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I first heard about this book from listening to Tim Ferriss’ podcast. I forget what episode it was in, but he did mention doing the morning pages from The Artist’s Way written by Julia Cameron. When I came across it in a charity shop a few years later (earlier this year), I bought it.
After about six months, I actually picked it up. Life got in the way, as usual. (Of course, as Jocko would say, ‘All your excuses are lies.’ And someone else mentioned (I forget who), ‘If you haven’t gotten around to it, it must not be important to you.’ But all this is beside the point.)
I opened the book, expecting it to be taken up mostly with explaining the morning pages and getting in depth with esoteric mumbo jumbo. I mean, the subtitle does say ‘A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.’ What was I supposed to think…?
The Morning Pages and the Artist’s Date is covered in a few pages in one chapter, but I think these are the most important parts to take away from the whole book. Everything else flows from these two actions.
The Morning Pages are just three full pages of stream-of-conscious longhand writing first thing in the morning. David Allen of Getting Things Done might call it a mind sweep. Ryder Carroll of Bullet Journal might call it a brain dump.
The thing I like about the Morning Pages is that my hand starts writing about stuff in depth, rather than in bullet points or one thought on one sheet of paper (like the other two methods use). Julia Cameron will talk later in the book about a breakthrough that comes after the 1 ½ page point.
The book chapters are titled by weeks, as it’s meant to be a course to work through, tasks to complete and then a weekly check-in at the end of it.
It goes in depth into a lot of mental things that you think are real but that are really just the story you built for yourself. She makes you dig deep into your background and what you really think vs the expectations of others, and the actions that it manifests in.
And above all, (or it just might be me) she ends by making sure you’re taking good care of yourself and loving yourself as an artist, regardless of whether you’re ‘successful’ or not.
My recommendation: If you’re looking to break out of a mundane life, this is a good place to start. It goes in depth and asks the hard questions without judgment, while giving you a stepping stone and a helping hand up to where you really want to go.
My rating: 4/5 stars