I’ve begun reading the book, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. I’m just beginning, but I am planning to try some of the exercises the author proposes. One is called “Morning pages” where you simply freehand on 3 pages each morning. It can be anything and everything. I believe the author describes this as a “brain dump” and I can see why this is so appealing, particularly in our over stimulated digital society.
There is so much going on in our busy lives. So many things vying for our attention. I like this idea of getting all the thoughts strolling through our brains onto paper. The author proposes this removes some of the barriers we have to unleashing our creativity.
In my career as a physician, I see creativity is vital. Sure, medicine is dealing with the sciences. But crafting a plan for a patient is truly creative and personal. There is an art to gathering the story the patient is bringing before me into a coherent whole, giving them a story, a diagnosis, and a treatment plan. Sometimes, this goes smoothly and easily. Other times, it is surely a challenge. But I see that having my synaptic neurons firing on all cylinders often leads to better mental connections and a better day as a caregiver to my patients. And I hope removing some of these barriers and extraneous thoughts in my head each morning via “Morning Pages” will help me perform better.
In the first week of the 12 week course (where I am now), the author describes creating an environment of safety. As I strive to recreate this for myself, I hope I am also creating this environment for my children. It is so easy to simply tell children, “This is the way life is” or “Don’t do things that way, do them my way.” But, is this in a way extinguishing their creative spirit? Sure, it is good to be practical. But life with art and creativity is certainly more interesting. And as I described in my career, creativity in my life brings me better results in my interactions with my patients, and gives me greater joy and satisfaction.
The Artist’s Way course is 12 weeks total. A long commitment, surely. I am on week 1 now, quite some time still to go. I’ll plan to post an update later with any challenges or lessons I’ve learned along the way. So far, though, I find the book interesting and I’ll be interested to see how things go. I’ll let you know final thoughts once my 12 week journey has come to an end.