However, first the check in: 1) Morning pages? Check? 2) Artist Date? Check? 3) Inspirational Reading? Check?
Also…re-reading the basics and the artist’s prayer once a week through next Sunday (those who came to the workshop know what’s this about; for those who didn’t attend, check out the other half of Week Six in THE ARTIST’S WAY.).
This week is focused on recovering a sense of connection. We turn this week to the practice of right attitudes for creativity. The emphasis is on your receptive as well as active skills. The essays, exercises, and tasks aim at excavating areas of gtenuine creative interest as you connect with your personal dreams.
We’re going to focus on listening. On letting go of perfectionism. On taking risks.
Once we are willing to accept that anything worth doing might even be worth doing badly, our options widen.
Take a sheet of paper and answer this question: IF I DIDN’T HAVE TO DO IT PERFECTLY, I WOULD TRY:
List at least 20 things.
Have you done it? Go do it. We’ll wait.
Now go try one of those 20 things.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.” ~Les Brown
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
No, no, I won’t put you through an entire prompt of pirate talk. Although, I know a few of you would like that.
However, I will say, if you’re not doing your morning pages, I ought to have you all swab the decks or throw you in the cabin with the captain’s daughter….
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Sunday is our first workshop back after out Summer Sabbatical. We’re at the North Bend Library Meeting Room, 3 p.m. Please RSVP if you will attend. Also, if there’s some burning question/topic you want to discuss, please let me know today, so I can work it into the lesson plan. Bring a notebook & pen or your laptop. If you have things to brag about writing-wise, be sure to be prepared to share!
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So today we continue with our working together on The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
I will give you five of the 10 tasks she has planned out for you in this chapter six.
1. Natural Abundance: Find five pretty or interesting rocks. I enjoy this exercise particularly because rocks can be carried in pockets, fingered in business meetings. They can be small, constant reminders of our creative consciousness.
2. Natural Abundance: Pick five flowers or leaves. You may want to press these between wax papaer and save them in a book. If you did this in kindergarten, that’s fine. Some of the best creative play is done there. Let yourself do it again.
3. Clearing: Throw out or giveaway five ratty pieces of clothing (my note: if they’re ratty — toss them, don’t donate them; if they are gently worn, then definitely donate them!)
4. Creation: Bake something. (If you have a sugar problem, make a fruit salad) Creativity does not have to always involve capital-A art. Very often, the act of cooking something can help you cook something up in another creative mode. When I am stymied as a writer, I make soups and pies.
5. Communication: Send postcards to five friends. This is not a goody-two-shoes exercise. Send to people you would love to hear from.
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And now for your moment of Writing Zen:
“As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied! This isn’t greed, though it might be appetite.” ~Lawrence Calcagno
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
Oh, Fall is most certainly in the air. I hope my tomatoes survive the cooler nights. I’m hoping they vine ripen, but ….who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Hopefully it brings things like regular morning pages (just finally got mine done), artist’s dates, and inspirational reading. Are you doing yours? What has been your experience?
We have moved on to Week Six in The Artist’s Way. RECOVERING A SENSE OF ABUNDANCE
This week you tackle a major creative block — money. You are asked to really look at your own ideas around {insert your spiritual belief system here}, money, and creative abundance. The essays will explore ways in which your attitudes limit abundance and luxury in your current life. You will be introduced to counting, a block-busting tool for clarity and right use of funds. This week may feel volatile.
I agree when I’ve gone through this in the past (yes, yes, it’s good to review it), this week has been the hardest for me. That just tells me its the most necessary.
If you do have a copy of The Artist’s Way, please read pages 105 to 112. It will most certainly count as your inspirational reading.
Cameron posted this little poem in the midst of those pages that seems to get at the heart of this part of recovering a sense of abundance.
God likes art
That’s the part
My parents would ignore.
God likes art,
And I make art.
That’s what God likes me for!
Now it’s time for an exercise in counting.
For the next week you will be discovering how you spend your money. Buy a small pocket notepad and write down every nickle you spend. It doesn’t matter what it is for, how tiny the purchase, how petty the amount. Petty cash is still cash.
Each day, date a page and count — what you bought, what you spent, where your money went, whether it was for groceries, lunch in a diner, a cab ride, subway or bus fares, or a loan to your brother. Be meticulous. Be thorough. And be nonjudgmental. This is an exercise in self observation — not self-flagellation.
You may want to continue this practice for a full month or longer. It will teach you what you value in terms of your spending. Often our spending differs from our real values. We fritter away cash on things we don’t’ cherish and deny ourselves those things we do. For many of us, counting is a necessary prelude to learning creative luxury.
Money Madness, an Exercise
Complete the following phrases.
1. People with money are
2. Money makes people
3. I’d have more money if
4. My dad thought money was
5. My mom always thought money would
6. In my family, money caused
7. Money equals
8. If I had money, I’d
9. If I could afford it, I’d
10. If I had some money, I’d
11. I’m afraid that if I had money I would
12. Money is
13. Money causes
14. Having money is not
15. In order to have more money, I’d need to
16. When I have money, I usually
17. I think money
18. If I weren’t so cheap I’d
19. People think money
20. Being broke tells me
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“True life is lived when tiny changes occur”. ~Leo Tolstoy.
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
So glad so many of you are making it to the writing cafes. I miss being able to go to the evening ones — but, the only constant in life is change. Regardless if you’re not setting aside at least one of these times for your inner artist, the true writer inside of you, why not make a fall resolution to do so. Reminders for these come from Takako, Sara, or Sheri. So if you want to be on the mailing list for those, please let me know.
OK, so the discussion regarding changing the time for our Workshops was well participated. I appreciate that. There does seem to be a push from folks to change it from the weekend to a weekday evening. However, Mondays at the library are not available. So for now, we’ll keep it to Sunday until my schedule changes again (Post Football Season) and we perhaps have another opportunity for a different night. Therefore next workshop remains on Sunday, September 23, at 3 p.m. at the North Bend Library Meeting Room.
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Check-in time….
Have you been doing your morning pages? How was your artist date? Inspirational reading? When was the last time you sent a charming note?
Today’s exercises towards creative recovery have to deal with how kind or unkind we are to ourselves. Grab that piece of paper and start exploring:
* Ten ways I am mean to myself are…Just as making the positive explicit helps allow it into our lives , making the negative explicit helps us to exorcise it.
* Ten items I would like to own that I don’t are…And again, you may want to collect these images (remember last week’s exercises?). In order to boost sales, experts in sales motivation often teach rookie salesmen to post images of what they would like to own. It works.
* Honestly, my favorite creative block is…(fill in the blank) TV, overreading, friends, work, rescuing others, overexercise. You name it. Whether you can draw or not, please cartoon yourself indulging in it.
* My payoff for staying blocked is…This you may want to explore in your morning pages. (You’re doing your morning pages, yes?)
* The person I blame for being blocked is…Again, use your pages to mull on this.
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Lots to ponder and get to work on. Next week we dive into Week 6 of The Artist’s Way (just so those still following along with their own books/workbooks can keep track).
I’m going to take this moment before I close with the Moment of Writing Zen to do a little shameless self promotion. I’m always happy to brag about the creative accomplishments of any of you, so don’t be shy. Give me that information and I’ll be sure to share with the group. At any rate, I wanted to let you all know that I’ll be teaching creative writing to 4th and 5th graders through the Snoqualmie YMCA Kids University. The class is called “Writers Clubhouse.” Please tell everyone you know with a 4th and 5th grader. The class is Fridays after school — so gives working parents a bit of help on those short days. 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. beginning on Sept. 24th. through Nov. 10th. If I get an enrollment of 10 students, there are three scholarships available, too. But I need those 10 students first.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen: “The more we learn to operate in the world based on trust in our intuition, the stronger our channel will be and the more money we will have.” ~Shakti Gawain
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
Here’s hoping your summer has been inspirational and refreshing.
For many of us, today was the return to school for our children — or even for ourselves.
Before we get back into things there is some administrative items I need to communicate.
Workshop Days: Currently we are still scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Sundays at the North Bend Library Meeting Room. Many folks have asked for a different time. The only time that I could conduct workshops outside of that time frame is Monday evenings. However, I don’t know if the library is available for that or not. This is your time to speak up. Do you want to set aside time on Monday nights for writing or still so Sunday afternoons?
Also, the timing for the workshop schedule may change with the approach of baseball season. However, let’s just get through Autumn, shall we? So, please email me back and let me know what day is your preference for workshops. Then, I’ll check with the library and we’ll go from there.
Unless there are changes to the schedule, the next Writing Workshop for SnoValley Writes! is September 23rd at 3 p.m. in the North Bend Library’s Meeting Room. But, stay tuned!
Also, if any of you are willing to lead a workshop –especially given that our membership has had some great many successes, that would be fabulous. Let me know if you’re interested.
Writers Cafes: Our informal meetings have been going strong, and will continue through fall, with the normal uptick in November with the fun times of National Novel Writing Month. I once again will be Municipal Liaison, with the assistance of the fabulous Co-ML, Tam Borgia, otherwise known as Takako Wright. Please do join us — there are several options, in the morning, midday and evening. It’s a great place to just connect with people, get some motivation, help with questions about a story, a process, querying an agent, self-publishing, you name it. As our workshops, the cafes are a “creative safe zone.”
Theme of the Year: I’d like to really strengthen each and every individual writer this year. Our writing group is only as strong as its members. However, the group, nor myself, can help you if you don’t tell us where you need help. So, I’m dubbing the time of this Writing School Year, as it were, as: Strong Foundations. Writers in 2012 and beyond need to wear many hats. We need to be crazily creative; we need to be strong storytellers; we need to be marketing masters, self-publishing savvy, have social media sense, be blogging….the list goes on. Tell me where your writing life foundation is week, and I’ll put together a plan to help all of us. Don’t be shy, tell me where your authorial foundation needs some strengthening.
Removal: This is the time of year that I ask if you are receiving this email and wish to be removed from the list, to let me know. At any point you are welcome to return. Either way, it’s just a few clicks away to being included or removed.
Bring A Friend: As we approach National Novel Writing Month, I want to encourage all of you to perhaps recruit a friend to come joint he fun. Start thinking now about your creative buddy who needs some support, a gentle push, a hand to hold to make it through and create the writing life that’s inside all of us.
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Back to business. We will continue working through The Artist’s Way, but I will also pull in more “business” stuff as you all get back to me on what you want to work on within our Strong Foundations theme.
So…
Have you been doing your morning pages? How about your artist’s date? When was the last time you did a charming note? Inspirational reading?
If you’ve slacked off during summer, it’s all right. You can get back on the wagon again.
We left off with an exercise regarding forbidden joys and wish lists. If you haven’t done those, you can find the exercise at this link. Then join up with us again here.
Today’s tasks/creative life recovery exercise is this:
1. Start an Image File. (Some folks do this on Pintrest, but you could just do it electronically, or do it old school with old magazines and what not). Ask yourself that if you either had faith or money you would try….list 5 desires. For the next week, be alert for images of those desires. When you spot them, clip them, buy them, photograph them, draw them, collect them somehow. With these images, begin a file of dreams that speak to you. Add to it continually for the duration of the course.
2. One more time, list five imaginary lives. Have they changed? Are you doing more parts of them? You may want to add images of these lives to your image file.
3. If you were twenty and had money…List five adventures. Again, add images of these to your visual image file.
4. If you were sixty-five and had money…list five post-poned pleasures. And again, collect these images. This is a very potent tool. (Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way now lives in a house that she imaged for ten years.)
Go do it!
Feel free to bring your image file to any of the Writers Cafes or to our next workshop.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Money will come when you are doing the right thing.” ~Mike Phillips.
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
As many of you received word last Friday, I am taking a sabbatical from doing the Sunday Workshops until the 4th Sunday in September — a summer sabbatical, if you will. You will also see a change in the weekly Emails, as they will be not necessarily weekly, but more when there may be something literary- or writing-centric that you may all have an interest in.
Also, a few of you have come to me with needs of beta readers and what not. We have a some who have just signed contracts, about to sign contracts, securing agents, about to self-publish, etc. I offer up this Email list to use with care for such things.
Do not forget that the Writing Cafe’s will continue. I hope to pop in now and then and see you all at those, as my life allows. Continue to do your morning pages, write your charming notes, take your artist’s date and write, write, write!
Lastly, I want to reiterate that my intention is for all of us to take a break after nearly 4 years of working hard and come recharged in the Fall with new energies and renewed passions.
I hope to see you all then.
In the interim, here is your moment of Writing Zen:
“Take rest; A field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” ~Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD)
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
Happy Summer All! The sun is blessing us with its presence today. Be sure to get yourself some vitamin D. Don’t sequester yourself away in the writing or work cave too much.
First things first: Sunday (June 24) is our regular work session. Please RSVP and let me know if you plan to come. Because of some conflicting scheduling that’s happening in my life for the next four weeks, but especially on the 24th (I have to be in four places at once), I have to really juggle. I don’t want to juggle and then have an empty room. My first commitment is to the SnoValley Writes! Workshop. However, I really need to know who will be there. I oftentimes see a drop off in attendance in summer. Understandable. But, as I said, I don’t want to host a workshop for no one. So, please let me know if you plan to attend. 3 p.m. at the North Bend Library Meeting Room.
This next item might provide some synchronicity for some of you. I know that two of our members have already done a similar event and really had fun with it. Reisha has been kind enough to open up the invite to all of SnoValley Writes! Please do consider participating. I’d love to do this, but I’m stuck at an All-Star Tournament all day on Saturday. But, I encourage anyone interested in this to go ahead and do it. Great way to sharpen those skills and have fun while doing so. Here’s the details:
The Poetry Machine will be at Issaquah Highland Days Saturday from 10-2 and
yup, the machine needs you! I know I write each time there is an event and
ask for you your help. That’s because the Poetry Machine attracts such a
crowd and folks love engaging in the art of writing. It’s grass roots and
that’s why I ask for your help!
I am filling shifts (approximately 20 minutes each/$20 stipend!) from 10 am
– 2 pm. This event is particulary exciting because it’s a community affair
and there will be something for everyone in your family. Here’s more info
about the event: http://www.ihwebsite.com/news/AnnounceShow.asp?announcement_id=151389&assn_id=18941
I’d appreciate your support and love to see you! Let me know if this is
something that will work for you!
Give me a shout back on email or phone if you have questions.
Now back to our weekly tasks/work. Remember we’re working our way through Chapter Five of The Artist’s Way, “Recovering a Sense of Possibility.” I know speaking with some of you at the writing cafe’s that last week’s prompts really stirred some stuff in you and it’s pushing you outside your comfort zone. That is incredible and makes the work we do on this so rewarding. Keep it up.
Now it’s time for the weekly check in:
1. So how many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? I only did three out of seven. It was a rough week for me. But today starts a new week and I’ve already gotten my morning pages done.
2. Did you do your artist’s date this week? (Does your artist get to do more than rent a movie?) What did you do? How did it feel? Treasure hunting yesterday. Snuck it in before the “week” ended. I found treasures to help me create more art. Yay!
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? Sometimes synchronicity isn’t that “in your face.” I am seeing more synchronicity in other people’s lives for sure. Not sure I can always see it in my own. As we work through this book, I’m sure I’ll learn it more.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recover? Describe them.
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Today’s exercise continues to revolve around forbidden joys.
One of the favored tricks of blocked creatives is saying no to ourselves. It is astonishing the number of small ways we discover to be mean and miserly with ourselves. When I say this to my students, they often protest that this is not ture — that they are very good to themselves. Then I ask them to do this exercise.
List ten things you love and would love to do but are not allowed to do. Your list might look like something like this:
1. Go dancing
2. Carry a sketchbook.
3. Roller-skate.
4. Buy new cowboy boots.
5. Streak your hair blond.
6. Go on vacation.
7. Take flying lessons.
8. Move to a bigger place.
9. Direct a play.
10. Take life-drawing class.
Very often the mere act of writing out your list of forbidden joys breaks down your barriers to doing them. Post your list somewhere highly visible.
WISH LIST, AN EXERCISE
One of the best ways we can evade our Censor is to use the technique of speed writing. Because wishes are just wishes, they are allowed to be frivolous (and frequently should be taken very seriously).
As quickly as you can number a page 1 to 20. After the numbers 1 to 19 write:
I WISH______________________________________________.
Fill it in as quickly as you can.
After No. 20 put: I MOST ESPECIALLY WISH____________________________________________.
Again, fill it in as quickly as you can.
Now reflect.
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That’s it. We’ll continue with this lesson on Sunday’s workshop — provided that we have enough attendance.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.” ~ Colette.
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
Those that attended the Sunday workshop are probably very busy editing. How about the rest of you? How is your writing life going?
Hope you are working diligently on your morning pages and your artist’s dates.
A bit of admin work before we move forward on our weekly prompts/exercises…
Once again the day and time of the workshops (our Sunday sessions) is up for reconsidering. The board will discuss it at our June 27th meeting; however, we’d like some input from all of you. What day and time would be best for you? Do let me know. Keep in mind that it will also need to fit into the Library’s availability as well as my availability. Regardless, when would be the perfect time for you to attend? Please send me your input before the end of the week. Thanks.
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We enter into Week FIVE with THE ARTIST’S WAY this week. It is titled: “Recovering a Sense of Possibility.”
Before we dive in, I’d like to do the weekly check in:
1. So how many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? I did 6 out of 7 this week. Not too shabby.
2. Did you do your artist’s date this week? (Does your artist get to do more than rent a movie?) What did you do? How did it feel? I went to see Prometheus this week. It was a good artist date because I’m still thinking about the film and yearning to go see it again! Lots of writing fodder there!~
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? Sometimes synchronicity isn’t that “in your face.” I’m sure my life this past week had some, I’m just not aware of it…yet.
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recover? Describe them.
Now…this week you are being asked to examine your playoffs in remaining stuck. You will explore how you curtail your own possibilities by placing limits on the good you can receive. You will examine the cost of settling for appearing good instead of being authentic. You may find yourself thinking about radical changes, no longer ruling out your growth by making others the cause of your constriction.
“We listen to other people’s ideas of what is self-destructive without every looking at whether their self and our self have similar needs. Caught in the Virtue Trap, we refuse to ask ourselves, “What are my needs? What would I do it it weren’t too selfish?”
Are you self-destructive?
This is very difficult question to answer. To begin with, it requires that we know something of our true self (and that is the very self we have been systematically destroying).
One quick way to ascertain the degree of drift is to ask yourself this question: what would I try if it weren’t too crazy? List five things.
PUT YOUR ANSWERS HERE
(For me it would be motorcycling from Argentina to Alaska, Buying and learning to play the violin, self-publishing, Taking a dance class, Go to Readercon…)
If your list looks pretty exciting, even if crazy, then you are on the right track. These crazy notions are actually voices from our true self. What would you do if it weren’t too selfish? List five things.
PUT YOUR ANSWERS HERE
(For me it would be to continue freelancing from home to keep focusing on parenting my children appropriately, Start my master’s program, Start working out every day so I can motorcycle again without pain, Look through craigslist for a violin, check flights to Boston)
By seeking the creator within and embracing our own gift of creativity; we learn to be spiritual in this world, to trust that the universe is good and so are we and so is all of creation. In this way, we avoid the Virtue Trap.
THE VIRTUE-TRAP QUIZ
1. The biggest lack in my life is:
2. The greatest joy in my life is:
3. My largest time commitment is:
4. As I play more, I work:
5. I feel guilty that I am:
6. I worry that:
7. If my dreams come true, my family will:
8. I sabotage myself so people will:
9. If I let myself feel it, I’m angry that I:
10.. One reason I get sad sometimes is:
Does your life serve you or only others? Are you self-destructive?
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“There is the risk you cannot afford to take; and, there is the risk you cannot afford not to take.” ~Peter Drucker.
“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron
We’ll get outside and explore Seward Park’s geologic, natural, cultural and literary history. (Yes, Seward Park has a literary history!) Details from these distinct histories of our beloved park will become writing prompts for our workshop. Come with your notebook and pen, dressed for the weather, and we’ll write our way to a deeper understanding of Seward Park and our relationship to it. (This is the same workshop, offered twice.)
Meet at Seward Park’s Audubon Center – the historic building at the back of the traffic circle as you enter the park, to the left of the playground. (Seward Park is in Southeast Seattle, on Lake Washington and on the #39 bus route.)
No experience is necessary and all are most welcome.
Our next workshop is also this weekend on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the North Bend Library Meeting Room. Please RSVP and let me know if you plan to attend. I need you all to bring with you a small anecdotal story from your life. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just a story you will focus on for an exercise.
Thanks to a couple of your questions over the last few weeks, I’m sensing that a particular exercise will be needed. Bring the anecdotal story, notebook and writing stick (laptop okay, too). If we get through this one particular exercise, we’ll continue with The Artist’s Way workbook that we’ve been slowly moving forward on.
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Today’s prompt:
1. Write Your own Artist’s Prayer. Use it every day for a week.
Example (stolen from Chuck Wendig):
Write as much as you can.
As fast as you can.
Finish your shit.
Hit your deadlines.
Try very hard not to suck.
2. An Extended Artist Date: Plan a small vacation for yourself. (One weekend day. Get ready to execute it.)
3. Open your closet. Throw out — or hand on, or donate — one low-self worth outfit. (You know the outfit.) Make space for the new.
4. Look at one situation in your life that you feel you should change but haven’t yet. What is the payoff for you in staying stuck?
5. If you break your reading deprivation, write aobut how you did it. In a tantrum? A slipup? A binge? How do you feel about it? Why?
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“I learned that the real creator was inner Self, the Shakti…That desire to do something is God inside talking through us.” ~Michele Shea.
SnoValley Writes! is a confirmed non-profit with the state of Washington again until May 2013. We are beginning our fourth year and we have grown and accomplished much. Hopefully more to follow.
But this week, I want you to take a break.
Partly because I have been forced to take a break because of personal reasons, but mostly because my copy of The Artist’s Way is currently lost (misplaced) with all my notes.
If you’re motivated and want to move forward, go back through our posts on the web site (see below) and do all the exercises.
If you’ve done all the exercises, then you deserve a break. Just keep doing the morning pages and artist’s dates.
The DayTrippers, Monday Muse & Tuesday Writer’s Cafe will continue. If you’re not on the reminder emails for that, please let myself, Sheri J. Kennedy or Takako Wright know.
Our next regular work session is June 10th at the North Bend Library Meeting Room. 3 p.m.
