I sometimes think Morning Pages should be called “Mourning Pages.” “Julia, my pages are so negative,” some people say. With morning pages, we end our denial. If something is bothering us, we put it on the page. Often, many things are bothering us, and our pages seem filled with negatives. It’s important to note that […]
Q: What if my thoughts race faster than I can write them down?
Recently I had a student say, “My thoughts race faster than I can write them down. So I get frustrated and stop writing.” My answer: “Don’t stop.” I think it’s a common occurrence for the thoughts to race faster than the pen. And I think that you should keep writing Morning Pages. What you do […]
Cook Something
COOK SOMETHING an exercise Whether you consider yourself a gourmet chef or a total beginner in the kitchen, there is a recipe that you can make with your child. Choose something appropriate for both of you, then create your dish together, from shopping to cleanup. Allow your child to participate and be “in charge” of […]
Why Walk?
When I wrote The Artist’s Way, I got all the way to week twelve and said, P.S. Walk. I have been teaching now for twenty years since the publication of the book, and I now realize that there are three basic tools, not two, and they are Morning Pages, Artist Dates and Walks. I find […]
The Creativity Corner: from The Artist’s Way for Parents
When we provide our children with the tools and materials necessary to begin a project, we give them the freedom to begin making their own creative choices. Embarking on this journey, they are empowered to make something from nothing– to fill the blank canvas. The Creativity Corner, an exercise Create a “Creativity Corner” in your […]
Morning Pages– why in the morning?
“Julia,” I am often asked, “Must the Morning Pages be done in the morning?” “Yes,” I answer. “They must be done in the morning.” Why? We are aiming to catch ourselves before our ego is awake, before its defenses are in place. We want to be vulnerable. If we wait to do pages late in […]
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, […]
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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