Heal Creatively

This weekend I was browsing a friend's bookshelf and came across The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron.

It's a book for blocked artists, and while you may not think (if you've read my Thirderly Report) that I've got much reason to think of myself as a blocked artist, you're wrong.

First, because I've not been as productive as I would have liked; and, second, because this book isn't just about removing creative blocks, it's about removing spiritual blocks, as well -- becoming more spiritually healthy as a creative.

I'm a pretty unhealthy guy, spiritually speaking (as evidenced by all the fear and anxiety I bring to my writing process).

The book is fairly non-specific in its references to the Divinity and suchlike, and outlines a twelve-week program for developing your creativity as a spiritual discipline. That number twelve and lack of specificity isn't coincidental, because Cameron started developing her process immediately after getting sober and (I'm kind of assuming) getting into a twelve-step program.

As a person who sometimes refers to himself as a (non-alcoholic) member of the church of AA, I'm stoked!

The Artist's Way is a self-help book, so it'll of course make some rather grandiose and universalist claims (what works for one won't necessarily work for another), but from what I saw, it looked pretty good.

Check it out for yourself, but I'm thinking this book could be huge for us (you and me). Go to Amazon, buy it, and get ready to start a fun, painful, joyous journey toward greater creativity and spiritual health.

I'll be posting about my progress through the book, and I'd love to have you along for the journey.