The Artist's Way (Week Six)

The Artist's Way: Counting, An Exercise

For the next week you will be discovering how you spend your money. Buy a small pocket notepad and write down every nickel you spend. It doesn't matter what it is for, how tiny the purchase, how petty the amount. Petty cash is still cash. Each day, date a page and count—what you bought, what you spent, where your money went, whether it was for groceries, lunch in a diner, a cab ride, subway fares, or a loan to your brother. Be meticulous. Be thorough. And be nonjudgmental. This is an exercise in self-observation—not self-flagellation. You may want to continue this practice for a full month or longer. It will teach you what you value in terms of your spending. Often our spending differs from our real values. We fritter away cash on things we don't cherish and deny ourselves those things we do. For many of us, counting is a necessary prelude to learning creative luxury.


The Artist's Way: Money Madness, An Exercise

Complete the following phrases.

1. People with money are lucky.
2. Money makes people happy.
3. I'd have more money if we cooked all of our meals at home.
4. My dad thought money was to be spent when needed, always have an emergency supply on hand.
5. My mom always thought money would never stick around.
6. In my family, money caused want.
7. Money equals freedom.
8. If I had money, I'd travel.
9. If I could afford it, I'd quit my job and try to freelance.
10. If I had some money, I'd pay off my debts so I got to keep more of my money.
11. I'm afraid that if I had money I would be a different person.
12. Money is practically everything.
13. Money causes the destruction of the planet.
14. Having money is not naturally required but unnaturally necessary.
15. In order to have more money, I'd need to maybe learn a different skill, find a different job.
16. When I have money, I usually feel more carefree/happier.
17. I think money is the root of all evil.
18. If I weren't so cheap I'd buy the things I need and want.
19. People think money makes the world go 'round - and it does.
20. Being broke tells me I was born this way.


The Artist's Way: Week 6 Tasks

1. Natural Abundance: Find five pretty or interesting rocks. I enjoy this exercise particularly because rocks can be carried in pockets, fingered in business meetings. They can be small, constant reminders of our creative consciousness.

2. Natural Abundance: Pick five flowers or leaves. You may want to press these between wax paper and save them in a book. If you did this in kindergarten, that's fine. Some of the best creative play is done there. Let yourself do it again.

3. Clearing: Throw out or give away five ratty pieces of clothing.

4. Creation: Bake something. (If you have a sugar program, make a fruit salad.) Creativity does not have to always involve capital-A art. Very often, the act of cooking something can help you cook something up in another creative mode. When I am stymied as a writer, I make soups and pies.

5. Communication: Send postcards to five friends. This is not a goody-two-shoes exercise. Send to people you would love to hear from.

6. Favorites: List your "favorites" in the following categories.

1. Cars
2. Dogs
3. Flowers
4. Trees
5. Fruits
6. Vegetables
7. Desserts
8. Entrees
9. Musical Groups
10. Colors

 

7. Reread the Basic Principles. (See page 3.) Do this once daily. Read an Artist's Prayer—yours from Week Four or mine on pages 223. Do this once daily.

8. Clearing: Any new changes in your home environment? Make some.

9. Acceptance: Any new flow in your life? Practice saying yes to freebies.

10. Prosperity: Any changes in your financial situation or your perspective on it? Any new—even crazy—ideas about what you would love doing? Pull images around this and add to your image file.


Saturday Check-In

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (Have you used them yet to think about creative luxury for yourself?) How was the experience for you?

2. Did you do your artist date this week? (Have you considered allowing yourself two?) What did you do? How did it feel?

3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?

4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them.

 

The Artist's Way (Week Seven)

The Artist's Way: The Jealousy Map, An Exercise

Your jealousy map will have three columns. In the first column, name those whom you are jealous of. Next to each name write why. Be as specific and accurate as you can. In the third column, list one action you can take to move toward creative risk and out of jealousy. When jealousy bites, like a snakebite it requires an immediate antidote. On paper, make your jealousy map.

Examples:
Who: my sister Libby; my friend Ed; Anne Sexton
Why: she has a real art studio; writes good crime novels; famous poet
Action Antidote: fix spare room; try writing one; publish my long-hoarded poems

Even the biggest changes begin with small ones. Green is the color of jealousy, but it is also the color of hope. When you learn to harness its fierce energy on your own behalf, jealousy is part of the fuel toward a greener and more verdant future.


The Artist's Way: Archaeology, An Exercise

The phrases that follow are more of your sleuth work. Very often, we have buried parts of ourselves that can be uncovered by some digging. Not only will your answers tell you what you missed in the past; they will tell you what you can be doing, now, to comfort and encourage your artist child. It is not too late, no matter what your ego tells you.

Complete these phrases.

1. As a kid, I missed the chance to
2. As a kid, I lacked
3. As a kid, I could have used
4. As a kid, I dream of being
5. As a kid, I wanted a
6. In my house, we never had enough
7. As a kid, I needed more
8. I am sorry that I will never again see
9. For years, I have missed and wondered about
10. I beat myself up about the loss of

It is important to acknowledge our positive inventory as well as our shortfalls. Take positive stock of what good you have to build on in the present. Finish these phrases.

1. I have a loyal friend in
2. One thing I like about my town is
3. I think I have nice
4. Writing my morning pages has shown me I can
5. I am taking a greater interest in
6. I believe I am getting better at
7. My artist has started to pay more attention to
8. My self-care is
9. I feel more
10. Possibly, my creativity is


The Artist's Way: Week 7 Tasks

1. Make this phrase a mantra: Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong. Watercolor or crayon or calligraph this phrase. Post it where you will see it daily. We tend to think being hard on ourselves will make us strong. But it is cherishing ourselves that gives us strength.

2. Give yourself time out to listen to one side of an album, just for joy. You may want to doodle as you listen, allowing yourself to draw the shapes, emotions, thoughts you hear in the music. Notice how just twenty minutes can refresh you. Learn to take these mini-artist dates to break stress and allow insight.

3. Take yourself into a sacred space—a church, synagogue, library, grove of trees—and allow yourself to savor the silence and healing solitude. Each of us has a personal idea of what sacred space is. For me, a large clock store or a great aquarium store can engender a sense of timeless wonder. Experiment.

4. Create one wonderful smell in your house—with soup, incense, fir branches, candles—whatever.

5. Wear your favorite item of clothing for no special occasion.

6. Buy yourself one wonderful pair of socks, one wonderful pair of gloves—one wonderfully comforting, self-loving something.

7. Collage: Collect a stack of at least ten magazines, which you will allow yourself to freely dismember. Setting a twenty-minute time limit for yourself, tear (literally) through the magazines, collecting any images that reflect your life or interests. Think of this collage as a form of pictorial autobiography. Include your past, present, future, and your dreams. It is okay to include images you simply like. Keep pulling until you have a good stack of images (at least twenty). Now take a sheet of newspaper, a stapler, or some tape or glue, and arrange your images in a way that pleases you. (This is one of my students' favorite exercises.)

8. Quickly list five favorite films. Do you see any common denominators among them? Are they romances, adventures, period pieces, political dramas, family epics, thrillers? Do you see traces of your cinematic themes in your collage?

9. Name your favorite topics to read about: comparative religion, movies, ESP, physics, rags-to-riches, betrayal, love triangles, scientific breakthroughs, sports . . . Are these topics in your collage?

10. Give your collage a place of honor. Even a secret place of honor is all right—in your closet, in a drawer, anywhere that is yours. You may want to do a new one every few months, or collage more thoroughly a dream you are trying to accomplish.


Saturday Check-In

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? Have you allowed yourself to daydream a few creative risks? Are you coddling your artist child with childhood loves?

2. Did you do your artist date this week? Did you use it to take any risks? What did you do? How did it feel?

3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?

4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them.