The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron- Week 1 and How I Got On

The premise of the 12-week course set out by the Artist's Way is that every week there are a number of exercises to be done relating to a different topic. Week 1's topic is "Recovering a Sense of Safety" which looks at using positive affirmations to help drown out all of those negative things you've learnt or absorbed over the years about being creative and artists in general. Now I have a confession to make. I didn't actually get round to doing the affirmations themselves.

However... throughout the 12 weeks there are 2 exercises that must be done each day and/or each week. The daily exercise is known as the morning pages, which is basically journalling, that you do every day when you wake up. This involves writing 3 pages of anything you can think of (or not think of- you can simply write "I don't know what to write" for 3 pages) as long as 3 pages are filled and it's done when you wake up. This acts as a sort of information dump. I'm happy to say that I have done this every day this week but I do find it a challenge to write first thing in the morning so I think it might be worth experimenting with times of day that I write, be it in the evening before sleep or on the train to work.
I have found though that writing does give me insight and a sense of calm when thinking problems through, even issues that I didn't even know were bothering me!

Then the exercise to be done each week is the Artist's Date. This involves spending some time- a couple of hours to an afternoon- alone, being creative or doing something that inspires you. My first Artist's Date was pretty spontaneous when I found myself walking down Dale Street where I discovered a community-led art space called the Fallout Factory. I went into to see the current exhibition, an interactive show called Mak?ing Sense, and had loads of fun!

The giant ball of squishiness was the first piece that grabs you- this is a photo I took from outside.

It's a huge ball of multi-textured goodness, that looks, feels and sounds like a cat toy (if you hit it!) I spent ages feeling the different materials and even sticking my head in some of the deeper grooves (yes, because that's what I do!) Haha! But search further into the space and you'll find a basement in which was a single light source and a mirror . It took me some time for my eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness but it was so peaceful down there and I ended up playing with the light creating this shape on the legs...

A broken heart! I live a life full of love- my friends, my family and my boyfriend and I am hugely lucky and grateful for them all- but I think and feel that I could love and value myself more, a worthwhile lesson that I took away from this week's exercises. I can only wonder what discoveries Week 2 holds! And if you're in Liverpool, take a trip to the Fallout Factory- it's well worth a look! 

Love