Twelve-week creativity workshop!

By a vote of three to one to one, the comm remains entirely unlocked. I'd also like to apologize for missing the last couple days' posts; too-busy early mornings. I can't wait till my work schedule is back on four-to-midnights.

Your task today, if you're up to it (and as always, no need to post your answers or even say whether you've done it), is to imagine five new lives for yourself. Cameron lists "pilot, cowhand, physicist, psychic, monk" for herself, then lists a few dozen more possibilities. Write down whatever occurs to you; do not overthink this.

Did you do your morning pages today?

I'm going to let the poll about locking the comm run another two days. Meanwhile, today's task, if you're up to it (and you don't need to post your response if you don't want to), is to list 'three old champions of your creative self-worth', being as specific as possible about what they did or said. Cameron says every compliment counts, even if you don't believe it—it might, after all, be true.

Did you do your morning pages today?

We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic. —Susan Jeffers

One of the most important things we as artists needs, says Julia Cameron, is support. We don't often get it. A child dreaming of being an actress is warned that she will more likely be a waitress; a child dreaming of being Jo Rowling is informed that there's very few of Jo Rowling.

However true these statements may be, they're the last thing this artist child needs to hear, whether from her parents or her friends or her entertainment (hi, every mention of Penny's artistic aspirations on The Big Bang Theory) or her self.

This week's task is to identify the negative beliefs we hold about our own creativity, and their sources if possible, and replace them with positive beliefs.

( Some common negative beliefs: )

Beliefs are not facts. Negative beliefs are attacks on whatever vulnerabilities you have, and the unconscious aim here is to keep you scared.

Cameron recommends the use of positive affirmations to counter the negative beliefs we hold about ourselves. Try saying some of these out loud: "I deserve love." "I deserve fair pay." "I deserve a rewarding creative life." "I am a brilliant and successful artist." "I have rich creative talents." "I am competent and confident in my creative life."

Or try writing this ten times in a row, with the appropriate noun substituted for 'artist' and your name in its place: "I, Name, am a brilliant and prolific artist."

( my lines )

Hear that? That is the sound of your inner censor saying "no you're not". Listen for a few minutes. (I hear scoffing at the quantity of my creative output—anyone can write a few-hundred-word scene; what takes real talent is writing a novel, which I haven't done. I hear scoffing at the quality of my creative output—if it were any good I'd have a substantial audience, which I don't. I hear scoffing at the fact that everything I've written is fanfiction or self-published short stories—if I were a real writer I'd be traditionally published.)

Write down the things you're thinking: Cameron calls these 'blurts'. She suggests you try to figure out who in your life gave you those ideas; for me, it's my mother who said fanfiction and self-published works aren't real writing. I wouldn't worry too much about the sources (though perhaps I say that because I can't figure out what the other sources are).

Now, convert each blurt into a positive affirmation. 'I have no talent' becomes 'I am talented'. 'Self-published work is not real writing' becomes 'Self-published work is real writing'. Write or recite these when you're done your morning pages and any time a blurt pops into mind.

Don't forget to go on a date with your artist sometime this week, and do your morning pages every day!