The State of Things #8 | I’m calling art my passion again
September 2024 | The end of The Artist's Way
Hi and welcome to The State of Things edition 8, September 2024! This is a series I started writing after I lost my job when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March 2023. See the The State of Things #1 | Starting My Art Journey to Financial Independence. The crash and loss of employment was so sudden and so very out of my control that it was a real wake up call to being employed in the 21st century.
The State of Things is a bimonthly blog post where I talk about how my life is going partially through a business lens and partially through a whatever the hell I want lens. I usually check in on my “input goals” (see more below) and tell you all a little bit about whats going on in my life.
Table of Contents
What’s Been on My Mind
Concept 1: The end of The Artist’s Way
Last week, I completed the 12-week self-help book program called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This book claims to “teach techniques and exercises to assist people in to gain self-confidence in to harness creative talents and skills to live a fulfilling creative life or career“.
So, did it?
There are three main categories to The Artist’s Way: (1) weekly assignments and readings, (2) morning pages, and (3) artist dates.
Weekly reading and assignments.
Each chapter of The Artist’s Way covers a different aspect of the artist’s recovery. Participants move on to a new chapter each week, with 5-10 assignments available to be completed throughout the week, supporting the readings.
My verdict: These exercises were a source for major breakthroughs in my creative healing journey. Some assignments may challenge you to think of your life and experiences in a whole new way. Some may feel frivolous or silly. Some may totally throw your week in to chaos and help root out who your fake friends are and cause them to leave your life (happened to me 😳… story time later). Overall, I found ~70% of the assignments to get me to really think and dig deep, and ~30% to be totally corny (which honestly, I may have needed). Rating: 4/5
Morning pages.
These are three, hand-written pages done every morning. There are no topics, no rules—just write. Supposedly, the act of freely putting anything onto the page helps to clear our conscious and unconscious minds before we start each day.
My verdict: These have been hands down the most impactful part of the Artist’s Way for me. Although the daily assignments and readings only last for 12 weeks, morning pages are an exercise readers are encouraged to continue for at least another 6 months after completing The Artist’s Way. I’ve come to think of these morning pages as a form of meditation where I’m forced to form my negative nebulous thoughts into words that I can see and feel on a page, and then work with them from there. The book has a dedicated passage on how you can turn these negative thoughts, called “blurts”, on their head and begin to (slowly but surely) reframe your unconscious negative thoughts into more positive ones. Rating: 5/5
Artist’s dates.
An artist date is a block of time around one to two hours weekly thats set aside “to nurture your creative consciousness”, with the goal of doing something new to shake up your routines and thought patterns.
My verdict: I had trouble planning out and going out of my way to do Artist’s Dates throughout the week. Instead, I find myself being more spontaneous throughout the week on my commute home from work. Most commonly my Artist Dates involve me going to art stores, thrift shops, and occasionally Target for browsing and buying something cute but functional. Occasionally I go on outings like hikes, plein air painting, and trying totally new crafts or classes (here’s a list of 100 Artist Date ideas that I frequently reference). One of my Artist Dates lead me to try an improv class, which I plan on continuing for another few months at the very least. Do I feel healed and inspired by completing these outings? Sometimes no, sometimes yes, but I can’t deny that they are fun and bring some spontaneous joy that I was missing in my life. Rating 4/5
You should know going in
This book is pretty spiritual. Like weirdly and uncomfortably spiritual at times. Cameron is convinced that creativity doesn’t come from within, but is bestowed upon you by “The Great Creator” or “God”. To some this may be a comforting thought (you will always have creative support even if you can’t see or touch it). However I’m not going to lie, I found this hard to resonate with. But, I wouldn’t let that stop you from reading the book; the whole God thing is only in a few chapters, and the book has great passages without it. Just keep an open mind when reading.
Do I recommend The Artist’s Way? To Who?
Yes! I’d recommend this book to anyone who is feeling burnt out or afraid to start making art. Anyone who wants to make something but somehow, somewhere, feels lost, scared, or unsure along the path.
Concept 2: I’m finally me again
In The State of Things #3 | New Passions and a New House (July 2023) I decided that I was no longer going to call art my passion — but I’m overjoyed to announce that’s changed.
After completing the Artist’s Way with some INTENSE reflecting on my internal values and goals for 12 whole weeks, I’ve come to realize that drawing, painting, and illustration will always be a core part of me. I’ve decided to call art my passion (once again)!
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September 2024 | Book Round Up
Here are books I’ve read this year, consider this a half year reading review:
The best book I read: The Will of Many by James Islington
The worst book I read: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Most underrated: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. A dark fantasy and alternate history, this 2012 period piece horror novel is set during the Black Plague, it follows a disgraced knight and a mysterious young girl who travel across France, as Lucifer and other fallen angels start another war with Heaven.
Lives up to the hype: The Davinci Code by Dan Brown
Input Goals
Since the last The State-of-Things
June 3, 2024 → September 5, 2024 (13 weeks)
Input Goals - Next Time
I’m going to go easy on the input goals for next time. I’ve since realized that I always want to keep art as something pleasurable for myself, so I’ll be pivoting this section back to talking about finances and money.
This change came on after reflecting on how over the course of honestly the past 5 years, I’ve tried pushing myself to make art my full time gig, but nothing has ever come of it. All I’ve done in setting production goals for myself with art is to make myself hate it even more. When I post my work online that I put my soul in to for the world to see, only for it to get so little return is torturous to my already frayed soul. Its been seven years of trying this (ever since I graduated high school) and enough is enough.
I work because I want money, not because I love work (sorry, art). Although I always want art to be a huge part of my life, making myself dependent on it as my primary source of income kind of stresses me out.
That being said, I’m interested in returning to The State of Thing’s original goal which was to keep myself accountable on the journey towards financial independence. I would like to start working on some independent business ideas that I’ve saved up, ideally in much less saturated industries. KNOCK ON WOOD!
Blog Pause
In the spirit of making art fun again, I’ve decided to take this blog off a schedule. I only have 3 email subscribers at this point, so I don’t feel bad putting this blog on hiatus again.
You’ll still hear from me approximately every other month for a State of Things post, with occasional posts on topics that I find particularly interesting.
My values
Money as a means to buy freedom
Community, uplifting others.
Creating and funding art and story
Good physical living environment and existing away from the screen
See How Far I’ve Come
Want to see how far I’ve come? Read past editions of The State of Things here: The State of Things Archive.
See you in a month!
Nicole