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.

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 d

messes are the artist’s true friend

- Bird by Bird

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

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

Say no to bench-setting cynicism.

Leap, and the net will appear.

- The Artists Way

…one of the most annoying things about God is that he never just touches you with his magic wand, like Glinda The Good, and gives you what you want. Like it would be much skin off his nose. But he might give you the courage or the stamina to write lots and lots of terrible first drafts, and then you’d learn that good second drafts can spring from t

There will be many times when we won’t look good - to ourselves or anyone else. We need to stop demanding that we do. It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time.