Last spring, I got involved with a group that was reading and discussing The Artist’s Way, a book by Julia Cameron. We would read a chapter a week, do the exercises, and talk about our reactions.
The book walks you through a process that will reveal and help you work through the thoughts or feelings that might keep you from practicing your art. At the time I started, I was getting caught up in family problems and feeling like I was spending all my free time trying to figure out how to help the kids.
Although there were many things that I liked about the book, one of my favorites was the artist dates. An artist date is just something you do for your inner artist – a trip to a museum or a store, a walk in the park.
What I liked about them was that there was no obligation to do anything with what you learned or saw on an artist date, but it felt good to just commit to doing something for myself. For my inner curious playful self, not the outer self that needed to accomplish things and fix things. Honestly, if I could do artist dates every day, I would be happy.
One of the other things that I found enlightening during the process was imagining myself leading other lives. This exercise was just a quick, don’t-think-about-it kind of thing that led to some interesting answers. The only criteria is that these lives would be fun.
I came back to these after being laid off, in case there was some clue about a new direction I should take. This is what I found:
Songwriter (Yes, I have written songs)
Children’s book author (Yes, I have made a book for a kid)
Happiness motivator (Not sure how to make them pay for it…)
Body builder athlete (A nice dream)
Tin/paper sculptor (I have some paper art in the other room…)
Museum-goer tourist book writer (Oh, how I love obscure museums!)
Disassembler (What exactly is that? I made it up)
Portrait photographer (Because the landscape doesn’t cough up cash)
Eclipse chaser (Cruises, flights, whatever it takes)
Wii reviewer (The old paid-to-play theme)
Girl encourager (Because they need it)
Is it important that I never came close to what I am doing for a living now? (Rather, what I am interviewing to do for a living?) I don’t want to think about it now (I need to prepare for that second interview tomorrow and believe that I am doing the right thing), but I know that these are the things that will find me again. Because they make me smile.
While I was going through the book, I started working on an Android application that I haven’t finished yet. Kid drama escalated. Husband got injured. Life happens.
Do you need anything disassembled? I have tools and I’m here to help.