Julia Camerson says of her book, “The Artist’s Way”, that it is the quasi-spiritual manual for “creative recovery.” 

The book, first published in 1992, explores what creativity is. It suggests two approaches to finding that self. The first is what she refers to as “Morning Pages” which are a stream of consciousness approach to writing where there is no right or wrong way to do it, just three pages of whatever is on your mind. She tells us that this organizes your thoughts and ideas.

The second approach is to take your “inner artist” on a date once a week and do something you enjoy and want to do. The effort is a creative expression.

Camerson said of her approach to teaching that: “My students don’t get lectured to. I think they feel safe. Rather than try and fix themselves, they learn to accept themselves. I think my work makes people autonomous. I feel like people fall in love with themselves.”

Now 70, she lives in a adobe house in Santa Fe, overlooking an acre of scrub and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. A must read for the creative mind.

Quotes

“Most of us are not raised to actively encounter our destiny. ...

“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. ...

“As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.” ...

“Leap, and the net will appear.”

“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.”