October 14, 2008
If Morning Pages are assigned work,
Artist Dates are assigned play.
In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron asks us to think of this combination of tools in terms of a radio transmitter and receiver.
It is a two-step, two-directional process: out, and then in.
When you do your Morning Pages, you are transmitting: notifying yourself and the universe of your dissatisfactions, your dreams, your hopes.
When you do your Artist Date, you are receiving: opening yourself to insight, inspiration, and guidance.
Here’s more from Julia’s book:
An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.
In its most primary form, the Artist Date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child. That means no lovers, friends, spouses, children — no taggers-on of any stripe.
If you think this sounds stupid or that you will never be able to afford the time, identify that reaction as resistance. You cannot afford not to find time for Artist Dates.
Your artist needs to be taken out, pampered, and listened to. There are as many ways to evade this commitment as there are days of your life. “I’m too broke” is the favored one, although no one said the date need involve elaborate expenses.
Your artist is a child. Time with a parent matters more than monies spent. A visit to a great junk store, a solo trip to the beach, an old movie seen alone together, a visit to an aquarium or an art gallery — those cost time, not money. Remember, it is the time commitment that is sacred.
Commit yourself to a weekly Artist Date and learn to listen to what your artist child has to say on, and about, these joint expeditions. For example, “Oh, I hate this serious stuff,” your artist may exclaim if you persist in taking it only to grown-up places that are culturally edifying and good for it.
Listen to that! It is telling you your art needs more playful inflow. A little fun can go a long way toward making your work feel more like play.
The creation of something new
is not accomplished by the intellect
but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity.
The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
C.G. Jung
The magical thing about Artist Dates and Morning Pages is that they perform what Julia calls “major adjustments in spiritual chiropractic.” As they become a regular part of our lives, they quickly align us with a flow of what we normally call luck, or coincidence. In other words, they create synchronicity.
All of a sudden, we’re in the right place at the right time.
We encounter not only support, but also opportunity.
Magical, I tell you.
Now… time to schedule my next Artist Date.
Though I’m in the habit of going out on my own to explore dollar stores, flea markets, and art supply stores, such outings have become kind of boring. I need to treat myself to something special for a change.
And wouldn’t you know it (synchronicity?), The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting WARHOL LIVE - Music And Dance in Andy Warhol’s Work.
I’m going to see it this week.
It’s a date!
P.S.: Do you experience the magic of synchronicity on a regular basis?
October 11, 2008
As soon as I started blogging, last December,
I stopped writing my Morning Pages.
Well, almost stopped.
That’s not good for the soul.
Not good at all.
When I opened my (dust covered) notebook this week, I saw that I hadn’t written in it since Tuesday, May 6. Before that, the entries go back to January. No wonder my creativity wasn’t glowing — it was buried under a pile of brain crap!
The Artist’s Way
In case you haven’t heard of it before, Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way is a course in discovering and recovering your creative self — A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
I came across this international bestseller in 2002, but only worked through it for the first time in 2003. As this book has done and continues to do for so many people all over the world, it stirred a huge awakening in me; it fueled lots of excitement, unearthed many childhood dreams, and boosted my determination to make these dreams a reality.
BUT… one has to keep at it.
The Basic Tools
The author tells us there are two pivotal tools in creative recovery: the Morning Pages and the Artist Date. And she stresses the fact that a lasting creative awakening requires the consistent use of both these tools.
The Morning Pages
Though The Artist’s Way gives a thorough explanation of what the Morning Pages are, I prefer the one given in Julia’s other book on creativity, Walking in This World.
Here’s an excerpt:
Morning Pages are the primary tool of a creative recovery. Three pages stream-of-consciousness writing done before the day “begins,” Morning Pages serve to prioritize, clarify, and ground the day’s activities.
Frequently fragmented, petty, even whining, Morning Pages were once called “brain drain” because they so clearly siphoned off negativity. Anything and everything is fuel for Morning Pages. They hold worries about a lover’s tone of voice, the car’s peculiar knocking, the source of this month’s rent money.
They hold reservations about a friendship, speculation about a job possibility, a reminder to buy Kitty Litter. They mention, sometimes repeatedly, overeating, undersleeping, overdrinking, and over- thinking, that favorite procrastinator’s poison artists are fond of.
I like to think of Morning Pages as a withdrawal process but not in the usual sense, where we withdraw from a substance taken away from us. No, instead, we do the withdrawing in Morning Pages. We pull ourselves inward to the core of our true values, perceptions, and agendas.
This process takes approximately a half hour — about the same time normally set aside for meditation. I have come to think of Morning Pages as a form of meditation, a particularly potent and freeing form for most hyperactive Westerners. Our worries, fantasies, anxieties, hopes, dreams, concerns, and convictions all float freely across the page. The page becomes the screen of our consciousness.
So I’m back to doing
my Morning Pages.
Consistently.
I feel better already.
Here’s a tip — When I get stuck and don’t know what to write (rare, but it happens), I simply ask myself, How have you been feeling lately? or, How are you feeling at the moment? This always gets me going. And it’s a great way to dig into my deepest innards and see if there’s any poop that needs cleaning. 
Next ritual I’ll be going back to: The Artist Date.
How about you?
Do you brain dump?
June 18, 2008
Happiness is all about the little things in life. The more you stop and notice the little things that make you feel good, the happier you get.
For me, going to the library is always a treat. First of all, I get to take a nice long walk. I love to walk. To choose which route to take, I often toss a coin; each one offers interesting sites and possible discoveries.
Once I reach the Centre culturel, there’s always some sort of exhibit going on in the main hall. Two weeks ago, it was all about puppets, dozens of them, each created by a different school kid. Averaging three feet in height, with papier-mâché heads, they rested on shelves or hung from the ceiling; 
colourful and comical, they seemed ready to come alive and form a crazy conga line. Good thing I wasn’t on acid.
When I went by on Monday, there was a series of drawings by Cathy Cahill entitled Life, Death and Rabbits. The notice said it was an “autobiographical story peopled with rabbits who symbolize reproduction, vulnerability, and steadfast vegetarianism.”
I started to glance at the bunny covered canvasses, but couldn’t concentrate enough to make out what the artist wanted to convey; I was too eager to walk through the glass doors and into the library. I could hear the books calling, “Pick me, pick me.”
Book Pickings
First one to catch my eye: Random Illuminations – Conversations with Carol Shields, by Eleanor Wachtel. According to Alice Munro, for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration, this book offers “An illuminating revelation of a writer’s life and thought.”
Eleanor Wachtel is described as being one of the very finest interviewers of authors in the world. Having met and interviewed Carol Shields for the first time in 1987, the two quickly became friends and over the next sixteen years, Wachtel conducted numerous interviews with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
This promises to be a very interesting read. I enjoy peeking in on a writer’s mind and their everyday life; it often inspires me and moves me to kick myself in the butt and be more productive, to let go of the judging little perfectionist devil, to have fun.
Next is Deepak Chopra’s The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. I’ve read a few books by Chopra, mostly the ones about health and quantum medicine, so I know I won’t be disappointed.
I’m a firm believer in the messages “coincidences” have to offer. Chopra says that everyday coincidences are not only meaningful, they actually provide us with glimpses of the field of infinite possibilities that lies at the heart of all things. Thus, by gaining access to this wellspring of creation, we can literally rewrite our destinies in any way we wish. Well now, I say let the magic begin!
Last but not least, La théorie du grain de sable, a bd (comic book) by François Schuiten, illustrator, and
Benoît Peeters, writer. I’ve already thumbed through it; the drawings – in black ink with white and beige backgrounds – have a dramatic intensity that reminds me of a 1940’s film noir. Looking forward to reading it. Only bad note: I discovered – at the very end, of course – that this is Tome 1 of a two-part story. Very crooked of them not to have specified this on the cover. Wondering how long it will take for Tome 2 to come out. Tsk tsk tsk.
As usual, I had to restrain myself from picking more than three; I need to stop reading if I want to keep writing…right? So off I went on my merry way.
What’s For Supper?
By then, my stomach was growling, and sushi came to mind. Within the last year and a half, four sushi restaurants have opened in Verdun. The most recent one, Sushi Time (how appropriate), is less than ten minutes from my home…very convenient indeed. Not only is it close, it’s also across the street from IGA where I buy most of my groceries. This often makes it tempting for me to skip the hassle of cooking a meal, because “Helloooo? Easy yummy sushiiiii.” 
In I went.
This was my third visit, and I decided to introduce myself – Hi, my name is Mudd – and ask if I could take photos for my blog.
Alex, the owner, and Zara, his assistant, were sitting at a table, getting menus ready for what I suppose will be a massive distribution throughout the neighbourhood. Alex was more than happy to let me take pictures, and afterwards, as I waited for my take-out order, he told me a bit about his young life, how he was born in Verdun, went to Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes school when he was a kid, and how he now recognizes the occasional old school buddy who comes in for sushi, surprised to see that Alex has become quite the businessman. Cool!
Alex was also eager to mention that the outdoor sign is only temporary; he has to wait for the city officials to approve his sign proposal before having it installed. It seems this may take a long time. I told him I’ll take a photo of it once it’s up and post an update for all of you to see. How can I not do it? He’s the sweetest!
While we were chatting away, Vu was busy preparing my usual: one Kappa Maki (cucumber) and one Avocado Maki. I sometimes order the vegetarian Miso soup, but I figured I was too hot from my long walk, and skipped it.
(Would regret it once I got home…*sigh*…it’s never too hot for Miso soup.)
Here’s the chef, Vu, with Alex at his side.
And here’s my marvelous feast, all ready for me to savour – slowly – in my lovely little corner of paradise.
Happiness…
Make it happen!
*** Sushi Time is located at 4537 Wellington Street, between Willibrord and 1st avenue, close to both Verdun and de l’Église metro stations.
