Thirty years ago I bought my first copy of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. The book is a 12-week course in creative recovery. It appealed to me instantly. I bought it, flipped through it, got distracted and set it on a shelf.
So many things changed in my life during those decades:
I escaped an abusive marriage (only mentioned to highlight the wonderful man I am married to now)
Built a successful career as an associate broker in real estate.
Met the love of my life.
Traveled and golfed and adventured together.
Went to Disneyland for the first time ever, a place that my husband has loved since living near the Magic Kingdom. It was so special to me that he was the one who introduced me to being playful as an adult.
It hasn’t all been Grateful Dead shows and tie-dye bliss:
My happiness isn't because I've had some easy, pain-free life.
I suddenly changed from a healthy young-ish woman into a now, 23-years post onset later, wiser woman living with Multiple Sclerosis (a chronic auto-immune disease that stripped us of my aforementioned career).
Life has thrown hard challenges at us before, and after, we met. Hard times and unimaginable grief that won't be written here.
What works for us during the hard times is teamwork. We draw closer together and do whatever needs doing to get through it.
We choose joy and live a happy life together.
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Those years, and the healing that came with them, lit a long-dormant-and-as-good-as-dead creative spark.
During all of it, The Artist's Way remained on a bookshelf through several moves that led us to our current home.
Fast forward to the fall of 2023 when I attended a virtual writing retreat by AWritingRoom.com. I signed up because #Anne Lamott was going to speak. To my astonishment, Julia Cameron spoke too. Two writing legends in one retreat!
Julia was in unbearable pain. From my couch, I could feel her agony. Jacob Nordby stood at her side, at her request, and supported her throughout. In the Zoom chat, we were wanting her to stop, to go home, to rest, to get medical care if needed, and to take care of herself.
But…she persisted.
I will never forget her generosity in staying. In transforming my tiny creative spark into a roaring, sustainable bonfire. She taught me to persist, to guard and grow my own creativity, no matter what challenge I face. She taught me to be generous with all I've been given.
I try to honor her gift through my volunteer work in AWritingRoom.com where I am blessed to facilitate Silent Writing sessions and Small Groups for Writers (if you are looking for a supportive, kind, enthusiastic writing community, please come join us. It has transformed my writing life, and the writing lives of so many other Writers. You deserve to nurture your creativity, your writing).
In 2024, The Artist's Way was finally released from its storage on the shelf and became an active part of my immersion in writing, in my return to my true self.
One of the first steps is to write “Morning Pages" each day, before doing anything else. Three pages of stream-of-consciousness hand writing to connect with your soul and move the thoughts and emotions from the body…onto the page. They are for our eyes only. Some writers keep them, some shred or burn them each day.
The writing of them is healing.
It isn't about the content it is about the practice.
I began to notice that at some point during writing Morning Pages, I take a deep breath. I noted that in the margin. Still do. Evidence that the writing is healing.
The act of writing the stuck feelings out of our bodies and onto the page is life-giving.
I also stopped having night terrors on the days that I wrote my Morning Pages. More evidence.
If you can’t write them by hand, consider trying 750words.com. Each day, you write 750 words and get rewarded with virtual confetti and a streak tracker. Badges and encouragement included. They have gamified building a daily writing practice and made it so fun. Do that for a year and you will add over 237K words to your body of work. You will get those thoughts and feelings out of your body and onto the page.
I allowed distraction to settle in and veered away from writing Morning Pages for many months. Until a few days ago.
Mere, our fabulous Community Liason in AWritingRoom.com began the 12-week Artist's Way course with us. I am so grateful.
I'm writing Morning Pages again. I am on Day 3/3. Deep breaths have returned along with better sleep.
I'm curious, when writing, where do you notice your first deep breath? For me, it is usually around the end of page 2 of 3. Those are healing doses of oxygen and gratitude each day that I would not have received otherwise.
Give yourself the gift. Write, observe, make a note of when it happens for you. Let me know how it goes.
Thank you for reading, commenting and supporting. Now go write!
Write on, Jacque! Beautifully said, I am so grateful for your resilience and courage. You are a rock star my friend! Thank you for posting! Amazing piece!
Powerful words, Jacque. Thank you for sharing! Your piece brings perspective to why we write. Honoring your writing is like breathing. We must write and hone our practice to breathe, to rest, to find peace. Julia Cameron’s gift of Morning Pages are truly The Author’s Way 💜