Julia Cameron is an American teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, and much more. She is best known for her book, “The Artist’s Way.“
In this episode, in addition to discussing her book, “The Artist’s Way,” Eric and Julia talk about finding your creativity and her famous practice known as “Morning Pages.”
But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!
In This Interview, Julia Cameron and I Discuss Finding Your Creativity and…
- Her book, “The Artist’s Way“
- Her many strategies for feeding her good wolf
- Creative recovery is the process of tracking back to our original selves
- Creativity as a spiritual practice
- “Morning Pages” is her daily practice of writing 3 pages longhand about anything that is on your mind first thing in the morning
- The importance of writing no more or no less than the 3 pages.
- Morning pages are aimed at moving out of inertia into action.
- Learning to write past our inner critic is how we train ourselves to move past fear
- Cloud thoughts are the thoughts that drift into your consciousness that are not connected to anything
- Morning pages are your tough love friend and are not meant to be reread
- Creativity can come from happiness as well as pain
- The reward for paying attention is a sense of well being that counters loneliness
- “Artist Dates” are expeditions out of your house that you find delightful or brings you joy
- The myth that artists are born and not made
- How perfectionism stands between you and your creativity
- The process of creativity is more important than the end product
- Moving past perfectionism with your morning pages
- Walking is another important creative tool
- The secret doubt is our skeptical sense that a higher power isn’t interested in us.
- The voice of guidance is kind, intuitive, truthful, and supportive
Julia Cameron Links:
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If you enjoyed this conversation with Julia Cameron on the Finding Your Creativity, you might also enjoy these other episodes:
Karen says
Thanks Eric and Julia, I really enjoyed this podcast. I have been inspired by your comments and suggestion to adopt a practice of morning pages. It’s very early days but I find this a very therapeutic exercise – especially the requirement to write and let be. There is something very liberating about the freedom to write without the inherent judgement of review. This practice feels like a gift to my battered creative soul. Thank you.
Remy says
Thank you for this conversation! I feel inspired to try morning pages again and would like to use the Apple Pencil on my 11” iPad Pro to get the best of technology and handwriting. However, the iPad is obviously smaller than a regular sheet of notebook paper…so would I write 6 pages instead of 3? The screen is about 6x9ish. Thank you!
Eric Zimmer says
Hi Remy…I think Julia would advise you to do what seems to you to be 3 legal pad size pages of writing. I don’t think there is an exact science to it. An estimate like you are making should be good enough. Good luck with the writing.
Kathy says
I took up the challenge to write morning pages for a month to see if it was useful to me. And it’s amazing. It gives me a moment to pause and be aware of what’s on my mind before I engage in the day. And that awareness has helped me address buried feelings, work though challenges and even brought awareness to some hypocritical feelings I was having. Eric I wanted to thank you for saying “I have nothing to say” and Julia said “write that”. I write that A LOT! I often stall out and then something pops up. I think you talk about your grocery list for two pages and then say something important right at the end. Yeah, that happens too. So, thanks for another great interview and I appreciate the work you do.