Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way"

Yesterday I was talking to a prospective client and in the course of conversation she mentioned Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. It was a happy reminder for me of a book that was transformative in my life.

I was living in Marblehead when I first heard of The Artist’s Way and I purchased my first copy of the book at The Spirit of ‘76, Bob Hugo’s wonderful bookstore there. I took it home and, within hours I was completely engrossed in it. Cameron’s message was one I needed to hear, You were born to create and you are allowed to create and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. She said that we are all artists. All we need is courage and permission and a method for letting our artist find its own way. She taught about things like doing Morning Pages — writing three pages of longhand every single morning before you even have your cup of coffee. She taught about Artist’s dates — doing something purely self-indulgent and utterly beautiful just because you want to. Because you need to feed your inner artist and you have a right to do that.

I started doing morning pages and I did them faithfully for years. These days I tend to think of this blog as a mature version of those pages. I started taking myself on Artist’s dates and what wonders that afforded me. Trips to museums and galleries. The discovery of wonderful places including The Butterfly Place, Fruitlands, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the gorgeous Lyman Estate Greenhouses with their ancient camellia bushes. Those greenhouses have since transformed into Maggie’s conservatory in Each Angel Burns.

Some time after I began The Artist’s Way I saw that Cameron was doing a book signing at Borders. I went. She was this tiny, funny, clever, witty, utterly beautiful woman who told hilarious stories and charmed everyone who came. A year later she taught a workshop at Interface and I attended. It was three days of magic. My long-neglected inner artist began to wake up and stretch her wings and blossom. On the last day of the workshop each of us got a few minutes alone with Ms Cameron and she told us what she had observed.

She said to me, “You are a very visual person. You observe everything and all your senses are alive. You would be a good writer but an even better designer.” That among other things.

Actually, at the time I was working as a designer in an ad agency but I began to take myself seriously as a designer at that point and it ultimately turned into my own small design business.

She also talked about “clusters” — artists who worked together to support one another’s goals. She said when she was in school she had a cluster with herself and three men who met regularly to support one another. Her cluster consisted of 2 aspiring actors, Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel, and aspiring director Martin Scorsese whom she later married. I guess their plan worked.

That winter I joined an artist’s cluster that meet once a week at my friend Judy’s house. I also began to write the short stories that eventually evolved into My Last Romance and other passions. Our group met for several years before we all went our own ways.

I don’t know where exactly my copy of The Artist’s Way is but I’m sure I can find it. It is so heavily underlined in so many different color markers that it is a technicolor mess but I love it. It was good to think of all of that again. Maybe I need to plan a few Artist’s Dates. Who knows where they might take me?

Thanks for reading.