The Artist’s Way
By Julia Cameron
Summarized by Cutejay and voiced by Uyoh Uyoh
Just at the time when most people would get
rejected by a publisher(s), get dejected and
allow their books gather up dust, a fine young
woman in the 1990s wasn’t taking NO for
an answer.
Long before Amazon was around and self-publishing
became a trend, Julia Cameron self-published
The Artist’s Way after it was turned down
by a publisher.
Her book since then has become a major bestseller.
Here are our 5 favorite lessons to help you
find back to the artist’s way:
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Lesson No. 1
Give your creativity the chance to run freely
by writing Morning Pages.
Julia Cameron most likely wouldn’t have
become a best-selling author if she didn’t
write Morning Pages.
Before becoming a globally acclaimed author,
she was a Hollywood screenwriter and had just
written a movie for popular American actor
and father of actress Angelina Jolie- Jon
Voight.
Voight’s partner called her up and said,
“It’s brilliant.”
And then, she waited endlessly for a call
that never happened.
Julia was sort of stuck with the feeling of,
Oh my god.
I have this quote “brilliant movie” and
she can’t get him on the phone.
So, she started writing Morning Pages as a
way to comfort herself.
And that was how Morning Pages began for her.
As at that time, Julia was living in Taos
in a little adobe house at the end of a dirt
road.
She felt like, “What happened in my career?”
and started doing Morning Pages.
After doing them for a couple of months, a
character for a novel strode into them.
She went off and wrote a novel and that was
how she got the notion that the pages were
healing because she had healed herself.
Till today, Julia still says that if they
had returned her phone call, she’d still
be a Hollywood screenwriter and The Artist’s
Way wouldn’t have been birthed.
So, what’s the lesson here?
First thing in the morning, sit down, let
your thoughts out and just write down whatever
comes to your mind.
Make it a page or two.
You don’t have to push yourself to start
big; start small.
See Morning pages as a form of meditation
– a way to just let your creativity flow
without building barriers around it.
Do this for a week and watch as magical things
start to unfold.
Lesson No. 2
If you have writer’s, singer’s or painter’s
block, just let other people give you ideas.
I love coming up with article ideas for the
ABC blog, e-book titles, course ideas for
other clients.
The scary part is what comes afterwards: writing
the article.
Even as someone who’s written thousands
of words, starting with a blank page is still
very scary.
And I’m no exception.
World-class writers struggle with this.
A great tip from popular American author,
Seth Godin is to write like you talk.
That’s a great advice.
You know why?
Because nobody gets talker’s block!
Hahaha..
Julia Cameron has another awesome idea and
it works for any kind of block: writer’s
block, singer’s block, painter’s block;
whatever your block might be.
It’s as simple as it is efficient: let other
people give you prompts.
She even accredits that most of the success
garnered from The Artist’s Way began when
she shared her ideas about creativity with
a few friends in her living room 25 years
ago.
So, go to a friend, family member, or ask
your audience: What do you want me to write
about?
What song should I sing?
What motif should I paint?
And then do just that.
Trust me, not only will you feel free about
not thinking up what to create for a while,
, you’ll be in an entirely different place,
ready to take on what’s next once you’re
done!
Lesson No 3;
Ideas are already out there –your job as
an artist is to take good care of them and
watch them grow.
Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and
poet, Michelangelo didn’t create David.
Rather, he said he found him.
Isn’t that humility?
You can imagine one of the world’s greatest
artists taking no credit for one of the best
art works in history.
He just says he found the idea and happened
to be the one chiseling away at that block
of stone at the right time to make it happen.
But this is more than humility.
It’s a tool.
The minute you stop thinking of yourself as
an idea generator and instead see yourself
as a vessel that ideas just happen to flow
through as you find them out in the world,
you take all the creative pressure off.
A gardener doesn’t create a tree.
A gardener plants a seed and then he takes
good care of it, hoping it’ll one day bloom
and turn into a big, beautiful tree.
Being a gardener of ideas is all you have
to do as an artist.
So, find them, take care of them, help them
grow and watch what happens next.
Be a good gardener, okay?
Lesson No. 4
Don’t give up.
When you’re talking about success-personified,
one of the people that come to mind is billionaire
entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson.
According to him, on every adventure he has
been on — whether setting up a business,
flying around the world in a balloon, taking
a hike in the woods, or racing across the
ocean in a boat — there have been moments
when the easy thing to do would be to give
up."
However, not giving up makes him push himself
to achieve that goal; which is one of the
reason why he’s immensely successful, both
personal and professional.
Oh!
And do we have to tell you – he’s an avid
writer!
"If you don't write down your ideas, they
could be gone by the morning," Branson says.
He makes sure that he makes a list of upcoming
plans or company plans.
His book, “Finding My Virginity” is also
one of the world’s most-read and best-selling
books.
Lesson No. 5:
Never succumb to the whims of a crazymaker.
Crazymakers are like parasites.
They’re always on the prowl, looking for
victims to feed upon.
Don’t fall into the clutches of a crazymaker,
a person who feeds on your attention while
downgrading you as well.
One way to identify crazymakers is that they
have a penchant for surrounding themselves
with talented artists who lack self-esteem
and confidence.
Remember: don’t let a crazymaker prey on
you.
You’re the only person who has the right
to own your creativity!
So, be ready to sing, dance, doodle, draw,
sculpt, recite, write, design, paint, spray
or whatever you used to love way back when
you were an artist or kid!
It’s your time to reignite!
Now, Let’s Discuss
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book?
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