This week addresses self-definition as a major component of creative recovery. You may find yourself drawing new boundaries and staking out new territories as your personal needs, desires, and interests announce themselves. The essays and tools are aimed at moving you into your personal identity, a self-defined you. Each participant will have their questions and answers posted below over the next few days. Feel free to post your comments or encouragements, we would love to hear from you.
This week touched on the following topics:
- GOING SANE - Going sane feels like going crazy. As we follow the process we will gain strength against the attacks of self doubt. We will learn how to not let self doubt turn into self sabotage.
- POISONOUS PLAYMATES - Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self acceptance, we must learn to place ourselves with safe companions.
- CRAZYMAKERS - Personalities that create storm centers. Often Charismatic but out of control, long on problems and short on solutions. If you are involved with a crazymaker, you must admit that fact. Your crazymaker is a block you chose yourself, to deter you from your trajectory.
- SKEPTICISM - The inner enemy we harbor ourselves. We have our doubts about all this creator/ creativity stuff and those doubts are very powerful. When we start to work on ourselves and the universe pays attention and hands us success, we sometimes dont know how to handle it and want it to slow down. We sometimes just say that its coincidence that good things are happening and don't account it to the work we are doing on ourselves.
- ATTENTION - Rather than working or living in the now, we spin our wheels and indulge in daydreams of could have, would have, should have. A creative life involves great swathes of attention. Attention is a way to connect and survive and the reward for attention is always healing.
RULES OF THE ROAD
In order to be an artist, I must:
Show up at the page. Use the page to rest, to dream, to try.
Fill the well by caring for my artist.
Set small and gentle goals and meet them.
Pray for guidance, courage, and humility.
Remember that it is far harder and more painful to be a blocked artist than it is to do the work.
Be alert, always, for the presence of the great creator leading and helping my artist.
Choose companions who encourage me to do the work, not just talk about doing the work or why I am not doing the work.
Remember that the great creator loves creativity.
Remember that it is my job to do the work, not judge the work.
Place this sign in my workspace: Great Creator, I will take care of the quantity. You take care of the quality.
Artist's Way Group - Week 2 Questions : Recovering a Sense of Identity
- How many days did you do your artist’s pages and how was the experience?
- What did you do for your Artist’s Date? How did it feel?
- Did you do any or all of the tasks this week? Did anything interesting come up that you would like to share with the group?
- Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery?
- Did you have any “Aha” moments this week?
- Do you have any favorite quotes or excerpts from this chapter?
- Do you want to share your responses to any of the end of chapter essays from this week?