Rhi Axtell – Writer

Julia Cameron, in the introduction to The Artist’s Way, talks about the kind of creativity she had before she began approaching creativity as a sort of spiritual practice. She describes that creative practice as the following:

Creative in spasms. Creative as an act of will and ego. Creative in behalf of others. Creative, yes, but in spurts, like blood from a severed carotid artery. A decade of writing and all I knew was how to make these headlong dashes and hurl myself, against all odds, at the wall of whatever I was writing.

Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way, Introduction, Page xiv

This paragraph got many underlines from me. I circled it as well. Why? Well, because that is exactly how I approach my creative practice (after being a professional writer for about a decade – who could’ve guessed?) I rush headlong into projects and try to complete them as fast as possible. I’m obsessed with numbers – word counts, amount of time spent writing, amount of pages written, amount of time left before a ‘deadline’. My whole project revolved around numbers and not around… you know… the writing.

Later in the same chapter, Cameron talks about how The Artist’s Way is a way of learning how to ‘get out of the way’ of your artistic self. This spoke to me too. I really need to get out of my own way sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time. I worry and get anxious, and then don’t do anything. How is that helpful?

And one final quote from Julia Cameron:

Accumulate pages, not judgement.

That sounds like a fantastic idea. Thanks, Julia Cameron.

See you tomorrow.