A few years ago I felt I was stagnating. I didn’t feel lazy or idle, in fact quite the opposite. I was busy leading a full time change management project, training for a 160km cycle race and undertaking (or at least trying to) a heap of other commitments. So it wasn’t about feeling underutilised. I would have struggled to take on more.
Sure I felt active but when I really thought about how I spent each day, I realised I was really treading water. Doing the same things that I had enjoyed five years previously – admittedly different subject matter but essentially little change . . . I was in my comfort zone. Doing things I knew and understood. Day after day. I felt that if I took no assertive action to change things, my life would roll on and in five years-time, I would find myself in exactly the same place.
I realised what had really gone missing was my creative mojo . . .
It was about this time I heard of a new system to boost creativity – developed by Julia Cameron called “The Artists Way”. Actually it wasn’t so new, the book being written back in 1992. Originally turned down by a book publisher, Julia Cameron published the book herself – typing, photocopying and selling through a local bookstore. It has now sold millions of copies worldwide and is in the top one hundred self-help books of all time. Well how about that for believing in yourself?
Sure I felt active but when I really thought about how I spent each day, I realised I was really treading water. Doing the same things that I had enjoyed five years previously – admittedly different subject matter but essentially little change . . . I was in my comfort zone. Doing things I knew and understood. Day after day. I felt that if I took no assertive action to change things, my life would roll on and in five years-time, I would find myself in exactly the same place.
I realised what had really gone missing was my creative mojo . . .
It was about this time I heard of a new system to boost creativity – developed by Julia Cameron called “The Artists Way”. Actually it wasn’t so new, the book being written back in 1992. Originally turned down by a book publisher, Julia Cameron published the book herself – typing, photocopying and selling through a local bookstore. It has now sold millions of copies worldwide and is in the top one hundred self-help books of all time. Well how about that for believing in yourself?
The book contains instructions and assistance to run your own personal 12 week course – designed to reawaken your creative talent. Identifying and dealing with the blockages we all have that get in the way of being heart thumpingly creative. Elizabeth Gilbert apparently said that without the Artists Way there would have been no “Eat Pray, Love”. Crikey – I think the tourism industry in Ubud, Bali also owe Julia Cameron a beer or two in that case . . .
So what did I learn? Well I learnt to put aside my fear that I couldn’t do stuff. Letting perfection get in the way of just giving something a go. I love this quote from Julia Cameron . .
“I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seatbelt. The most remarkable things follow.”
But perhaps my biggest breakthrough was to unblock my hesitancy in writing. My habit of creating a sentence, re-reading it, correcting, changing, writing the next sentence re-reading, correcting . . . and so on. One of the daily exercises, and I mean every day, was journal writing. You are required to write (and I mean handwrite) three pages every morning, as soon as you awake.
So what did I learn? Well I learnt to put aside my fear that I couldn’t do stuff. Letting perfection get in the way of just giving something a go. I love this quote from Julia Cameron . .
“I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seatbelt. The most remarkable things follow.”
But perhaps my biggest breakthrough was to unblock my hesitancy in writing. My habit of creating a sentence, re-reading it, correcting, changing, writing the next sentence re-reading, correcting . . . and so on. One of the daily exercises, and I mean every day, was journal writing. You are required to write (and I mean handwrite) three pages every morning, as soon as you awake.
The way you do that is to pick up a pen and just write whatever comes into your mind. If you don’t know what to say you simply write “I don’t know what to say” and keep repeating that until inspiration takes over. The writing is for you alone, not be shared with anyone, which I think also helps keep the words flowing from your pen – knowing there will be no external critics or anyone to impress.
Well after three months it sure cured my writers block – I find I now write more naturally and with a flow that better connects my thoughts and ideas. In short, I now found myself enjoying an exercise I had previously anguished over.
If you find yourself in a creative slump, think about giving the Artists Way a go – it may be the cheapest three month course you have even undertaken – and just possibly the most powerful.
Well after three months it sure cured my writers block – I find I now write more naturally and with a flow that better connects my thoughts and ideas. In short, I now found myself enjoying an exercise I had previously anguished over.
If you find yourself in a creative slump, think about giving the Artists Way a go – it may be the cheapest three month course you have even undertaken – and just possibly the most powerful.
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