Recovering a Sense of Identity

Let's explore The Artist's Way Chapter 2!

Hello Creative Friends!

It’s the last week of the month, which means we’re discussing Chapter 2 of the creative recovery guide The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. No worries if you don’t have the book or you don’t consider yourself an artist (spoiler alert: you might be, even if you don’t claim the title!). I’ll simply share a bit of what I learned from this chapter, and hopefully it will help you begin to explore your creativity or rekindle the dormant creativity wanting to awaken inside of you.

If you’re not sure how any of this applies to you, we’re discussing attentiveness this week which I know you already value as a reader of The Attentive Life. Don’t forget to try the Reflective Practice below borrowed from the book. It’s for ALL of us!

Chapter 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity

This chapter discusses two specific elements of recovering our identity as artists. The first was to consider the people we’ve invited into our lives and whether or not they are people we can trust with our emerging artist self. Cameron urges recovering artists to use caution when sharing our emerging self with friends or family who have either been unsupportive in the past, who may possibly be blocked artist’s themselves, or people who she calls “crazymakers”. (We all know the type!)

Do you find that you resist expressing yourself creatively because you’re worried about what your friends or family might think? This is a powerful force and can have a real impact on how we move as creatives in the world.