Hello. This is week number 9. I’m Ava Clary and I’m following the Artist Way. I post a weekly reflection about Julia Cameron’s book, the Artist’s Way. 

Let’s discuss where I am. Previously my reflections about the Artists Way, I declared my success. I had an insightful ahha moment. Read about the end of my week 8 here.

But just because you realize something monumental, it doesn’t always translate into momentum. It was like reaching the top of a hill and not running down it recklessly. Thanks, I think I’ll stay up here and admire the view. Pat myself on the back. Good job you made progress. You’ve done it — achievement unlocked, trophy earned. Now we’re cured, right? Everything will be smooth going forward. We can relax now and not make any effort because we’ve already reached the pinnacle.

Well, it’s a nice thought, and it makes for a picturesque end to my artist journey, if I were scribbling away without worries or fears. This is my real life though, and there is no tidy ending. This isn’t the denouement, there is no end credit scene coming. (Not yet.) My artistic journey continues. I have more to learn. More creative ideas are bubbling inside me. More art to make. More books to write, and especially a certain Fairy Doctor series finale to write. I really want to finish it. Besides, this is only week nine. I’m still finding my direction. Is it forward, left, right or is this a u-turn?

Turning Creative U-turns into Roundabouts

Driving in a big city and relying on GPS navigation sometimes means you have to take a few u-turns. You may even have to get off the freeway because you missed the exit, and then have to backtrack in order to get on the street, which will lead you in the right direction. U-turns are inevitable. Cameron discussed the creative variety in week nine and then she asks you to do some time traveling. Find those moments where you had an opportunity and ignored it, sabotaged your progress, gave up on an idea because you lost confidence or didn’t have immediate success. That’s the one I’m struggling with. 

BUT keep in mind, you only read about the success of an author, because no one ever interviews the ones who give up. You hear about how they overcome their struggles and think, why can’t I do that? Be a prolific writer too and use their formula to sell my books? 

Finding your way is just about that. Your method. Your place of creativity. Your style of writing. Your path. Your journey. You can get hints. Read tips. See how others do it, but ultimately it’s up to you. 

It’s not about using their exact formula, in fact, you can’t. You aren’t in the same space and time. You have to figure out your own path and maybe it’s less traveled, like Robert Frost says. Or maybe we are always on the less traveled path. Because it’s only after figuring out it, then you can tell someone how you figured it out. How did I get here? This is how… see the map I made. Makes sense, right?

By taking the journey, you can look back and see the way you’ve come.

You can’t wormhole jump to the end. (Let’s not get too quantum about all this.) You write the book word by word, sentence by sentence, until it’s done. It doesn’t magically appear on the page, finished, edited and ready to sell. 

So the direction for this week was to watch out for the u-turns, but don’t avoid them either. Because a “successful creative career is always built on the successful creative failures.” In other words let’s celebrate failure!! Ha! Easier said than done.

Okay, so we don’t hold a party for the failure (you could, I suppose that might be amusing) instead you use the u-turns to your advantage to get where you want to go. Make them a roundabout. Ask yourself, why are you u-turning? Maybe there is a reason you need to take a vacation. Maybe you have some health issues and must visit doctors and schedule a surgery and then recover from that… (Yeah, it looks like I may have a very different summer than I first imagined.) 

Remember that life u-turns on you too. The world u-turns into a pandemic. It throws a bit of chaos into your schedule. You hit a few bumps in the road, a really sudden dip that scares you too. And how will you respond? Do you brace for impact, curl up like a pill bug for a little while, or learn to swim along in the messy avalanche that is life. If it buries you deep, remember, there is help. Have faith. Ask for help because there are rescue crews out there, and their big fluffy rescue dogs. They will come and find you and dig you out of the snow. 

Week nine, checking in: 

Morning pages: The first task was to read our morning pages! Wait what? I have been scribbling them incoherently for weeks now. In pencil, no less. It make this rather impossible. I wish I could go back and warn myself. On the other hand, I still want to write the pages as quickly as possible, so I can move on with my more artistic pursuits. 

Artist Date: I have neglected my artist dates! This is alarming! (Unless you count beach combing in Elden Ring. But then, after a jellyfish encounter ruined my Zen moment, I started a quest into the castle and everything took a darker turn than I expected.)

Moments of synchronicity: Small ones. Good traffic to get to my appointment in plenty of time. Good weather and easy traveling, which let me be with family during this stressful-not stressful time. 

Other breakthroughs or significant insights: First insight: I noticed there is are some tasks I keep avoiding, or else just haven’t felt strongly about: decorating your creative space. This week Cameron makes a stronger argument to having a fun and playful space. You make a creative shrine or decorate your desk with pictures that inspire you and remind your inner artist child, because the environment affects your mood. “Blocks are seldom mysterious.” Camera states “They are instead, recognizable artistic defenses against… a hostile environment.” 

We need a space that is our own and appealing to our inner artist. Because “Our artist child can best be enticed to work by treating work as play…in order to work well, many artists find that their work spaces are best dealt with as play spaces. Most little kids would be bored silly in a stark, barren room. Our artist child is no exception.”

Except I noticed that boredom is good for my artist. Sometimes it inspires creativity. If you are stuck in a hospital waiting area for a hour, suddenly your story becomes a lifesaver to starve off the boredom. But, I like the idea of having a ‘play’ space for my writing and decorating it. (Is this another ahah moment?)

Second insight. Perhaps you noticed how long it took to post week nine. You might think I missed last Sunday, but in actuality, I made the week last fourteen days long instead of seven. Why? Because I took a vacation and needed extra time to get my thoughts together and plan some artist dates and prepare myself for a proper week of artistic adventuring. Whatever proper means for an artist. That could be anything. Stay tuned for more as we dive into week ten!