The Artist's Way

Review Week 1
Did you finish chapter 1?
Did you do your morning pages every day?
Did you go on an artist date?
Did you do the time travel tasks?
Did you write the letter to the editor?
Did you write about your imaginary lives?
Did you discover your blurts? Turn them into affirmations?

I've managed to get myself into a good routine of journaling every day but I do it in the evening. I find that it helps me dump the stress of the day so I can sleep better. Plus, I'm not a morning person at all. Asking me to wake up 30 minutes earlier is just unrealistic as I get up at 4:45am as it is.

I did not go on an artist date per say, but I did take good care of my inner artist so I suppose I can call it the same thing. I woke on Saturday morning, made breakfast with hubby, grabbed my espresso and plopped myself in front of my computer where I stayed for four hours. During that time, I wrote and I wrote and I wrote some more. 5,000 words came flowing through my fingertips. It was probably the most enjoyable Saturday morning I remember having in a very long time. Who knew that spending four hours writing would bring me so much joy?

I did not do all the tasks for the week either. No time travel tasks, no imaginary lives, no brisk walk. But I did discover the blurts and turn them into affirmations. It feels like a slow start to the Artist's Way for me. I wrote like a crazy person and as I think back through the week, nothing really stood out to me as an aha moment or anything. I'm really just working on going with the flow of whatever happens and reserving my judgement until later. Not an easy challenge for me but I think it'll be worth the effort.

Looking at Week 2
Week 2 is all about recovering a sense of identity. I like the first words in the chapter, "Going Sane". Going sane talks about discovering the self-doubt and all the sabotaging crap we say to ourselves. I caught myself doing that last night as I wrote my pages. I wrote 5,000 words on Saturday because I allowed myself to get behind by 3 days in the NaNoWriMo stuff and needed to catch up. Then after getting caught up, I told myself that I wouldn't fall behind again. Yesterday, I didn't write so immediately after making the promise, I failed. With an eye-roll and a swift judgement, I emotionally slapped myself in my pages. Although slightly understandable, that's not what I need. Focusing on the negative will only bring me more of the same. No bueno.

Crazymakers and skeptics. Do you have those people in your life? I know a couple crazymakers still but they are mostly removed from my daily life so their crazy doesn't affect me much anymore. The people who I surround myself with now are very supportive of my efforts, no matter what they are.

Week 2 was where my world flipped upside down my first time through the Artist's Way. Strangely enough, I'm a little afraid of what else will happen this week in my life. Only one way to find out.