I found this site called "Inspire Me Thursday" last week while browsing various fountains of creativity.
I really want to do Julia Cameron's Vein of Gold journey, but no one wants to play with me. I'm not quite sure why. I will end up doing it by myself, which is fine, but not nearly as much fun. So the Vein of Gold is like the much-lauded Artist's Way, but a little more challenging. For the uninitiated, the Artist's Way is a 12 week creativity program during which you follow weekly assignments that help you get unblocked, or unstuck, or inspired. It's especially good for people who used to do art -- be it music, painting, writing, jewelry-making, photography, etc. -- but stopped for one reason or another. The one reason is usually because someone else told them it was a waste of time. The other is because they told themselves the same thing. If I stopped writing every time someone told me it was a waste of time, I would have put down my pen at age seven. Though I have had some close calls with what Julia Cameron calls "monsters" and creating my "Monster Hall of Fame" was quite empowering. Still haven't been able to pick up the novel again, but I guess that's what I'm after with this round.
Also included in the 12 weeks are two tools called Artist Dates and Morning Pages. Artist Dates are fun, and must be done alone. They are a trip to an antique store to discover old post-cards, or a photo session at the beach, or trolling through used book stores in search of a long-lost children's story. Most people enjoy them and do them once a week as required. But the Morning Pages is where one finds the most resistance, and also the most healing.
The first time I did the Artist's Way was in college. I think it was the summer before my junior year -- maybe earlier, but around that time. Julia requires you to write three long-hand pages every morning before you do much of anything else. Before work, or before school, or before chores or TV or commutes or errands. Or even before doing some other form of art. So you sit down with a pen and write in this notebook three long-hand pages (which for many people is something totally new, in this digital age). They have to be long-hand because it moves a different part of your brain. And our brains and hands have evolved together to move at the perfect harmonious speed. Typing isn't the same waltz. At first you don't know what to write, and that's okay. Some mornings you'll know exactly what you need to write. And then you'll hit the string of mornings where you don't freaking want to write a goddamned word that bitch Julia whose idea was this anyway?! If you push through that feeling, and do it anyway, that's where the real magic begins.
But most people don't push through it. They abandon it, and never really get the benefits of the practice. I know cause I didn't make it through the first time. My first run ended with "Julia that bitch whose freakin idea was this anyway..." and it was sadly over. But months later I picked it up again, and actually finished it. I have been writing Morning Pages ever since. Out of 100 mornings, I think I do them about 90 times. For the past eight years I've been instinctively setting my alarm clock an hour earlier to make time for them. And more often than not, the pages number more like twelve than three. They are pure therapy, and I would never give them up. I've gotten to the point where I guard that time with my life. I have filled over 100 notebooks.
But it's hard to get started on. Most good habits are. So I recommend employing Steve Pavlina's 30 Days to Success during which you do something every single day for 30 days in order to ingrain a habit.
The beauty of the morning pages is that you don't have to ever read them again, and you never ever show them to anyone else. You write them, and put them away. The idea is that you get out all the garbage that's residually floating around in your head before you start your day, so your creative channels are open. Some mornings my pages are a whole lot of expletives and cranky dream-rememberances, sometimes shopping lists sneak in, and often it's just stream of conciousness.
So the Vein of Gold is a little more intensive than the Artist's Way though it still uses morning pages and other familiar tools. This program (that's not really the right word) has lots of hands-on activities that are so fascinating. Mask-making. Ritual doll making. Collaging. Tribal drawing. Letter writing. It's so lush and challenging and I can't wait to dig in. I just wish I had a group to do it with.
I looked online for any groups following the book, and found none. There are a million of them doing the Artist's Way, and a widespread trend is that a group will set up a blog and post daily and by the time they get to week five, most people have dropped out, and by week six, the entries stop altogether and the site hasn't been updated in a year. You have to commit to do it, even when it sucks. Because if you push through the suckiness, the brilliance on the other side is blinding.
I set up a Vein of Gold site for myself, originally hoping I could find others to join me. But I think I may just update about it here. Maybe even share some pictures of what comes out of it. I've been mask making and it's a strangely powerful experience. Try making a mask that represents your enemy. Then put it on and write yourself a letter from their perspective. That'll open some flood gates.
If anyone is interested in joining me in the Vein of Gold, let me know. Hell -- I'd even do the Artist's Way again if someone was interested. You can get both books used on Amazon for about three bucks. If you don't have time right now, I seriously recommend doing it sometime in your life - the sooner the better. If you have a single creative bone in your body (and everyone does) it will change the way you look at the world. I promise.
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