The Artist’s Way (by Julia Cameron) is a 12 week workbook aimed at people who feel like they are struggling with their art, music, or any other creative endeavor. It is written with the purpose of helping you break through the mental blocks that stop you from expressing yourself creatively and gain the courage/discipline to see your projects into completion. However, what sets this book apart is that it is actually more of a self-therapy book than an art book, it focuses heavily on psychology and spirituality to get you happy and excited to work on your art again.
After the covid lockdowns, having all the time to myself made me feel like there was something missing in my life. I needed some structure and guidance. I knew there was something holding me back - but what? I realized that I needed to realign myself spiritually and craft my own identity. The Artist's Way was just what I needed. I had a crazy good few months when I was going through this book.
It's a 12 week commitment. It's organized in a weekly chapter format, where you’re asked to go through that week’s essays and tasks which are designed to help you identify issues and inspire new ideas in your life so you can get over whatever type of block is keeping you from focusing on your artsy goals. It involves daily journaling, weekly solo dates to boost your creativity, and some self-help activities to help you identify conflict in your life/in your head.
My schedule with the book looked like this:
It was nice to have this kind of structure in my life. Eventually, I plan on getting through the sequel books written by Julia Cameron (they're pretty much more of the same). As you advance with this routine and the positive affirmations and essays given to you in the book, you start noticing things in your daily life that resonate with you, and the floodgates of creativity slowly start to open up. The effectiveness of the book depends on the reader's ability to play along with it. The more you give, the more you take!
My experience with The Artist's Way was transformational and I hope this page inspires others to start their own journey with this practice.
Join the cult here