Mostly I'm afraid the writer in me is broken. Life can have a way of doing that to a creative person. So I'm setting out to see if I can find that again. I miss writing desperately. I miss having stories in my head that need to get out onto the paper.
Have you heard of Julia Cameron's The Artist Way? It's a book about creative healing. And it's not all talk, it's actually a book of action, but it's not boring action, there's a lot of fun in it.
The two big concepts in it are morning pages and artist dates.
Morning pages are basically journaling pages, done first thing in the morning, as you roll out of bed. I must confess, that's always been my prime writing time. Right in the morning. I always liked to go from sleep to writing...found it a good way to tap that subconscious that always seemed to know what to do with a story. This morning I grabbed my pen (morning pages are required to be done in longhand...although if there's a compelling reason to type them, I'd argue that while writing in pen can be a big help in unlocking the words, doing them, even if by typing, is more important that not doing them because you can't write with a pen.) and my journal, and started writing. Got them done in 20 minutes. And now, here I am, writing again.
Yes, it's a blog post, but hey, this is writing too!
The artist date is exactly what it sounds like. (Let me just say that I love teachers who call things what they are!) Each week you take yourself - your ARTIST self - out on a date. It's a solo date, just you and your artist/inner child. It's about refilling the well, and having FUN. It's about playing. Being creative. Finding beauty.
I'm not sure what my artist date will be yet this week. I'll let you know once I figure it out and do it.
Meanwhile, wish me luck on this road to creative healing. If there are any other broken artists (and you don't have to be a so-called "professional" - just someone who needs to/wants to be more creative in any form, and is struggling to achieve that) out there, if you'd like to join me on this journey, I'd be honored and glad to have your company on this road. Hit me up with any questions.