The natural world is my home and my haven. I cherish the natural world. I see it in the wisdom of God’s unfolding. I surrender my resistance to unfolding fully and beautifully. I embrace the mystery of my own evolution. I invite my divine nature to expand and nurture myself and others. -from Prayers to …
Spirit is With Us
Our cities are not soulless. They are cathedrals. The high spires of man’s endeavors reach toward God. Do not feel lost among the multitudes. My eye is always upon you. The crowded city street is still in my safekeeping. Each face is known to me. Each face is beloved. You worry that your prayer goes …
What if I miss a task while doing The Artist’s Way?
I ususally tell people to do about half of the tasks in each chapter. If there is one you missed that is conspicuoulsy haunting you, go back and do it. I suggest doing the tasks you are most drawn to and the ones you are most repelled by. But the “medium” ones, just leave them …
Is everyone creative?
Yes. I believe that everyone is creative. Whether you declare yourself an artist or not, you make creative choices every day. You are handcrafting a unique life whether you feel you are “artistic” or not. I have been teaching for 30 years. I have never met anyone who was totally not creative. I think if …
Self-permission over Discipline
Practicing our art is more comfortable than not practicing our art. Practicing our art is more fun than not practicing our art. Something more comfortable and more fun does not take “discipline.” It takes permission, self-permission. I don’t write to be hard on myself. I write to be easy on myself. I write because it …
What next step are you evading?
I have said before that creativity is a spiritual issue. Any progress is made by leaps of faith, some small and some large. At first, we may want faith to take the first dance class, the first step toward learning a new medium. Later, we may want the faith and the funds for further classes, …
“thinking” about your Morning Pages?
Sometimes my students ask me how much they should “think” about what they are going to write in their Morning Pages. I don’t want you to pause and have a mental cigarette and strategize about what you’re going to write. It’s better to just say “here goes” and go right into writing. One thing that’s …
When the student is ready…
It is an often repeated spiritual axiom that “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” Over the years, I have heard many stories of miraculous intersections and meetings. The divine mind knows no distance. When we ask to be led, we are led. When we ask to be guided, we are guided. When we …
Have you tried Media Deprivation?
Media Deprivation, a tool I first introduced in The Artist’s Way as Reading Deprivation, is a conscious unplugging. In the twenty years since The Artist’s Way was published, I expanded the term to “Media Deprivation” to include the many devices and distractions now available to us on a constant basis. Media Deprivation is one of the most …
Do you worry about “the odds”?
I wil be blunt: I think “the odds” are a drink of emotional poison. No one invokes “the odds” who isn’t trying to keep you from committing creativity. For one thing, your odds of succeeding immediately increase if you try succeeding. Your odds of publishing a novel, for example, are a lot higher if you write …
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