

6. "containment"

I liked the chapter on "containment".
I'm up for chit chatting about the process though.

[NJCher]

7. I hated those morning pages

Cher

[MissBrooks]

8. I got a copy for Xmas

Today!

[sybylla]

9. I used to do Artist's Way but I've gotten away from it

I did like the morning pages but I seemed to spend a great deal of time at them. It did feel good to vent. It began to feel like vacuuming out the lint so I could get to the art. The artist dates were a dream - a total luxury.

I got away from it when I really got deep into my writing. I felt like I was skipping dinner and going right to desert when I started skipping the morning pages. But I found skipping some of the exercises didn't really hurt my creativity at that time. Looking back, I was probably letting the exercises take over out of fear. If I didn't work but spent all my time on exercises I could still convince myself that I was being productive when I wasn't. If I didn't produce, I didn't have to worry about being good enough.

Now that you've brought it up, I may go back to AW again. Didn't know there was a sequel. Keep us posted as to how it goes for you.

[DrZeeLit]

10. Haven't for a long while, but when I did... wow!

I was going to run a group this past semester, but didn't work hard enough to get it off the ground. I think we would have a mix and that would make it work for all of us -- to get through the book. My only "barrier" would be the actual books. I could see other professors finding a way to buy copies, but the kids... oooh, money is tight.

I admit, when I was really into doing the work through the first book, my other work -- my writing -- was not only better, but I had more to write, better ideas and no end in sight. Something clicked -- I can't even explain it. I wrote a series of poems that I still love.

I appreciate remembering, and thank you for bringing it up!