The End of The Artist’s Way

I have finished The Artist’s Way. I did not follow the typical trajectory, and it took me a hell of a lot longer that twelve weeks.

It is now October. We started this journey in April. It has been with me through spring, summer, and fall. During it I have had numerous epiphanies and breakdowns. I started a serious relationship and have made the bittersweet decision to take step back from certain friendships that were doing more harm than good. I lost my job and started two new ones. I took it with me through New Jersy, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Bermuda, the middle of the ocean, and - of course - New York. Right now, at least, I think I can say I’m doing alot better than I was a few months ago.

It comes in cycles, in ebbs and flows. I’ve learned that creative droughts will come, and we must listen when they do. They are trying to tell us something. They urge us to change and move in towards something healthier for our mind, our body, our spirit.

I’ve become more spiritual. I used to walk this borderline as a semi-spiritual person. I was weary of what I refer to as “hippy dippy bullshit.” Now, I sort of love it. I’m not charging crystals in the moonlight, or aligning my chakras, or anything (but more power to you, if you are). I’m focused on my relationship with the universe and keeping an open line of communication with a higher power. After all, The Artist’s Way is a spirtual journey.

I’ve learned that I am at my best when I have a project. Whether it is big, small, short term, long term - it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I must be able to maintain a level of passion and excitement about it. That isn’t always easy. Sometimes that looks like starting something, loosing steam, doing something else, and then going back. I’m trying to give myself grace when it comes to following my creativity and whatever form it presents itself in. I am attempting to live a life no one has ever lived before. The only thing I have to guide me is my own creative force. It is my duty, then, to follow it.

Moving forward on my journey as a creative being, I have no intention of ever stopping my morning pages. They are a lifeline for me. I rely on them tremendously for my well-being, not just in a creative sense but as a general human being. They give me the space to let go, to vent, to scream, to cry, to jump for joy without ever uttering a word. They give me a sense of accomplishment (if nothing else in a day, I have written three pages for myself). They have taught me discipline, and have acted as a laboratory for finding my voice. I reccomend them to anyone willing to pick up a notebook and a pen. You can’t imagine how many of both I have gone through.

Conclusions are hardest part. I struggle everytime I finish a production (post-show depression is painfully real). Film and television sets are hard because you often exit in the middle of the process and then don’t get a final product until months or years later. Even writing my blog posts, I sometime struggle to find endings. I have a desire to wrap it all up in a neat little bow.

But that’s not how The Artist’s Way works. It is a starting point. What feels like the end of the process is actually the first step. The hardest part is not commiting to the course of study, its continuing the practices you have learned on your own. The check ins and the tasks to keep you accountable are gone now. The good thing is that the book will always be on the shelf. So in a few years, if I’m feeling the need for creative rehhab, I can go back and do it all over again from week one.