Julia Cameron Live

The Natural World

Julia Cameron — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:13:10 +0000

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 the Great Creator

Spirit is With Us

Julia Cameron — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:08:27 +0000

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 unanswered. You worry that too many ask too much. I am an infinite energy. I do not tire. I am not overwhelmed. Your prayers are known to me. I hear your voice and listen as you speak. You are beloved. No other is like you. You cannot be replaced.

-from Prayers to the Great Creator

What if I miss a task while doing The Artist’s Way?

Julia Cameron — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:22:40 +0000

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 lie.
I don’t really like to make a pronouncement about how and when to do the tasks– it’s a personal thing. Don’t beat yourself up. Just do what you can and move on.

Is everyone creative?

Julia Cameron — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:52:33 +0000

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 you are interested in this work, you have already decided that your creativity does matter. If you are looking for validation, the validation comes from using the 3 tools of Morning Pages, Artist Dates and walks. Morning Pages put us in touch with our dreams. Artist Dates inspire us and give us energy. Walks literally “walk” us through our doubts and criticisms. Walking is a form of prayer. Walking, we are guided. Walking, we are not alone. Walking, we keep moving forward toward ourselves and our own individual artistry.

Self-permission over Discipline

Julia Cameron — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:08:51 +0000

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 feels good.

When it comes to practicing our art, we are trained to self-consciousness, trained to performance anxiety. We can un-train ourselves. We are all, naturally creative, and we can all practice our creativity.

The best way to practice our creativity is what’s comfortable, wearable, easy, fun for us. I wear my writing like an old pair of Chinese silk pajamas. I like it loose and easy. My friend Alex suits up to write. He likes it structured. He goes to an office. What matters is that each of us must find our own style. Some of us are morning writers, painters, composers. Some of us work on our art late at night. Some of us watch the clock. Some of us count pages. Some of us love crowded cafes, some love quiet libraries. The point is to get comfortable and give yourself permission to play.

It doesn’t matter how you do it. It matters that you do it.

What next step are you evading?

Julia Cameron — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:33:47 +0000

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, seminars, a larger work space, a year’s sabbatical. Later still, we may conceive an idea for a book, an artists’ collective gallery space. As each idea comes to us, we must in good faith clear away our inner barriers to acting on it and then, on an outer level, take the concrete steps necessary to trigger our synchronous good.

If this still sounds airy fairy to you, ask yourself bluntly what next step you are evading. What dream are you discounting as impossible given your resources? What payoff are you getting for remaining stuck at this point in your expansion?

from The Artist’s Way

“thinking” about your Morning Pages?

Julia Cameron — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 15:26:22 +0000

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 important to remember is that if there’s something that’s really bothering you, the Morning Pages won’t let you drop it. Morning Pages will keep tapping at your consciousness, and if there is something really important that you are meant to notice, Morning Pages will keep tapping until they get your attention. You don’t need to worry too much about thinking and addressing a topic.

Sometimes people ask me what the difference is between writing Morning Pages and writing in a journal. In journaling, you you tend to choose a topic and then write everything on your mind on that topic. With Morning Pages, it is more free form. You can jump from topic to topic, and that’s OK. Morning Pages typically sound scattered– they’re not “real” writing. We’re not looking for real writing– we’re looking for stream of consciousness.

When the student is ready…

Julia Cameron — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 19:54:13 +0000

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 ask to be taught, we are taught. Guidance and generosity are always closer at hand than we may think. It always falls to us to be open to receiving guidance and to pray for the willingness and openness to know it when it arrives.

-from Walking In This World

Have you tried Media Deprivation?

Julia Cameron — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:32:04 +0000

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 resisted– and most productive– tools I teach.

It is just what it sounds like: no media. I ask my students to try this for a week. This means turning all devices off: no reading, no emailing, no texting, no surfing the Internet. No talk radio, no TV. And yes, I can feel the protests as I type this.

I know you need to check your email for work. And I always say that “I teach adults.” No, I am not asking you to quit your job or behave in a way that would get you fired. But I am asking you to try limiting the constant interruption of “inflow” as much as you possibly can. For one week. And if you cannot turn your devices completely off, you can certainly contain the access people have to you without being irresponsible. I am not asking you to be irresponsible to your work. I am asking you to be responsible to yourself.

When we are constantly interrupted, we lose our train of thought. When my students experiment with turning their devices off, they find that they are often flooded with ideas, even inspiration.

Media Deprivation casts us back onto ourselves, puts us in touch with our own thoughts and ideas, and often frees up a lot of time.

Try experimenting with this, and see what happens.

-adapted from “The Prosperous Heart”

Do you worry about “the odds”?

Julia Cameron — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:31:16 +0000

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 a novel.

When we believe that “the odds” are stacked against us, we are choosing to believe that “the odds” are more powerful not only than our own gifts but also than God. If the tiny mustard seed can become a tree, if the acorn can become the oak, why can’t our ideas flourish into mighty manifestations?

When we see our work as an extension of God’s work and not as an act of ego, it is easier to believe that there is a plan of goodness for it.

-from “Letters to a Young Artist”