Quick! Go outside right now. Yes, go right now. Go get some sun and vitamin D. Just stand our in the fresh air and breathe. I’ll wait here. Don’t come back for at least 10 minutes. Really, this email will still be here. Go, now. Make it happen.

What are you still doing here? …..

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Oh? You’re back? That was a quick 10 minutes. Wasn’t that grand? Did you hear the birds? Feel the cool Spring air on your face? I know you smiled. Whether because you’re in awe of the sun and nature or because you maybe felt a little silly. Regardless you smiled and new endorphins and hormones and all kinds of positive energy went through your body. And that’s a good thing.  Ever stuck in your creativity? A scene have you stuck? Try smiling. It’s amazing what epic waves of new energy follows that simple physical act.

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So, it is clear that the Month of May will put us on Hiatus as far as workshop sessions go. It’s hard to compete with Mother’s Day and the first long weekend of good weather. There may be a less formal gathering, but I will announce for sure next week.

But do stay engaged in the writers cafes and your own personal writing life. Keep working on the exercises I provide through these weekly emails — without a workshop they will become even more critical.

**********

Now for the fun part:

We continue our work via The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

Check in: (these are good morning pages prompts, if you like)

1.  How many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? If you skipped a day, why did you skip it? (For me I hit 5/7, which seems to be my average. I’m having trouble rising early enough before the drums of family life awake everyone else to get these in; I may have to forgo some sleep to get them in on Saturday and Sunday).

2.  Did you do your artist date this week? What did you do? How did it feel? (I did some treasure hunting this week – and found some things that I will turn into art over the summer. I also took myself to lunch.)

3.  Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? (I decided to add “Celebrate Beltane in Edinburgh, Scotland to my bucket list. My son posted a video from his favorite free-style BMX’r who hails from there and he said he wanted to go. Plans to get there before he’s 21 are afoot.)

4.  Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your {creative} recovery? Describe them. (I am struggling with contentment, meaning I feel, like many Americans, that it’s all not happening fast enough. Mindfulness of right now is a focus for me this week.)

Now to your tasks/exercises for this week:

A.  Habits:  Take a look at your habits. Many of them may interfere with your self-nurturing and cause shame. Some of the oddest things are self-destructive. Do you have a habit of watching TV you don’t like? Do you have a habit of hanging out with a really boring friend and just killing time (there’s an expression!)? Some rotten habits are obvious, overt (drinking too much, smoking, eating instead of writing). List three obvious rotten habits.What’s the payoff in continuing them?

Some rotten habits are more subtle (no time to exercise, little time to pray (meditate), always helping others, not getting any self-nurturing, hanging out with people who belittle your dreams). List three of your subtle foes. What use do these forms of sabotage have? Be specific.

B.  Make a list of friends who nurture you — that’s nurture (give you a sense of your own competency and possibility), not enable (give you the message that you will never get it straight without their help). There is a big difference between being helped and being treated as though we are helpless. List three nurturing friends. Which of their traits, particularly, serve you well?

C.  Call a friend who treats you like you are really good and bright person who can accomplish things. Part of your recovery is reaching out for support. This support will be critical as you undertake new risks.

D.  Inner Compass:  Each of us has an inner compass. This is an instinct that points us toward health. It warns us when we are on dangerous ground, and it tells us when something is safe and good for us. Morning pages are one way to contact it. So are some other artist-brain activities — painting, driving, walking, scrubbing, running. This week, take an hour to follow your inner compass by doing an artist-brain activity and listening to what insights bubble up.

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That’s a lot to keep you busy this week. But since you’ve got an extra few hours this month because of no workshops, we’re going to get moving forward on recovering your sense of artistic power.

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And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Creative work is play. It is free speculation using the materials of one’s chosen form.” ~Stephen Nachmanovitch.

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“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

Good Day to all of you.

We continue today with our Artist’s Way Journey. Some of you have gone and obtained a copy of the book or workbook — that’s great. Someone asked if it was necessary to do, and no, it’s not. You can take this journey with us without the book, although I’ll say again the King County Library, one of our biggest supporters, has several copies of the book and audio book.

I’ll ask you again, as promised, how you’re doing on using the tools of The Artist’s Way and your creative recovery efforts:

1) Morning pages? Me? I’m 5/7 this past week. Seem to have some trouble on the weekends getting them done; so, I need to work on that.

2) Artist’s Date? Me? I’m doing well on that. This week I’ll be at NorWesCon 35; so, I’ll have lots of opportunities for that.

3) Affirmative Reading? Never a problem for me because I have those posted near my writing desk.

Today’s exercises (note they are extra detailed because we are NOT meeting this Sunday due to the Easter holiday and my conference schedule):

I want you to return to the list of imaginary lives we’ve made (see below if you forgot *) Add five more lives (me:  rancher, wilderness guide, environmental scientist, a master gardener, a successful etsy business person). Again, check to see if you could be doing bits and pieces of these lives in the one you are doing now. If you have listed a dancer’s life, do you let yourself go dancing? If you have listed a monk’s life, are you ever allowed to go on a retreat? If you are a scuba diver, is there an aquarium shop you can visit? A day at the lake you could schedule?

Next:

LifePie:  Draw a circle. Divide it into six pieces of pie. Label one piece spirituality, another exercise, another play, and so on with work, friends, and romance/adventure. Place a dot in each slice at the degree to which you are fulfilled in that area (outer rim indicates great; inner circle, not so great). Connect the dots. This will show you where you are lopsided. As you begin the course, it is not uncommon for your life pie to look like a tarantula. As recovery progresses, your tarantula may become a mandala. Working with this tool, you will notice that there are areas of your life that feel impoverished and on which you spend little or no time. Use the time tid-bits you are finding to alter this. If your spiritual life is minimal, even a five-minute pit stop into whatever you see as a spiritual place (nature, synagogue, temple, cathedral) can restore a sense of wonder. Many of us find that five minutes of drum music can put us in touch with our spiritual core. For others, it’s a trip to a greenhouse. The point is that even the slightest attention to our impoverished areas can nurture them.

We’re not done yet:

Ten Tiny Changes:  List ten changes you’d like to make for yourself, from the significant to the small or vice versa (“get new sheets so I have another set, go to China, paint my kitchen, dump my bitchy friend Alice”). Do it this way:

I would like to____________________________________________________________________________________.

I would like to____________________________________________________________________________________.

As the morning pages nudge us increasingly into the present, where we pay attention to our current lives, a small shift like a newly painted bathroom can yield a luxuriously large sense of self-care.

Two to go:

Select one small item from your ten tiny changes and make it a goal for the week.

Now go do that item.

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Reminders:

Word Jazz is Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. If you are wanting to come but don’t want to sit alone, I have a table for 5. Due to schedule changes I have three other seats available. Let me know if you’d like to come and sit at my table. Otherwise get your reservations today; my understanding is there are very few seats left.

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And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~Eddie Cantor

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“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

*Imaginary Lives:  If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? I would be a successful author, a literature PhD, a helicopter pilot, depth psychologist, or a violinist. You might be a sucba diver, a cop, a writer of children’s books, a football player, a belly dancer, a painter, a performance artist, a history teacher, a healer, a coach, a scientist, a doctor…..Whatever occurs to you, jot it down. Do not over think this exercise. The point of these lives is to have fun in them — more fun than you might be having in this one. Look over your list and slect one. Then do it this week. For instance, if you put down country singer, can you pick a guitar? If you dream of being a cowhand, what about some horseback riding?

First off, there is no field trip tonight to The Black Dog. If you missed that message over the weekend — tonight’s open mic is musicians only. We’re looking to go for their “spoken word” night, and I’ll ferret out more details on that later. So look for that information later in the week or by next Wednesday. Every writer will have to read at some point in their life (as witnessed by myself this past weekend) — so it’s good practice. Why not do it when there are so many friendly faces and supportive souls in the audience? However if you like supporting local musicians, go tonight all the same and be a happy ear and joyous applause maker for those brave enough to take the stage.

This weeks’ prompt comes from one of the founding tactics in Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way.” It’s called morning pages. What are morning pages? This is what Ms. Cameron says,

I want you to try to attempt doing morning pages every day for the next three weeks. One of our members keeps a notebook in her bathroom, so she can do them without interruption by spouse or child. You can find a method that works for you. I start the fires of the household in the morning, then I do my pages. Again, you can find something that works for you. Maybe do it before your feet even hit the floor. Do remember these morning pages, this journal, is not shared by you — nor should you review the pages until the end of the three weeks. If you have more questions about the morning pages, feel free to message me back with what they are. Or you could pick up a copy of The Artist’s Way and check it out yourself.

Also, for those who want some more tips about writing, I wholeheartedly endorse that you follow Chuck Wendig’s blog. Be advised his potty mouth makes me look like a saint. I’ve told you before it’s as if he has some sort of Writer’s version of Tourettes; but, he’s dead bang-on right about his advice. So read it here (at your own risk) and digest. And then go finish some morning pages.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.” ~J. Krishnamurti