In early January, I decided to start writing Morning Pages.

This is a practice taught and made famous by Julia Cameron in her classic self-help book The Artist’s Way.

Written in 1992, The Artist’s Way (TAW) is actually the written version of a creativity course that Julia developed and taught – and has become a well-known book in creative circles.

I have avoided TAW for many years, because I believed it had a bit too much of a ‘woo-woo’ element for my personal preference.

However, I was moved enough by a recent feeling of creative stagnation that I decided to borrow it from the library and finally see what all the fuss was about.

To this day, I have only read the introductory section – up to the beginning of ‘Week 1’ of the course.

This beginning section is where Julia introduces the concept and practice of both the Morning Pages and the Artist’s Date – and explains what she means by the ‘creative force’ that she refers to throughout the course.

Call it what you want, she says – god, the universe, or just your own creative energy – but whatever it is, the goal of The Artist’s Way is to connect with this creative energy and move past obstacles or blocks that have been holding you back.

I decided to pause at this point in the book and simply commit to the core practices for a period of time to see what impact they would have on me, before I dove into the deeper work of the course.

I started off with both Morning Pages & the Artist’s Date – but while I stuck to the first one (mostly) religiously, the second was a bit more ephemeral for me.

I do like to get out at least once a week by myself, so that’s already a habit I have, but most of the time, I’m hiking, or going to brunch, or walking… so it felt a bit ‘forced’ to commit to the concept of the Artist’s Date for me.

I might revisit it in a more formal way when I work through the rest of the course (which I’m doing starting early May in The Thriver Circle, if you care to join us!) but I didn’t feel too bad about putting that to the side.

However, the Morning Pages (MP) were a different story.

I actually struggle to articulate what it is about the MP that made me keep going.

I’ve kept journals and diaries before in my life – since I was in my early teens – but it only tends to be when I’m struggling with some aspect of my life. I have used it as an effective form of self-therapy to work through anxiety, relationship troubles, and creative struggles, but as soon as things resolved, the habit fell away.

Keeping a form of a journal when things were good is something new to my experience.

Maybe it’s the constraints around the practice?

Your only goal is to write three pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts.

Something about it just worked for me – and I’ve talked more about this in today’s video and podcast.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

Keep thriving,

Jess

✨P.S. If you would like the opportunity to work through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron in a group setting, here is your chance!

Starting on May 5th, and running for the 12 weeks of the course outlined in the book, we are going to be working through The Artist’s Way inside the Thriver Circle membership community for makers.

Tap here to find out how you can join us.

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