Artist's Way Check in - Week 7

Late.

I performed all the tasks, and my Artist's Date was a trip to a coffee shop to write free hand for a while. I fleshed out the rushed through scenes of HM. I also introduced a few characters in D&D. One showed up that I knew had to be there, but hadn't really thought about. All of a sudden, there she was. Marigold is a dog groomer at the spa. I'm not sure if most spas have dog groomers, but they should. How many pet owners treat their pets like children? And the owner of the pivotal dog in the story has changed into a well-heeled widow. The town now has a name--Overlook, Colorado. It was settled by wealthy mine owners who didn't want to be in Colorado Springs or Denver, but wanted to be away from the actual mine sites. All in all another productive week.

Each week of The Artist's Way is titled, Recovering a Sense of [fill in the blank]. The program could be called simply, Recovering Sense. In all meanings of the word. Now that I am more than halfway through, I feel as if I am recovering my common sense when it comes to writing. I'm also more aware of all of my senses. It all helps.

Deb has finally convinced me to let her read HM. I know some of the edits I want to make already. It should help to have another pair of eyes look at it before I do, though. Once I tighten up those things, I'll let the Pirates have it. Exciting. And scary. They've never read anything I've written before.

Artist's Way Check In - Week 6

The spontaneous decorating of a notebook last week was fun. And I have to chalk it up to The Artist's Way. I just don't see myself doing it before the program.

I thought about skipping the Artist's Date last week, because I didn't have a lot of spare time over the weekend. But I decided I could spare an hour and a half. I've wanted to learn how to crochet for years. Then at the last Pirate meeting, Ali pointed out that you can use crocheting with beads to make jewelry. Even more reason to learn. I bought a skein of inexpensive acrylic yarn and a kit with five different crochet hooks and book on basic crochet. During my Artist's date, I started the process of learning. The chain was fairly easy, but the single crochet stitch took some fiddling. I'm very slow at it, and feel like I have ten thumbs, but by the end of the date I produced something that did resemble the picture in the book. I will keep practicing. Maybe I can reduce the number of thumbs I have by the end of the month.

Fun, But Not Really Me.

Or maybe it is me, and I really have been denying that side of myself.

Yesterday, I decided to buy some new notebooks at Target to start the 3S book. Since jewelry is a big a part of the series, I wanted to find some cute school notebooks with jewelry on the cover. Nothing. Instead I found some that look like they've been used for testing different stencils. The designs are mainly birds and butterflies with a star or two thrown in. Quite different. But nothing to do with jewelry. I bought them anyway because I liked them. And I bought some stick on 'jewels' from the kids party section of the store. I'm going to add them as embellishments to the notebooks.

Sounds silly even as typed it, but I'm doing it anyway. And I'm looking forward to it.

So there.

Late Artist's Way Check In - Week 5

Some parts are getting easier and others are harder. The Morning Pages are such a habit now that I feel stressed if I don't do them first thing in the morning. And I'm resigning myself to the Artist's Dates. But the tasks often feel like busy work. Cameron calls any resistance a "tantrum" which seems harsh, even when talking about the artist child. I think that is one of the things that annoy me about the program. The hyperbole. Saying 'no' doesn't always constitute a tantrum.

My Artist's Date this week was a hike at Red Rocks Canyon. I've wanted to go there for over a year, but just never made it. Saturday was beautiful, if colder than the weatherfolk predicted. I took the long loop around to the Goddess Contemplative trail. The trail itself is gorgeous. It winds among some of the few trees in the park and up against the geological formations that give the place its name. Volunteers have constructed benches from halfed logs so hikers can sit and meditate at various points along the path. Very nicely done.

About forty-five minutes into the hike, and halfway down the Goddess trail, I had what Deb calls an ah-ha moment. The heroine of the 3rd Series (aka 3S) finally showed herself to me. I know what she looks like. I know her name. I know her history. I don't have a plot yet, but I'm sure it will come.

D&D are also speaking much louder. The name of their town showed up this morning. I'm starting to actually hear them. If I wasn't a writer, I would be worried. But I am thrilled.

Synchronicity Balancing Act

One of the things that has been driven home to me during the four and a half weeks of The Artist's Way is how out of balance my life is. I knew it was, but not the extent of the imbalance. An early exercise has the person draw a circle with six sections. The sections are labeled Work, Health, Spirituality, Family/Friends, etc. You place a dot in the wedge for how much time you devote to that item. The more time, the closer to the circumference the dot. For me, work was just about to the circumference, family and friends were pretty close, too. Just about everything else was almost at the center, especially Health (taking care of) and Spirituality.

Several other tasks are about listing things you'd like to do if there were enough time or money. One of the recurring themes for me is education. Not another or a higher degree, but just taking classes in things that interest me.

Last night I found two pieces of junk mail in the mailbox. One was for a series of classes on either DVD or CD. They listed everything from mathematics to philosophy to art history. The other was for One Spirit book club. They have books about reincarnation, philosophy, tarot, witchcraft and cooking.

Then this morning I read a post on the PPW forum from a friend. She was raving about Julia Cameron's diet book. Said it was a great guide for getting yourself back into a healthy frame of mind.

Even I can't ignore that many messages in twenty-four hours. So I went to Barnes & Noble on my break and bought the book. And I bought a book of meditations. I am going to look into possible UCCS extension or Pikes Peak Community College classes. Since I tend to prefer to do things on my own, I think it might be better for me to take a class with other people.

Could this be working?

Reading Deprivation Over

I missed reading more than I thought I would. Even allowing myself to read work-related emails and the like. I couldn't keep up with my friends' blogs or any of the others I like to read. No reading magazines or books. I couldn't even start a new knitting project, because I couldn't read the instructions.

The interesting thing is how impossible it is to not read at all. Words are everywhere. Just glancing around my office, I see words on the following:

Calendar
Stapler
Computer speakers
Water bottle
Telephone
Shredder
Computer screen
Computer
Book spines in bookshelf
Magazines on credenza
File folder box
Printer paper package
Voice recorder for dictation
The Monet print on the wall

That's just in my office. At home, they are on food packages, on the television screen, books, CDs, DVDs, appliances, toiletries, etc. etc. etc. There is absolutely no way a literate person can give up reading completely for a week unless you go into seclusion somewhere with all your food in unmarked plastic containers.

John pointed out that to write, you are by default also reading. I struggled with this dilemma as well. I wrote Morning Pages, since they were allowed, but did not work on anything new. Nor could I do revisions since that involves a lot of reading.

What did I do instead? I walked once more than I would have anyway. I watched television. I watched a few movies. I worked on an afghan using a pattern I know by heart. Pretty much what I would do anyway, except read. There were no revelations--except the one about not really being able to avoid reading. Maybe if the weather had been warmer, I would have gotten out a little more. I thought about my revisions on HM and what I want to do with D&D, but I couldn't write them down.

Maybe I will find the reasons later in the program. Maybe the benefits will show up later, too. I'm just very glad it is over.