Julia Cameron's Rules for the Road (from 'The Artist's Way')

Hello,

My Develop a Writing Ritual 10-week program is underway! Thank you to the 9 folks who registered. The first two weeks have already been so rich.

Here’s some of what’s come up so far:

• This is guilt-free time. It’s a wide open space I can move through at my own pace. I don’t have to race towards a deadline, or even have a specified destination. This wandering is just for me. I can write a few words. Sit with it. Write a few more. And be surprised by what comes up.
  

• Ease has its own power. Effort has a power to, but ease has a power that could be worth exploring. There is ease in doing just one thing at a time. It’s more sustainable. It’s also energizing.
  

• There’s a difference between practice/rehearsal and performance. Dancers know this. Visual artists know this. But writer’s so often feel like each sentence they write needs to be perfect right away. It’s important to give ourselves space to experiment and play.

The last point was shared by writer, director, and participant in this series, Jax Smith. Very grateful for hers and for everyone’s keen observations so far.

Every week, this group is connecting for a 90 minute online session where we reflect on our relationship to creativity (here’s our freewriting schedule), and then turn off our videos and write/journal/engage with our creativity for 40 minutes. Some participants are using that time to work on a specific project, others are using this time to develop an intimacy with themselves: their thoughts, emotions and voice.

After each 40 minute writing practice, we connect for conversation. Rather than sharing what we’re working on, we reflect on the theme and share our experiences of prioritizing our creativity with one another.

At the start of this series, I shared some Rules for the Road’, inspired by ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron, to guide each writing practice. I wrote a blog post this week, to share some of those rules for the road with you.

An excerpt from the introduction to this blog:

The biggest hurdle I’ve overcome over the last several years is the hurdle of believing that before I could be creative, I had to first understand my relationship to creativity, while simultaneously transforming myself into somebody who was worthy of being creative. 

Which is a tricky loop to get out of. 

You can reflect for a long time, and you can try to make yourself feel worthy for a long time, but if a quiet, barely spoken but deeply felt belief in your inadequacy lies underneath all of your inner work and reflection — then you are walking in a circle. At least, this was my experience.

For it is difficult to respond to the question of “am I enough?”, with “yes, I am enough”, and have your answer stay on its feet, walk away from the confrontation with poise and dignity.  The ‘am I enough?’ question is much more likely to whip your response off its feet. Swallow it up so you forget you ever said it. Or worse, make your response feel meagre and naive — a lie you were trying to get away with. 

Better to retire the ‘am I enough’ question and call it irrelevant. Find a better question to live.

Better to just start writing and making the things you most want to create, and let the question of your worthiness, or readiness, rest. Simply begin. 

READ THE FULL BLOG

Develop a Writing Ritual - 10-week program

Registration for this program is still open until the start of week 3.
Register by May 13th at 5pm PT to join the Monday series or by May 15th by 12pm PT to join the Wednesday series.

After that, registration will be closed until the next term.

Use the code ONMYWAY2024 for a 7% discount at the checkout.
You’ll receive all the notes and prompts from the first two classes.

News/Updates

I’m turning 35 in a couple weeks, and to celebrate my birthday I’ll be attending a 5-day voice workshop in Hamilton, Ontario. The name of this workshop is Arrivals Voice Legacy, and it involves doing research about one of your ancestors and bringing what you learn into the space. I’ll be researching my maternal great grandmother. I’ll definitely be sharing my experience of this workshop on my blog, and with you in this newsletter.

If you’re curious about the program, you may enjoy the free/virtual gathering they’re hosting on Thursday, May 16th from 11-12:45pm PT. It’s on the topic of ‘The Art Of Healing’. Learn more.

Questions or comments about anything in this email? Send an email to [email protected] . I’d love to hear from you.

with thanks,
Christine Bissonnette

P.S — Know someone who would enjoy receiving this email? Pass it along!