The Artists Way

If god doesn’t work for you, “blend in the influence of someone who is ever so slightly more amused by you, someone less anal. David Byrne is good, for instance. Gracie Allen is good. Mr Rogers will work.”

- Bird by Bird

In order to be an artist, I must:

Show up at the page. Use the page to rest, to dream, to try.

Set small and gentle goals and meet them.

Remember that it is far harder and more painful to be a blocked artist than it is to do the work.

Remember that it is my work to do the work, not judge the work.

The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose.

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

As your recovery progresses, you will come to experience a more comfortable faith in your creator and your creator within. You will learn that it is actually easier to write than not write, paint than not paint, and so forth. You will learn to enjoy the process of being a creative channel and to surrender your need to control the result. You will

Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.

- Shakti Gawain

The refusal to acknowledge our creativity had its payoffs. We could wonder and worry about our arrogance instead of being humble enough to ask help to move through our fear. We could fantasize about art instead of doing the work. We could proceed to righteously ignore our creativity and never have to take the risks of fulfilling it.

Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self-acceptance.

Affirmations are a powerful antidote for self-hate, which commonly appears under the mask of self-doubt.