Julia Cameron
by Nicola · 6 things on NewTwos
- “In a sense, our creativity is none of our business. It is a given, not something to be aspired to. It is not an invention of our ego. It is, instead, a natural function of our soul. We are intended to breathe and to live. We are intended to listen and create. We do not need special pens. We do not need special rooms or even special times. What we do need is the intention to allow creativity to create through us. When we open ourselves to something or someone greater than ourselves working through us, we paradoxically open ourselves to our own greatest selves.” Julia Cameron, The Right to Write
- “Writing is a friend whose shoulder we can cry on. Writing is a confidant who listens and lets us sort things out. Writing is a comrade, marching with us through the steep days of sorrow and despair. Writing is our weather and also how we change our weather. Writing is our landscape and how we view the landscape that we have.” Julia Cameron, The Right to Write
- “Creativity -- like human life itself -- begins in darkness. We need to acknowledge this. All too often, we think only in terms of light: "And then the lightbulb went on and I got it!" It is true that insights may come to us as flashes. It is true that some of these flashes may be blinding. It is, however, also true that such bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely necessary.” Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
- Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/style/julia-cameron-the-artists-way.html
- Notes from a Julia Cameron webinar
Find out more about Julia Cameron on @JamesAltucher's podcast.
1: Morning Pages
Write first thing in the morning. 3 pages of long hand morning writing. Skip topic to topic. Clearing away/siphoning off negatitivty. Brain drain - drain everything that stands in the way of you and your creativity. Morning Pages are inspirational. Put you in touch with a larger power. Say things that surprise you.Writes with 27 Uni-ball flowing writer pen? in black. Uses a 8.5 x 11 page size notebook - room to ruminateDoesn't re-read. It's a form of meditation. Cloud thoughts. Thoughts that come cruising through. Pages are a tough love friend. Topic will come up over and over again until you deal with it. Pages are a nag.Write by hand. Direct connection between heart and hand.Drop into a well of an inner source of inspiration.Write in the morning, laying out a trajectory for the day ahead. Grab the time that you have available.Gets guidance after Morning Pages. Asks questions and writes down what she hears.
2: Artist Date
Once a week, go out and have fun. Have to work on your creativity with Morning Pages. Artist Date - go out and have fun. What does play have to do with working on your creativity? The play of ideas - is a prescription. Play and you will have ideas.The Artist Date replenishes the well. Something whimsical and allow the higher power to work in your life - the Muse/Universe. It refills the inner well. Focus on your own experience.
3: Walking
Go for 20 minutes x 2/week. Walk out empty handed, no phone, no access to anything except your own consciousness. No dog or the dog will take you for a walk. Stretch your body, stretch your mind.
4: The Daily Quota
A small amount of writing you commit yourself to doing daily. Write then put it aside. No more than your daily quota. Self-worth builds up by your accountability to the quota.
5: Writing Stations
Places you're comfortable writing. Different places for different types of writing.
6: Perfection
'I'm too busy' = 'I'm too busy to do it perfectly'.Write: 'If I didn't have to do it perfectly, I'd ...' x 10Perfection is a myth and something we use to beat ourselves up. Dismantle perfectionism to get to the page.Don't edit as you go along. You're laying track. Don't rewrite, polish, obsess. Drafts this way come out interesting, original.
7: Originality
If I'm going to write, I have to write better than anyone has ever written. Not 'originality' that makes you resonate, it's whether the piece is heart felt enough. Remember that originality has at its root, 'origin'. We are the origin of our own work. Not competing with other writers.The Right to Write - a manifesto that said we are all writers and have a right to try writing. Inspirational, exhortative. Encouraging. Current book more hands on and practical.
8: Inner critics
Critic perches on our shoulder and says negative things. Say, thanks for sharing.Treat yourself like a precious object.
9: End quote
Julia Cameron: 'Allow me to help you, to give you little tips. Have humour, don't be deadly earnest. Use rhyming'.
- Julia Cameron ~ Write for Life Webinar ~ Notes