Writing down to the heart of creativity
Aug 21st, 2008 by spaceagesage
I set my alarm for 5am today, eager to start something author Julia Cameron calls morning pages. For the next 12 weeks, I plan to write my way to “accessing my creativity and realizing my dreams” using her three-page-a-day writing method.
Unlike journaling, morning pages are for awakening the mind to creativity. As the introduction states:
Intellectual capital – ideas as money, money as ideas – is today the real currency of the business world. This capital is more than technical knowledge or bits and bytes of data. It is a wide range of social, emotional, intuitive, and interpersonal skills that together comprise the creative spirit. It is our goal to bring those skills to fruition, integrate them, and reawaken that spirit.
The book I am working from is “The Artist’s Way at Work – Riding the Dragon. Twelve Weeks to Creative Freedom.” One of the three authors is Cameron, who is best known for The Artist’s Way and The Vein of Gold.
How can writing a few pages of musing in the morning help any level of self-actualization? The authors call it a “guided encounter with your own ingenuity.” After reading the first pages and beginning the process, I’m filled with expectation because I intuitively know this writing ritual, as outlined in the book, will unblock major limits for me. I also like the idea that it will be playing to my strength — writing — to work on my weaknesses — those self-limiting aspects of my psyche and personality that pull me down.
From the book:
The power of daily reflection improves our listening capacity so we become more aware, first about ourselves and then about others … Think of your morning pages as a sort of pre-dawn rendezvous where the many parts of yourself that constitute your Inner Mentor can confer on the plans for the day.
Whether it is a book, a sport, martial arts classes, a college class, seminars, talking with a trusted friend, or counseling, we can all use bridges to help us past the blockages in our lives. This book will help with mine. It already has.
What have you found to be the most productive ways to break free from blockages in your life?
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Photo credit: Paul Worthington
I think that what you’re doing here is a very, VERY positive exercise!
Personally, I’ve never kept a journal and I don’t consider my blog an online journal… But even then, what I write sometimes allows me to reflect on myself, my ideas and what I value… It’s good reflection for me and it bolsters my creativity!
So again, I don’t doubt that what you’re doing here will bolster your creativity…
Reading this post reminded me that I’ve also wanted to try Morning Pages for … oh, say 10 years. Ever since I read Julia’s book. And I just never have. I tell myself, “I’m not a morning person.” (True) Now that you’ve reminded me, I think I will work on this again. It sounds so simple, but getting right down and doing it takes commitment and courage – way to go!!!
Hi, Ricardo —
Not really a journal as much as a stream of consciousness thing, and, oh my, it is most interesting so far!
Hi, Annie —
Thanks for the kind words!
Cameron’s latest book might be more motivational for you. I’ve not read her original The Artist’s Way, just the one out for “At Work.” The interesting part of morning pages is that what gets written in the blurry haze of just waking up. It’s like my usual defensiveness and Inner Critic aren’t t awake yet, so my morning pages cut down to the core more. Make sense?
Oh I am soooo not getting up at 5 a.m. to write. I get up at 5:30 as it is, and am out of the house by 6:30. Good luck with that!!! How do I unblock my creativity, or move past something that has me good and stuck? I use oracle cards (in this case Brian Froud’s Faeries; he is such an amazing artist!). I do a spread, and do free-flowing writing based on what jumps out at me in the cards. Works everytime, guaranteed.
Hi, Urban Panther —
Glad you have a method that works for you!
Hi SpaceAgeSage – this sounds like a great exercise. I use meditation to help me clear mental blockages, but the method you described really intrigues me.
Hi, Al —
I’m more wired to physical activities more than meditative ones. Karate always appealed to me more than tai chi, for example, but maybe someday …
The morning pages are great! I have done them and wrote about it in a post called Magic Happens. I’ve been wanting to start them again but my routine is all over the place right now, and I’m not the early riser I used to be. I know, excuses, excuses, excuses. What I do right now to break through blockages is to look at things less seriously. If I think too hard about something it just gets bigger than I. Humour helps a lot.
Hi, Davina —
I’ll have to find that post of yours!
I agree, humor has lots of power to help us over the rough spots.
I’m a great believer in morning pages, although they work for me at any time, not just in the morning. And for me they don’t have to be hand written.
Hi, Jean –
I think whatever works for each individual is the way to go. I like getting away from the computer to write them, plus my typing skills still stink, so I can move more quickly writing by hand.