One of my dearest friends introduced me to a course created by Julia Cameron called The Artist’s Way. At first, I questioned if I should even consider participating as I would never consider myself an artist. I do admit I’ve always loved to dream, to write, to create. I wasn’t very confident and rather critical of my skills. I thought maybe one day I’d be ambitious enough to hone these skills, maybe even be good at something. Then life got in the way.
When I thought of doing something ‘artsy-fartsy’, I often
thought it’s an impractical use of my time.
I would then use that as a reward – if I just got this long list of
chores done, then I could have fun being creative. After trudging through, task after task, I
was drained and lost any inspiration. Fortunately,
though, every so often I had opportunity to be a bit creative – help the kids
with projects; invitations, theme parties; costumes; decorations; Christmas
letters; crafts. I felt refreshed,
recharged, exhilarated. Then life got in
the way.
I decided that I really needed to read The Artist’s Way and join a
group so I could find my creative self even though I’m not an artist. I met an amazing facilitator, Renee, who is
such an inspiration, and other uplifting ladies who were embarking on this
journey. And so, my journey of
self-exploration and self-expression has begun.
I’ve realized that we forget that doing things we enjoy. They shouldn’t always be a reward. We must remember to make time to do things
that nurture the soul. To quote Julia
Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, “Success or failure, the truth of a life
really has little to do with its quality.
The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for
delight. The capacity for delight is the
gift of paying attention.” How can one
move forward without vision, without inspiration, without optimism? To do this, we all need to find something
which awakens us, refreshes us, recharges us.
What is an artist? An artist isn’t
always a writer, painter, sculptor, musician, or an actor. An artist isn’t good or bad, exceptional or
awful. I’m in the process of learning the
definition. And as I work through The
Artist’s Way, I’ll truly understand what an artist is and find my creative self
along the way.
