Creative unfolding

(One of my new digital art series, the theme being the formless behind the form)

The blogging has slipped a bit to the wayside. But that’s not really a bad thing actually, as I’ve been channelling my creative energies elsewhere. So sometimes no news is good news...and radio silence might simply mean that I’m engaged in some other project. I had the idea of taking some photographs of various flowers and plants in the garden - which is absolutely beautiful right now, and which I’m really enjoying spending time in - and to combine them with fractal images that I have digitally created.

The theme of this series is an attempt to capture or indicate the formless behind the form; the creative life energy which is responsible for the growth and flourishing of all forms of life. I’ve often stopped and wondered what it is that makes the flowers grow, the waters flow, and what it is that even makes my hair or fingernails grow. To me, this ‘life energy’ is what some have termed ‘God’, a term which I copiously dislike due to the endless abuse this term has suffered at the hands of limited minds and distorted understandings. This creative life energy isn’t to be personified as some belligerent old git sitting on a throne amid the clouds casting judgements and behaving like some vindictive old alcoholic...no, it is the ever-present force within and around everything, the creative force that unfolds the universe, keeps the planets in orbit, the seas flowing, and every cell of our bodies in perfect functioning. It is the Tao.......and I’ve long wanted to somehow capture this formless essence that interpenetrates and animates all matter. It fascinates and compels me, this in-dwelling creative force. Without some kind of animating spirit, nothing in this universe would have cohesion...

I’ve been greatly enjoying creating this series and I have, for the most part, managed to jettison that critical faculty which previously ran rampant and so often blocked me before I’d even begun (the whole “this isn’t good enough, no one’s gonna want to see this, you’re really not talented enough to do stuff like this”). I’m just having fun and doing it because I feel the urge and inspiration to do it. And I intend to bring this attitude to all future creative endeavours, including my next book which I feel I am going to start writing very soon - maybe even next week.

I’m no longer doing it for some end result; the be published or sold, or to receive praise or adulation. I’m just doing it for the sheer enjoyment of it, and because I feel a strong urge within me to do it - a deep, creative impulse which I know won’t go away and won’t permit me rest until I act upon it and create what it is I feel I must create. Ironically this book is maybe a little more immediately ‘accessible’ than my last, it might be a bit easier to sell as it’s a more straightforward story...but that wasn’t my intention at all. The story, the characters and the entire world and its history and conflicts pretty much came to me, fully formed. I didn’t so much have to create this book or its plot, as simply still my mind and be open to what images and concepts were coming to me. I’ve never experienced a creative unfolding as ‘easy’ as this...and hopefully the book itself will be easy and fun to write and not the all-but crucifixion that my first book was to write. The actual theme of this work didn’t come to me till a bit later - the notion of triangulation, something I won’t go into here - but now I know why I have to write this book, and why it has something important to say instead of simply being another fantasy book written for the sake of being written (or being sold).

I certainly haven’t given up on getting my first book published, and will continue to cast out feelers as I set to writing this other book, but I’m no longer as attached to the outcome. Either it gets published or it doesn’t - if it’s meant to be out there, somehow or other it will be. After I finished my first book it was perhaps akin to having had a hard labour, and it took so long and so much energy and love - and life - out of me that I didn’t think I could ever do it again. I’d written what I wanted to write, said what I wanted to say, and I felt I could die happily knowing that I’d created something special that had been within me for most my life. I really had no interest in writing anything else, and didn’t even think I had it in me to go through the whole process again. ‘The Key of Alanar’ was not an easy book to write, and I constantly had to battle my own chronic self-doubt, fear and lack of belief in myself. The struggle of darkness and light that my central character experienced almost mirrored my own struggles. Which maybe was necessary to make the book feel authentic. So, it’s nice and amazing that I have a new baby waiting to be delivered into the world. Hopefully this time the birth will be an easier one...although sometimes, I’ve learned, a little pain is necessary to a writer’s work. If we all lived ultra-easy, pain-free lives we’d probably all be hollow, shallow people and for an artist that’s tantamount to death...although some artists don’t know that. There’s enough hollow, shallow art out there.

Anyway, enough ramblings. It may be a slow process writing the new book. My energy levels dip very rapidly, in fact I’m tiring just having writing this blog. But if I can get a small amount written each day, the momentum will be built. Prior to starting the project I have immersed myself in some great literature, including works of Albert Camus and Herman Hesse, simply to ignite a certain spark within me. I’ve also been reading a brilliant book which is essential reading to every writer: ‘Becoming a Writer’ by Dorothea Brand, a classic guidebook originally written in the 1930s and one that has inspired writers for generations.

The next step is actually to create complete space for a few days and read absolutely nothing and spend much time immersed in stillness and silence. Then we’ll see how it goes as I put pen to paper and allow the words to come.

I doubt I’ll have much energy left over for blogging, but I may surprise myself. I will definitely write small check-ins and continue to share my own particular musings and perspectives on this remarkable thing we call ‘life’. I will also perhaps transfer some of my favourite old postings from my previous myspace blog which I want to preserve after I delete my myspace account, which I never use anymore. So I’ll still be here, in some capacity. In the meantime here are a couple more of my digital images...

White Space

At the moment I don’t really have many words to share - I don’t really know why. Every so often I just enter a more reflective, introspective phase and the thought of blogging turns me off a bit. Even though there are still a great many things I’d like to say, I just don’t feel like saying them at this time. It’s at times like these that i like to withdraw into what i call ‘white space’...where i can be alone with my thoughts and, indeed, my lack of thoughts - or more specifically that still, blissfully peaceful s p a c e between the thoughts and waves of mind which is accessible through meditation. That space is the zone of all possibilities, the region where creative sparks are born. It’s probably no surprise that during such times, when I feel my energies withdrawing from outer to inner, that i become infused with creative ideas. It’s not really a time for actually bringing those creative ideas to fruition or working on them, more for being open to receiving them and letting them form and gestate.

For instance, the other day I could feel ‘something’ inside of me that needed to be expressed - something insistent and solid, ripe like fruit ready to drop from the wine. I needed to be able to ‘catch it’ as it fell. Ideas for my next novel had already been circulating through my mind, but now they’d reached a kind of fruition and they were ready to ‘drop’! I sat down and transcribed the entire outline for the novel from beginning to end. I say ‘transcribed’ because it was almost like the novel was already fully formed in my mind and i was just jotting down what i was ‘seeing’ as the plot unfolded. I didn’t struggle with it or try to force it, I just let it flow. When I got ‘stuck’ or lost the flow, I left it and came back to it a bit later and just let it begin streaming through my mind again. I now have a very workable plot filled with intrigue, drama, action and tension - and a set of characters that interest and excite me. They just seemed to jump out of my mind and onto the page more or less fully formed. I’m delighted to ‘meet them’ and look forward to getting to know them better as I write them.

The main character, after whom the novel is provisionally titled, is called Eladria. She’s been in the back of my mind for some time now and it’s around her that the entire novel seemed to fashion itself. She’s a very fiery, headstrong, dynamic character, filled with energy, aggression and frustration. She hasn’t yet opened her heart and lacks the energy of compassion - that quality which makes an ordinary person a great person. But she will grow and acquire much in the tumultuous path she takes in the book. I’m actually looking forward to getting started writing. I’ve really missed writing fiction.

I really relate to what Madonna said when asked why she continues creating music and performing - her answer was that if she didn’t, a part of her would die. And I feel that about writing. If I stopped now and let these ideas just drift by, a little part of me would die.

Huh, after convincing myself that I had nothing to write in my blog, I go and surprise myself. Anyway, there will be no more writing - or much anything else - for me today, as I have a nasty cold or minor fluish thing and am sniffly with a sore throat and extremely tiiired. Gonna rest and relax now. Have an Adyashanti audio series I’m listening to and a stack of DVDs I can chill out to.

Incidentally, after initially taking a hard-line against Twitter (“it’s the work of the devil”, LOL) I finally received one invitation too many and thought I’d check it out. It’s actually quite fun and harmless - though I can see how it might be addictive! That said, I’ll probably tire of it within a month - but if anyone wants to find me I’m ‘lucidexposition’ - I kind of like that username, it’s just about random and off-field enough to be ‘me’.

Funnily the initial reason I took an aversion to twitter is that it basically cements the illusory ‘ego’ self (the “I am this,” “I am that” kind of stuff which ultimately no more encapsulates the reality of ‘us’ than our big toenail). But I guess the way we function in this world is as seemingly individualised units of consciousness. So why not just relax and make it fun? You can still take part in the dream while recognising that it is a dream. But that’s a whole other topic...

"You haven't failed until you quit trying"

It’s amazing how, when you hold a question in mind and really open yourself to receiving an answer, the answer always comes to you eventually, and it will keep coming to you until you finally heed it. I’m not talking about receiving an answer from your mind - the mind has no answers, it simply regurgitates the same old conditioned mindcrap that leads you to the point of having questions upon questions in the first place. No, you have to be open to receiving an answer from...wherever else. Sometimes the answer arises from a state beyond mind; at a level deeper than thought, where it simply comes as an innate knowing. Other times the answer arises on an external level. You happen to open a book at a certain page which seems so freakishly relevant to your predicament. You turn on the TV or radio and happen to hear an expert dispensing some surprisingly pertinent advice. Snippets of old songs, poems, or inspirational quotations - these can all be sources of answers. How do you know it’s an answer? I guess, if it resonates with your current predicament and FEELS like an answer. Then there are other people - the ones you can go to who always offer sound advice and admirable wisdom.

Since I had my mini-creative meltdown the other day, in which I seriously questioned whether or not to continue persevering with getting my novel published, I’ve received a string of such ‘answers’. The moment I even posted that blog, I had a very deep and insistent feeling rise within me. It’s hard to put that feeling into words, but it was something along the lines of “oh come on, stop the self-indulgence and just get on with it!” tinged with an element of “you know better than this.” Then I started coming across numerous quotations and articles which seemed to directly speak to my situation. The advice was all the same: acknowledge the difficulties and persevere. I started reading the next chapter of ‘The Artist’s Way’ and was struck by the following passage, which I immediately attacked with a highlighter pen:

"One of the most difficult tasks an artist must face is a primal one: artistic survival. All artists must learn the art of surviving loss: loss of hope, loss of face, loss of money, loss of self-belief. In addition to our gains, we inevitably suffer these losses in an artistic career. They are hazards of the road and, in many ways, its signposts. Artistic losses can be turned into artistic gains and strengths - but not in the isolation of the beleagured artist's brain."

The whole chapter seemed to be just what I needed to read at just that time.

I received similar advice from a couple of other people; some in direct response to my blog deliberations (thanks GaySocrates!) and some because it just seemed to spontaneously arise in the moment.

The last straw was when using an iphone application last night when the following quotation popped up on the screen: “The only failure is to quit trying.”

I just about started laughing. OK, I get the message! I really do. I already kind of knew it inside me anyway.

I think genuine art is a sacred act. The artist opens up and connects with a creative force which lies within and yet beyond the boundaries of self. It’s almost like entering a stream or flow. True creativity comes not from the mind, but through the mind. By creating something through accessing this flow, it then seems disrespectful to the creative flow (call it what you will) to then criticise, doubt and give up on that creation. Many artists will probably know what I mean when I say ‘it’s not really ‘me’ who did the work in the first place - it's more like it flowed through me.’ These words that are appearing on the screen right now; they aren’t so much coming from me as they are coming through me, pouring through my mind and, thanks to my deft fingers, are appearing onto the screen, about to be beamed across cyberspace. Where did they originate? Some unknown, mysterious, invisible force. Julia Cameron says that one of the key principles of creativity is that, as artists, it is our job to DO the work and not judge the work!

It would be disrespectful to both myself and the intangible creative force that collaborated with me on my novel to let it sit gathering dust. At least if I try every agent in the world and get rejected by all of them I’ll be able to know that I tried. And heck, if they don’t want to publish my book, then I’LL publish it. Again, it’s not going to be one of those ‘I need this to happen in order to be at peace/happy/fulfilled’. I can be that without getting published. Getting published is just a little extra, just something I want to do because I can; and because I have something I would like to share with the world. The world might like it or it might be indifferent, but either way I’ll have done my part.

So, I’m going to recommit to getting published. And why not? I’m going to try to take the personalisation out of it this time: for instance, my novel being rejected does not equal ME being rejected. It just means a certain someone doesn’t relate to it. They maybe prefer reading celebrity autobiographies. Fair play to them!

We’ll see how it plays out. Who knows, I might even go from hating and despising the whole process to actually finding it strangely fun. I guess stranger things have happened. It’s all in the attitude.

How do you know whether you should give up or keep fighting?

I’m at a crossroads. You see, I wrote a novel (yup, that's it above!). I have tried getting various agents to take it on. No luck. The last one, a friend’s agent, seemed very keen to take a look and I duly sent the entire novel, but two months on and there’s been not so much as a peep. Oh well, I tell myself, I wasn’t actually sure if she was experienced enough as an agent as I didn’t really know what her credentials were. But I’ve reached this place where I’ve been letting go of all my old beliefs and assumptions. I used to have this dream that I’d get my novel published, that it’d be a smash-hit bestseller and that the film studios would be queuing up to make a movie adaptation. And now? Well, that hasn’t materialised. I did my part; I spent years of my life creating, writing and endlessly re-writing what I felt was a more-than-decent novel, filled with twists and turns and an element of depth that I find sorely lacking from most contemporary art. Sadly, 'life' doesn’t seem to be doing its part! I created what I felt - and I don’t mean this in any egotistical, self-aggrandising way - was my gift to the world. It was my story, my vision, with every last ounce my heart and soul poured into it...and the world doesn’t appear to want it. Doesn’t care. Doesn’t matter.

Maybe it really doesn’t matter? I’ve seriously questioned my need to get it published at all now. I’ve let go of my elaborate dreams of bestselling status and glitzy film premieres. I’ve come to a point where I wonder whether the endless stream of rejection slips signify that my book is quite simply not good enough to publish. It’s perfectly possible. And yet, I can never really know that: no one can conclusively determine whether a piece of art, be it a painting, novel, short story or poem is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Those are subjective judgements and ultimately amount to very little, unless of course like the masses you equate your personal opinions with gospel truth. The primary motivation of agents and publishers is to find something marketable and make as much £££ as possible. Although I tried to make my book as mainstream as I could given the subject matter, I am aware that it doesn’t tidily fit into a neat little pigeonhole; it doesn’t follow trends or take current styles into account. Why should it? I really don’t give damn about trends of current fads in contemporary literature. I’m one of those olde fashioned artists who really doesn’t care about commercial appeal or fitting into certain markets; I had an inner vision, a strong and vivid one and I wrote it as best I could without trying to water it down or tailor it to today’s market. Is this just excuse-making on my part? It has been suggested to me that the UK book market isn’t perhaps very conducive to the type of novel I’ve written and there might be something to that. Then again, it might just be a steaming pile of crap that I’ve written! I’m open to all angles at the moment.

Personally, I have a feeling within me that it’s NOT a steaming pile of crap. Thing is, whenever I reread I actually thoroughly enjoy it - and generally I don’t like reading over things I’ve written because I just tend to criticise every single sentence and the choice of every second word. But I really do get swept away by an engaging and fast-paced story and a character narrative that really compels me. The climax, although I might have written it differently had I done it today, moves and excites me and seems to transcend the normal boundaries of fiction.

So, my question now is really this: do I just accept that I’m not going to get it published, or do I redouble my efforts and give it one last concerted push?

I thoroughly despise sending out queries and whoring my work; I also feel that the initial sample chapters I send off (assuming they are read at all - I can sometimes tell when they aren’t!) aren’t that representative of the book as a whole, simply due to the nature of the story. Maybe I should just get over my dislike of doing this and FORCE myself to give it one last try and not simply fall into what I’ve been doing up til now; sending out 3-4 submissions, waiting for the reply and getting so discouraged when the inevitable rejection slips do arrive that I wait another 6 months til I send out the next batch, and so on.

I could always self-publish, which would give me complete creative control, although by nature I feel really uncomfortable with self-publicity and know I would struggle to get anyone to buy my book. (I would make the world's very worst salesman; even if I had a product I thought was good, my anti-capitalistic tendencies would no doubt cut in and I would lose all motivation to sell it)

Third option is just to give up. Let it go. Chalk it up to experience. And I am prepared now to give up my dream of being a writer. I held onto it tightly for so many years that it was almost a part of me; in reality, it almost seems as though life doesn’t want me to be a writer. If it did, surely it would be easier than it has been? (Then again - who said it would, or should be easy?) Maybe I should just write for myself - I have been toying with ideas for sequels and spin-offs to my novel and I enjoy exploring the various story possibilities. Maybe writing ought to be just a hobby for me. And yet, there’s a part of me wonders - what’s the point? If I can’t somehow put my ideas out there to help the world in some way, to bring just a little more beauty, or inspiration (as I try to do with my every artistic endeavour), then why bother at all?

I really don’t know. When you have ME and everyday is a struggle to get through the basics, you have very little energy left for fighting crusades. I have virtually no fight left. And yet, a little something in me really feels that this particular dream might be worth fighting for. I don’t need to achieve it in order to be happy; I no longer buy into that reasoning (you know, “I need X to happen before I can be happy and at peace”). I can be happy and at peace wherever I am. It’s more like an inner call; I don’t want to share my art out of vanity (personally I’m more comfortable not sharing what I do, particularly if it’s at all of a personal nature and I do put a lot of myself into whatever I do - and then, accordingly want to hide it away). It’s more a feeling that I have something to contribute. So much art out there is soulless and ugly. Maybe contributing something which I know has heart and beauty in it (at least I think it does) is a worthy endeavour.

By the end of this week I will try and come to a decision as to whether I give up or persevere with getting published.

Creativity - rejection, self doubt and bullet proof vests

Still ploughing my way through the Artist’s Way - I'm a bit behind on my reading and tasks this week, but am totally addicted to my trusty morning pages (so therapeutic, I can’t recommend them enough - I’m sure if more people did them the world would be a notably less psychotic place than it is). But as I’ve felt my creative channel gradually opening up, rather like the buds that are upon the trees right now - gradually getting ready to release their spring bloom, with just a little more warmth and sunlight - I’ve been thinking about getting back to writing. It’s been a couple of years believe it or not since I declared my novel ‘finito’, even though I’ve gone back to re-draft and re-write it a few times since. But it’s been too long since I let myself properly write....and I miss it. It’s like a part of myself has been left to wither on the vine. But now spring has arrived, I’m ready to write again - simply because it’s part of my nature.

I realise now that part of my creative block is down to the ruthless and absolutely cruel way I torture myself with layers upon layer of merciless self doubt and self flagellation. Whereas sometimes I feel quite content with my writing ability, more often than not my ‘inner critic’ (he’s a total bastard, I have to say - if you knew this guy as a person, safe to say you’d despise him) convinces me that I’m actually rather pants...that my style is weak, disjointed and devoid of inspiration. My evidence? Well, I compare myself to the greatest literary geniuses ever to live. Of course I’m going to fall short when I compare my writing to that of William Shakespeare. And I do - I did so just the other day. I read a quote from Shakespeare and marvelled at the sheer beauty with which he managed to take words and use them to create such heart-stopping works of art. To be honest, I don’t always know exactly what he’s talking about - I remember reading the part of Romeo in high school English class and struggling with three page monologues in which I had absolutely no idea WHAT I was saying...but even then I was astonished at the richness and inspired beauty of his words, whatever the hell they meant. Next to him, I’m little more than a four year old learning how to spell his own name - and getting half the letters the wrong way round. But then the same could be said for many contemporary authors, I guess. Poetic flourish isn’t something that’s necessarily appreciated in today’s literature. In fact, it’s probably frowned upon. So forget Shakespeare, all I need to do is take my ideas and make them into readable prose. It doesn’t have to be genius...holding myself to such impossibly high standards is just creative suicide.

So, the inner critic has to be silenced! His input is only needed when proofreading and determining whether a sentence sounds right or not (and even then he tends to turn constructive criticism into crippling wretchedness: “see, you can’t even structure a sentence - you’re a complete waste of space, why kid yourself?”). I guess everyone has this inner critic: it’s not limited to artistic types. And I believe it’s part of the egoic structure. It’s deeply rooted in fear as opposed to the expansiveness and openness of our true nature, the essential Self. I also believe it’s a defence mechanism, related to our ego’s inherent fear of rejection. Once upon a time, questioning why I was always so down on myself I realised that it was based upon the dubious notion that “if I beat myself up, it would save other people having to do it”. In other words, in order to avoid the feared rejection of other people, I first rejected myself. That’s a totally self-destructive pathology, but it’s one I’m sure many are familiar with. Recognise it...and root it out. Just being aware of it and realising how daft it is is probably enough....But you have to be AWARE and conscious of it; slip back into unconscious mode and this kind of programming will quickly kick into gear and rule your life again.

I can see how this whole rejection fear has crippled my creativity. It’s the reason I rarely do anything with my paintings; the moment they're done I just tend to stuff them into a drawer. That way, I figure, no one can criticise or judge them. Unfortunately this defeats the purpose of art; art is to be shared. My objective in writing, painting, making music is to bring an inner inspiration - that which is formless - into form. I don’t just create for the sake it it and I don’t even create art just to express emotion any more (I used to - and still have some rather bleak, ugly paintings and horrendously depressing poems created during depressive times)...there is a time and place for that, but ultimately such work doesn't add anything particularly worthwhile to the world. I have a higher vision now. I create art that I feel has a certain quality, a vibration, a level of consciousness (hard to put into words, actually) that I feel the world needs. I endeavour to bring the beauty of the formless into form. It is my intention that my art will bring more light, more inspiration, more beauty into a world that desperately needs it. In my opinion there’s too much ugly, soulless, ego-derived art out there in every medium: music, literature, visual art, films, TV. Art that is hollow, soulless and not created with a particularly high level of consciousness or intent simply can’t have a very positive affect on those that ‘consume’ it: a world filled with hollow, soulless art creates a world filled with hollow, soulless, people.

I’m rediscovering why my contribution is important. Why my book and my weird spacy paintings and the album I’ve finally finished creating after 4 years of work have relevance. There’s still the tendency to stuff them away in a drawer and forget about them, but that’s a disservice. I just realised that I’m running the risk of sounding grandiose (and a bit mental in fact) with this post, but it’s just I’m coming to the realisation that my work has relevance, and deserves to be shared - and it’s maybe even important that I do so. I’m not so deluded as to think that my book can change the world, but if it can uplift just one person’s thinking, or open them to thinking about life in a slightly different way then it’s worth it getting it out there.

I just don’t quite know how. I hate, hate HATE sending submissions out to agents. Rejection slips hurt. Each time they burn and blister, regardless of how much you rationalise it. So now I have a negative association with sending out sample chapters: in the same way that if you burn yourself by touching a hot plate once, you have a deep almost bodily aversion to ever touching it again. I now despise sending out submissions to agents. Each time it’s like, as Tolkien said when he sent out Lord of the Rings to various publishers “I have exposed my heart to be shot at”. There must be an easier way. Or maybe I’ve just got to put on a bullet proof vest and keep persevering....

Creative unblocking

I have been working my way through 'The Artist's Way' by Julia Cameron, which is a coursebook designed to unblock and unlock creativity and is designed to help all kinds of artists, from writers and poets to painters, dancers and designers. More than that, I feel it's a book that would benefit just about anyone - specifically those seeking to explore their creativity - and despite the fact that some people tell themselves they're simply "not creative", I believe that's just mindcrap (incidentally, I so want to patent that word!). We all have creative impulses whether or not we recognise them. Creativity can be used in so many different mediums and outlets and can be used to enhance and enliven just about every aspect of our lives.

Anyway, 'The Artist's Way' is a 12 week course comprised of essays to read, tasks to undertake and it also requires you to use two tools in particular that are designed to really set your creative fire alight: Morning Pages and Artist's Date.

Morning Pages sound deceptively simple but I've found them extremely beneficial and I would in fact recommend them to anyone at all, whether they're interested in creativity or not. The premise is simple: write 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts every morning. The point is not to write art, but simply to get whatever is on your mind onto paper; you write quickly, without censure. There's no wrong way to write these, so long as you commit to writing the full 3 pages and just splashing down whatever thoughts come to your mind. It's a tremendously therapeutic and liberating practise, aptly nick-named the "brain drain" because that's precisely what it does. The Morning Pages can be used to mull over difficult issues, problems, neuroses, hopes and fears, petty grievances, or perhaps to express your delight about anything great that's happening in your life, or even to write your shopping list. It's the simple act of discipline that seems to help fire up the creative juices, and I've noticed a great creative unblocking occurring simply through the act of doing this practise. Again, it has an enormous therapeutic, unburdening effect so I'd recommend it to anyone.

The other basic tool of the Artist's Way program is what Cameron calls 'artist dates'. This is a once-weekly diversion in which you do anything that excites and interests you, more often than not it's something frivolous and dumb, but it's meant to serve the function of inspiring your 'inner artist' and filling up the artistic well with fresh ideas, spontaneity and fun. Whereas I'm addicted to Morning Pages now and actually look forward to doing them, I'm finding the Artist Date more of a challenge - partly due to the fact I rarely have the energy to do very much of interest and partly because I simply haven't grasped the necessary touch of frivolity yet. But I'm working on it and definitely see the value in re-filling the well of creativity and inspiration.

I like the holistic, spiritual approach Cameron takes in the course. She speaks of how we were created by a universal Creative Force (she uses the word "God" a lot, a word I actually now copiously dislike, but she doesn't use it in a dogmatic way at all) and that our very nature is creativity. Using our creativity can be seen as a way of giving something back to that creative force. The essays and exercises deal a lot with overcoming our inner obstacles such as self-doubt, self sabotage and fear...which are the heinous trinity that have long eaten away at my creativity like an insidious poison.

Anyway, I'm not at week 6 and progressing nicely. I recommend the book for any artist that's struggling with inner blocks and for anyone who's interested in exploring their creative potential but are held back by fears and doubt. Approach the book with an open mind, an open heart and a willingness to explore and discovery. You don't have to automatically agree with everything she says, just be willing to listen and take from it what works for you. You might be surprised...