Morning Pages, Day One
Thoughts on The Artist’s Way twelve-week-course by Julia Cameron
Over the next three months, I will occasionally be sharing my honest thoughts and biased impressions, as well as any lessons learned, from the twelve-week course, The Artist’s Way.
It’s 5 a.m. and I am unimpressed.
The day has begun a full 60 minutes early, because of my two-year-old’s need for a diaper change. Instead of crawling back into my sheets and pretending to sleep for the next hour, I opt to get on with the day — and that means morning pages.
Morning pages are a supposed “unblocking” tool described in Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity.
The author claims that morning pages — recording three pages of long-hand stream-of-consciousness thought first thing in the morning— coupled with a few other techniques, set one’s creative juices free to flow.
Considering all the raving I’ve heard from fans of the method, I’m both curious and skeptical.
I bought the workbook a year ago, and never got very far. Sometimes, it’s just not the right season, and you actually know it.
This year, without much dedicated thought, I felt it was time. We had just moved, so I dug through our thousand boxes of books in the unfinished attic till I found it, put some feelers out in a few Facebook groups, and a friend pointed me towards someone that was planning to lead a group through the twelve week course.
So, here I am, on my couch in the chilly darkness preceding the sunrise.
Writing.
On paper.
Y’all, my handwriting.
Here’s what I learned on my first day of MP’s:
-This might not be fun.
I love writing. But, not everything-I’m-thinking writing. I thought of people and places that I’d love to forget, and the idea of putting it down on paper scares me. Or, makes me frustrated, or annoyed, or angry.
I’ll be honest…I steered my thoughts away, and didn’t write it down. There’s something solidifying about putting words on paper, and I’m just not comfortable with giving the past control over my thoughts, written or otherwise.
This may be no piece of cake.
And, maybe that’s the point.
-I will probably remember all the things I’ve forgotten that I’m supposed to do.
Within ten minutes of moving my pen across the page, I remembered a two’o’clock appointment that I had totally spaced. It wasn’t on the calendar, in my planner, or in my phone. I hadn’t thought about in days, and probably wouldn’t have remembered until the person I was meeting called to ask if I was coming.
On day two of morning pages, I remembered an impending birthday, and the need to find a gift.
If nothing else, my to-do list will be fatter over these next three months.
-I need wide-ruled paper
Seriously. It took me a whopping 30 minutes to get those three measly papers done. 30 minutes of precious before-my-child-wakes-up time. Iwasn’t writing slowly, either.
This happened two days in a row — 30 minutes, on the dot, both days. A member of the group said it takes her about 15…apparently, I need wide-ruled paper.
January 20th will mark one week of MP’s. I will check back in with other impressions after that point. Stay tuned for other observations from The Artist’s Way course.
