julia cameron wrote a book called the artist’s way that i have loved and kept on my bookshelf and in my heart since a creative writing class in college. she suggests two main practices for nurtuting creativity: morning pages and artist dates.
the artists dates i have mastered. the artist dates are once-weekly excursions you do completely for you, usually alone (you can bring a very supportive friend with you if you have one – I do), its something you want to do, a gallavant, a trip, something selfish and indulgent (everyone needs these), mischievious, exploratory, you can spend no money or lots of money (whatev). and the best part is that its part of this creativity prescription – so you must do it. these dates keep my brain healthy. i feel different when i deprive myself of them.
the morning pages are the harder part for me, even though i am a writer. they are pages you write everyday about anything. stream-of-consciousness type stuff. they are supposed to be handwritten, and very very private. you can flush them down the toilet after writing them if you want.
i’ve been thinking about being even more random than i already am and writing a bit of stream-of-consciousness on this blog, a way to keep myself honest. maybe not everyday, because i don’t like rules. but, we’ll see.
hole punching my life 