Several years ago, I had the opportunity to see Julia Cameron speak at a holistic health conference. At the time, I had never heard of her. I went to the conference to see Deepak Chopra. But several people I knew had recommended going to see her speak.
She was, in a word, magical. I think it was fitting that the room in which she was speaking was, in fact, and old church. To just listen to her speak and look at the sun shining in through stained glass windows...magic.
To anyone not familiar with Julia Cameron, she is an author, screenwriter and poet amongst other things. But her true spark of genius, her passion, if you will, is her workshops to teach creativity. Most of us feel that creativity is something you're either born with or not. But Julia feels that creativity is something we all have, but have learned to repress. Her workshops go through a series of exercises aimed at rediscovering the creative spark we have learned to snuff.
SHe also has a number of books that mimic her workshops. I have, in the past, started the 12 week program in her book, The Artist's Way, but have never really gotten through. I think I got to week 9 a few times.
Anyway, I am going to open the book again in 2009. And to motivate myself, I'm going to dedicate one day per week on the blog to the Artist's Way. (It's like paying to go to a gym, where I HAVE to exercise to get my money's worth. Now the pressure is on since I have made the goal public. I HAVE to finish)
Plus, it might be nice to share the creative journey with other creative folks out there. What do you all do to ignite the creative spark?
4 comments:
I used to take classes with a creativity/writing coach when I lived in Charlotte... one class was 'The Artist's Way', and she used Julia Cameron's book as a guide. It was wonderful. I've read several of her books since. One of my goals (not resolutions!) this year is to start a 'creativity/writing group' here in Pigsknuckle, and I'll be using Julia (among others) as my guide!
I have never heard of that book - and will DEFINITELY have to check it out now. I feel like I really need creativity prompts lately. I feel stagnant.
I'll echo the gazelle -- never heard of it but it sounds intriguing. My creative spark has been buried for some time, I'd love to try and bring it back this year. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ooooh I need to check her out. With my job, I need all of the creative help I can get. Sometimes the juices are flowing, and other days - not so much.
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