Tag: Julia Cameron

  • Reading Deprivation – An Artist’s Way Dilemma


    Entering week four of the Julia Cameron “Artist’s Way” workshop, my friends and I face a difficult challenge.  For this seven day period we are not supposed to read – at all.  Already I have fallen back into my word addiction, haunting the aforementioned forum this fine Tuesday afternoon despite best intentions.

    I succeeded better yesterday, putting back the magazine in my dentist’s waiting room unread.  The periodical leaped into my hands, I swear.  Seriously, without a novel in hand, my brain automatically sought another distraction.

    And mental distraction is exactly the thing Ms. Cameron wishes we would avoid.  Without constant informational inflow, our thoughts might turn inward.  Scary notion, huh?  Less frightening, we might find ourselves doing something constructive.  She hopes a new outflow will nudge aside artistic blockage.
    Admittedly, I still spent some time watching television last night but I’m keeping such mind numbing activity to a minimum.  As a result I found some positive and even playful substitutions.  In one day I enacted several reading alternatives that would not have occurred to me most other weeks.
    Waiting while a loved one received a physician’s care, I called my parents.  Later I flipped through a photo album before recreating a favorite image on manila drawing paper.  The resulting art is amateurish, certainly, yet the process was fun and rewarding.
    A friendly, self-proclaimed comedian friend of mine pointed out that I’m actually reading as I prepare this post.  I had to laugh.  Even Julia Cameron’s writings offer some contradiction.
    For example, in one paragraph she warns against filling our inner silence with things like television (as I mentioned above), gossipy conversations, or constant radio chatter.  On the following page she lists some other things people can do besides read and tops the list with listen to music.  Perhaps her mention of the radio refers to talk shows, for that matter.
    At any rate, I intend to do my best at promoting inner quiet.  Who knows what new activities my brain might cook up next?  On that note, it’s time to check the mailbox and maintain the silly hope my postman didn’t delivery a tempting new comic book.

    –

  • My Quote of the Day, by Darla M Sands


    A lucky accident today led me to a documentary about English writer Alan Moore.  I’d been trying to find an airing of a movie called “Mindscape” when “The Mindscape of Alan Moore” popped up in my search.  Intrigued, I began to watch.  His 1980’s contributions to the British comic “2000 AD” amazed me well before Hollywood got its claws into his art.
    As much as his story drew me in I suddenly stopped, compelled to share a quote.  I love this:
    “Quitting my day job and starting my life as a writer was a tremendous risk.  It was a fool’s leap; a shot in the dark.  But anything of any value in our lives – whether that be a career, a work of art, a relationship – will always start with such a leap.  And in order to be able to make it you have to put aside the fear of failing and the desire of succeeding.”
    This reiterates my personal beliefs and aligns well with Julia Cameron’s teachings.  Of course we can’t all achieve world renown, but I would choose a modest existence and creative contentment over Wall Street riches any day.
    Alan Moore goes on to say, “You have to do these things completely purely – without fear, without desire – because things that we do without lust of result are the purest actions that we shall ever take.”
    I shall take these words to heart.  I hope you will, as well.

  • Keep the Drama on the Page

    Having been introduced to Julia Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” creative workshops a few years ago, I continue appreciating the maxim advising students “keep the drama on the page”.  Or the stage, or canvas, or whatever your favorite artistic medium.

    Of course that is not always easy.  Personally, as I slid a meatloaf into the oven several minutes ago I could not help recalling the nuisances inflicting my household in 2014.  It started with the early January meatloaf I cooked.  The oven element caught fire during the last five minutes of cook time.  Fortunately dinner was delicious but the next day my vacuum sweeper failed, its slipped belt actually burning through the plastic outer cover.  Neither could be fixed, and even replacement proved trickier than reason dictates.

    Add to that the veterinarian telling me my sweet, overweight cat was on the fast track to diabetes and a Saturday night spent racing a human to the emergency room.  Thank heaven everyone is on a healthier road now.  However, these surmountable but sometimes expensive and definitely stressful inconveniences have been compounded by a friend’s emotionally draining phone calls.  Again, I must count my blessings because the friend is not what Ms. Cameron would call a “crazymaker”.  Also, i can happily report that she is in a better place as of this very afternoon.

    Opening Julia Cameron’s prescribed morning page “brain dump” with a list of five blessings the last few months, I make regular note of positives.  I could live in a war torn country with no electricity or flush toilets, after all.  And I have the luxury of art.  Every day, small creative endeavors boost my spirits.  Alongside Julia Cameron’s user friendly tools and gentle wisdom, I have dear friends encouraging me to play.  A book of mandalas in an adult coloring book, wild bird feeding, a craft package suitable for eight-year-olds, and even enjoying my Christmas tree beyond January first have elevated my spirit beyond everyday doldrums.

    What activities brighten your day? Can you maybe take a few minutes to pamper yourself with fun? I sincerely hope you can sprinkle a little innocent pleasure into a what I imagine is a very busy modern schedule.

    –

  • Writer Wednesday – Finding Balance


    I just finished reading an interview featuring a very gifted artist.  Amongst his other comments, he underlined the importance of mental and physical balance.  One colleague, upon seeing the man’s most private project, asked how he could possibly be sane and produce such work.
    The answer?  Martial arts.  In this artist’s case, that translated to thirty years practicing Kung Fu and several also instructing.  His peer replied in the manner of “Ah!  Of course.”  They both understood that physical discipline grounded him to the real world.
    While the most remedial martial arts routine would probably put me in agony the next day, walking is an activity most of us can quite easily undertake.  The key lies in making time.
    On a scale I find achievable, Julia Cameron’s “Walking in This World” teachings promote weekly walks.  She advocates thirty minutes or more, and doing it more than once if we feel so motivated.  I find the activity lets me enjoy my surroundings and/or muse over blessings.  When I suffer impotent anger, it helps clear away obsession over little injustices.
    For nearly a month, I’ve reincorporated regular workouts on my ski machine alongside walking.  Feeling a bit more fit, I want to keep the momentum going.  I have never obtained the enviable endorphin high such as I’ve heard marathon runners extol, but my small accomplishments give me a definite mental boost.
    What type of exercise are you getting or might consider undertaking?  I hope you can make the effort and reap the rewards.  Just be safe if you’re walking an icy path or attempting something physically advanced.  Equally important, enjoy yourself.
    –

  • Writer Wednesday – A Genius Viewpoint

    Along with talented friends on an artist’s forum, I am reading Julia Cameron’s book “Walking in This World”.  It follows the same thread as her “Artist’s Way” guide, both aimed at helping people unlock and explore their creative potential.  One continuing theme of Ms. Cameron’s program includes inspirational quotes in the books’ margins.  Proceeding through each weekly chapter I tend to find at least one that stands out.
    Week nine gave me the following:
    “There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
    This rousing, seemingly unscientific outlook led me to look up the genius on Wikipedia.  There I found something nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer said at Mr. Einstein’s memorial.  The following words reinforce the lauded theoretical physicist’s opinion.
    “There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn.”
    What better way to describe someone who sees miracles?  Of course this is a visionary approach not only toward scientific achievement, but also artistic.  Julia Cameron encourages both a childlike idealism and a strong (one might say stubborn) work ethic.
    Whether theorizing on relativity or plotting a novel, human beings must see beyond the scope of reality.  Yes, our storyline and characterizations may stay within a real world context.  Our minds, however, are creating fiction.  We are inventors.
    I may be no Einstein, but I’m going to go now and invent something the world has never seen.  Happy writing!
    –

  • Update, News, and Goings-On

    Hello, world!  I’M CAFFEINATED!

    Let’s see.  What’s new in the land of Writer Zen Garden?  WE HAVE A NEW MEETUP GROUP!  I’m so excited.  We are the Writer Zen Garden and joining up is free.  If you join, you will be prompted to set up a Meetup account, if you don’t already have on; you will then be kept apprised by email of events and goings-on in person.  If you’re interested, please check it out:

    Writer Zen Garden

    We are running two workshops at the moment.  The first is Walking In This World, using Julia Cameron’s book by the same title.  The second in her bestselling Artist’s Way trilogy, Walking focuses on expanding our creativity and learning tools that help us stay on the page.  It runs every other Sunday and we had our first meeting yesterday, October 13th, at Pumping Station: One.

    Secondly, we will have a Prompts Circle.  Our first meeting is this Saturday, October 19th, also at Pumping Station: One.  If you want some new ideas to play with in your writing, or just need to get back onto the page, join us!

    Finally, National Novel Writing Month is coming!  Every year in November, thousands of writers around the globe participate in the madness that is NaNo.  If you haven’t heard of it yet, or if you haven’t signed up for this year’s madness, visit their website.

    That’s all the news for now.  We are hard at work on Submission Guidelines for the blog and some more announcements throughout the rest of the year, leading up to our big announcement in January.  Be sure to stay tuned!