Your deserter friends try ‘the path of the artist’

Do you harbor secret creative dreams for the new year? Do you miss the feeling of doing things just for the sake of doing them, no matter how good or commercially viable it was? Maybe you’ve never considered yourself an artist, but there’s an undertone of discontent that you can’t escape in your daily life.

I have big news for you: some defecting staff are going to make T.The path of the artist together and we would love for you to join us.

For those of you who may not have heard of it before, The path of the artist is a book written by Julia Cameron that describes a 12-week self-guided creativity course. The path of the artist It’s kind of like dry January for creatives, and also three times as long; People are always playing with starting it, talking about doing it and giving up on it. that’s because The path of the artist It’s based on a contract you make with yourself to continue showing your creativity for 12 weeks straight.

Julia Cameron knows a little about putting in the effort to finish a project. Cameron is a 76-year-old polymath who has written novels, musicals, plays, four poetry collections, an episode of Miami Vice, and 36 nonfiction books, many of which are iterations of The path of the artist. She was also married to Martin Scorcese for a year in the ’70s. She attributes her prolific career to the tools she describes in The path of the artistwhich originally published in 1992.

The path of the artist It’s ridiculous and a little embarrassing, but so is the process of making creative work. All kinds of artists also rely on this process, from Elizabeth Gilbert to Doechii. The essential pillars in The path of the artist Start with morning pages, three stream-of-consciousness pages handwritten each morning immediately after waking up, and artist quotes, weekly periods of time set aside to consume something that nourishes your creativity. A date with an artist could be a visit to a museum, but it could also be listening to a new album for the first time, cooking a new meal, or watching a movie. The goal is to recharge your creativity by spending time alone and having fun.

Because The path of the artist It lasts 12 weeks, it can be helpful to embark on it with a group of people for support and accountability. I asked the Defector staff if anyone was interested in doing it with me, and since I got a few volunteers, we thought it might be fun to invite readers to join us too. The process should be fairly simple. Each week, we will individually complete the tasks in The path of the artist: daily morning pages, a weekly appointment with the artist, and a challenge or task of some kind outlined for that week in the book. Then we will meet here and ask the reflection questions of the week together.

A note on rigidity: Cameron is extremely specific about how to do The path of the artist. She insists that the morning pages should be written first thing in the morning, by hand and in an 8.5-by-11-inch notebook, like an elementary school spiral-bound book. I’m making the executive decision that it’s more important to get through the process than to do everything perfectly. I encourage you to find a way to make the process work for you, even if that means doing your morning pages in the afternoon or missing a day here or there. Abandonment only happens once you have decided you are done with the process.

If someone decides to drop out of school, they will have to write an explanation of why they are doing so. If you’ve always wanted to try it, or if you’re particularly prone to seasonal depression like me, consider this your sign!

Kathryn Xu, Sabrina Imbler, Chris Thompson and I committed to starting The Artist’s Way in January. To give you an idea of ​​where we’re coming from and why we do this, a quick Q&A:

What is your relationship with The path of the artist?

Sabrina Imbler: I feel that my relationship with The path of the artist It’s like my relationship with Gossip Girl. Have you ever read the book or done the exercises? No. Have I had or listened to hour-long conversations about TAW, occasionally pondering the knowledge I’ve gained from many friends who are past or present TAW bosses or enemies? Yes. My most recent TAW conversation was about a month ago with my friend Evan, who is a performance artist, and he was talking about how the book is useful and sometimes strange and problematic. They specifically cited one of Julia Cameron’s examples, which said, “We all have our Africas, those dark, romantic notions that call to our deepest selves.” That?

Chris Thompson: My mother-in-law gave me a copy of The path of the artist when he was dating his daughter, many years ago. We had a strange relationship (she made several overt attempts to get rid of me in those early days) and for a long time I looked at the book suspiciously, as if opening it might release a cloud of sarin gas. My copy of the book has moved around with me over the years, but I had never engaged with it, or even considered it, until now. The other part of this reluctance (the part that wasn’t rooted in paranoia) is that I’ve also always had a strange relationship with self-help. I tend to mock the whole scene and despise its inhabitants; However, I also believe that for most of my adulthood I have considered myself beyond and possibly unhelpful. But why not at least see if I can do something better?

Kathryn Xu: I have no pre-existing relationship with The path of the artistbut I have a general skepticism towards the concept of self-help books. This doesn’t seem to be a particularly unique feeling among people who have done The path of the artistand it won’t stop me from trying.

Alex Sujong Laughlin: I did six weeks of The path of the artist in 2018. I was living alone and, in retrospect, I didn’t handle my mental illnesses very well. I remember feeling like the whole Julia Cameron vibe was WILD, but I was willing to ride it out to see what could come of just going through the motions. I ended up having a bit of a mental breakdown during the sixth week, which I suspect is because I spent a lot of time inside my own brain during the process. Since then, I’ve periodically picked up the morning pages at different times when I’m doing particularly poorly, but I haven’t tried to do it all again. I am now in a much more stable place in my life and I am curious to see how I will feel at this point in my life.

why are you doing The path of the artist this time?

Sabrina: I’ve never done it, but it comes up so often in conversations, especially with friends who have modified the morning pages practice to suit their own needs and practices and ended up loving it, that I’ve always been somewhat curious to try it. And I lack the responsibility to do it on my own. And I also bought a new notebook that’s pretty empty because I hate writing in it, so maybe TAW can help me achieve my ultimate goal: becoming a journaler.

Chris: Yuck. I have become so tired of my own writing and blogging! And I’m willing to believe that there are ways to get unstuck creatively that I won’t discover if I keep digging in one direction. I don’t think I could endure 12 weeks of sustained effort without the responsibility of doing it with others, and I’m especially excited to see (and be inspired by) what this process does for some very creative people whose work I greatly admire. Furthermore, this part of the calendar is very difficult for me, and eight weeks in Culebra are out of my budget. Having a project that helps me be productive and normal seems like a good idea to me.

Kathryn: I’ve been saying for a while that I want to be more conscious about what I do with my time. all in The path of the artist These are things I already find productive or fun, particularly dates with artists; I love doing things on my own, but having some form of slight structure/accountability for how much to do each week can be very helpful for me. I love adult tasks! Plus, it’s the worst time of the year, so it will be nice to have something to do week after week.

Alex: I am very prone to seasonal depression and each year I dread the months of January through March more. I’ve found that in the moments when I make my creative process less about me and more about just putting things out there, I’m much less neurotic about the whole thing and, I think, healthier. I plan to do my morning pages in front of my SAD lamp every morning as a way to incentivize both activities, and maybe a moderately less depressed version of myself will emerge in April!

• If you’d like to join us for 12 weeks doing our best, here’s your assignment from now until January 13:
• Take a copy of The path of the artist; I will use edition 25.
• Organize your materials: the notebooks and pens that will excite you most when writing your morning pages.
• Read the introduction, “Spiritual Electricity” and “The Basic Tools” before you begin.
• Week 1 begins on January 6!

See you in January!