Join Us In Discussing The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

When I had my first “now what?” moment after I was one-year sober, I started reading The Artist’s Way. I have gone back to it a few times over the past 4 years, and it always changes me. It is a creative jump-start which challenges us to see ourselves as artists, no matter how we choose to express it. This book opened my eyes to my creativity in the kitchen, and it got me into a nearly daily journaling habit. It is a 12-week “program” that the book follows and I will share my experiences here. Join us!

Here is an article about Cameron and her work from the Guardian I thought drink and drugs enabled my creativity’: Julia Cameron on the drama behind The Artist’s Way . and another from The New York Times Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages

Jump to the Discussion Here

I first became aware of Julia Cameron’s book when I was a middle school English teacher. There were two camps of English teachers: those who diagrammed sentences and those who wrote poems about trees. I was somewhere in the middle. I participated in the Iowa Writing Program in 2008, and “The Artist’s Way” was one of the texts. Ironically, I was pregnant in 2008, and therefore, sober. I produced some great writing that year. But, after the birth of my daughter, alcohol re-prioritized itself in my life, and the real me fell quiet.

The next time I thought about The Artist’s Way was a lifetime later. It was 2020, two kids, one divorce, a lost career, and a year AF. I had worked my ass off to make it to my one-year soberversary, and after it passed, I felt deflated. I posted on Boom about needing a new direction, and a conversation about creativity ensued. Wingy mentioned this book and how it had impacted some in our community. I found a copy, and I worked through it.

There were parts that were off-putting; there were parts that seemed pointless; there were parts I desperately wanted to (and did) skip. I came back to the program in 2022 and again in 2023. There is something about this book that calls to me. I have never finished the entire 12 weeks, but I am committed to doing so in 2025, and I am posting here to keep myself committed. Each time I have began, I quit when I heard the inner critic telling me I was “wasting my time” and that I was “too busy to be creative.” The same thing can happen when we quit drinking, right?

The concept is simple – we are all creative, and with some simple tools, we can become more creative. The tools are simple: Morning Pages (“three pages of longhand, morning writing” done daily) and Artist’s Dates (a once weekly solo outing or adventure to inspire a sense of self and adventure). While I have had trouble sticking to the full 12-week program, Morning Pages have become a part of my life. You can see my dedication here:

This concept appeals to me because it is like sobriety. The concept is simple – don’t drink. The tools are simple, but they work. And yet, it can be so hard to follow-through.

We will talk more about Morning Pages, Artist’s Dates, and the book over in the Book Club. I have a few more introductory posts to help myself rev up. But, for those who may still be considering, here are some of the reasons I convinced myself to quit on it in the past. I know that a couple of you talked about not having finished or having the book but never read it, I am curious if you had any of the same hesitations?

Cameron’s tone in the book took me some time to appreciate. At first, I found her to be a little “all-knowing” or “self-involved.” However, over the course of time, I have grown to appreciate this about her. I think I have an internal “rule” that we (and especially women, and ESPECIALLY women of a certain age) should be humble and quiet and not call attention to ourselves. YUCK. I am actively challenging myself to drop that judgement and see that Cameron is being her true self and living and orchestrating her life in a way that makes her life meaningful. I now read her words and feel inspired to treat myself with the same awe and appreciation as she does.

There is no question that Cameron views creativity as a “spiritual path.” She addresses her use of “God” early on – on the first page of the introduction. Obviously, this can be alienating, but if that’s the only reason you are turned off, I encourage you to “please be open-minded.” Cameron makes it clear that “God” is the term she uses to make sense of her world, but she offers alternatives that, to me, make this a non issue. I was raised Catholic, attended 12 years of Catholic school, but I no longer practice any religion. Spirituality is incredibly important to me, though, and I appreciate that the book encourages us to think about that side of things. I am also very science-minded, and I see where there is room for the two to work together. I like Cameron’s term “Spiritual Electricity.”

“Creative” can be a loaded word. I can’t draw, and I can’t sing. And for most of my life, I considered those to be what determined someone’s creativity. Through this book, I have found that writing posts here, learning embroidery, parenting, cooking, dressing, LIVING can be creative endeavors. So if you are curious, but worried about how to define creative, please know that is the purpose. It’s been fun for me to learn new ways to express myself, and new hobbies have helped me fill AF time. Each time I have read this book, although I didn’t complete it, I can see where creativity took a more central place in my life. I am excited to see how this transpires throughout the entire program.

As I skim the Introductory pages, I see many correlations between creative recovery (as Cameron calls her work) and my own “recovery” (not my term of choice, but it works here). On the surface, “The Artist’s Way” may be about creativity and not sobriety, but knowing how it started reminds me that Cameron is one of us: “In 1978, in January, I stopped drinking…The week I got sober, I had two national magazine pieces out, a newly minted feature script, and an alcohol problem I could not handle any longer.” She goes on to explain how her sobriety led to this new creative path. We worry so much about what parts of us we will lose when we give up alcohol. But the real story is about who we become without it.

I hope you consider following along a bit. If you are still struggling to quit, maybe joining the conversation here will give you some structure or ideas. And if you are cruising along on the AF path, but need a “creative recovery,” let’s see what happens.

Open the discussion posts with the links below and join the conversation in our private community space.

Spiritual Electricity

The Basic Tools – Morning Pages

The Basic Tools – Artist Dates

Week 1 – Recovering a Sense of Safety