INTRODUCTION

WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME w ha t I do, I usually answe r, ' 'I' m a

w rit er-direct or and I teach th ese creativity works ho ps."
The last one intere sts them .
" H ow can you teach creativity?" th ey wa nt to kn ow. D e-
Th eprimary imagination I hold
fiance fights w ith curios ity on th eir faces. to be the Living Power.
"I can't," I tell th em . " I teach peopl e to let th emselves be
creative." SAM UEL TAYLO R
CO LERIDGE
" Oh. You mean we're all crea tive?" Now disbelief and
hop e battle it out.
" Yes."
"You really beli eve th at ?"
" Yes."
"S o what do yo u do?"
This book is w ha t I do. For a decade now, I have tau ght a
spiritual wo rks hop aime d at freeing peopl e's creati vit y. I have
taught artists and non arti sts, painter s and filmm aker s and
homemakers and law yers-anyon e interested in livin g more
creatively through pr acti cin g an art; even more broadly, any-
one int erested in practicing th e art of creative livin g. While
usin g, teaching, an d sha ring tools I have found, devised, di-
vine d, and been handed, I have seen block s dissol ved and lives
tr ansformed by the sim ple process of engaging th e G reat C re-
ator in discovering and recovering our creati ve pow ers.
"The G reat C rea to r? That so unds lik e so me N ative Amer-
ican go d. T ha t so unds too C hristian, to o Ne w Age, too ..."
Stupid? Sim ple- m inded ? Threat ening? . . . I kn ow. Think o f
it as an exe rcise in ope n- m indedness . Just think, "Okay, Grea t
C rea to r, whatever that is," and keep reading. All ow yo ur self to
expe rime nt w ith th e idea th ere mi ght be a Great C reato r and
yo u m ight ge t so me kind o f use from it in freein g yo ur ow n
creativity.
Because T he A rtist's Way is, in esse nce, a spiritual path, in i-
tiated and pr actic ed throu gh creativi ty, thi s book uses th e word
God. This may be volatile for some of you-conjuring old, un-
workable, unpleasant, or sim ply unbelievable ideas about Go d
as you were raised to under stand " h im ." Please be open-
minded .
XXll THE ART 1 S T ' S WAY
Mall is asked to make oj himself
what he issupposedto become to
j uljill his destiny.
PAU L TI LLI CH
I myselfdo nothing. T he
Holy Sp irit accomplishes all
through me.
WI L Ll A M BL A KE
Remind yo urself th at to succee d in th is course, no go d
con cept is necessar y. In fact, m any of our common ly held god
conce pts ge t in th e way. Do not allow sema ntics to become one
more block for yo u.
Wh en th e word Cod is used in th ese pages, yo u m ay sub-
stitu te th e thought good orderly direction or flow. Wha t we are
talki ng abo ut is a crea tive ene rgy. Cod is useful shorthand for
m any o f us, but so is Goddess, Mind, Universe, Source, and
Higher Power. . . . T he point is not w ha t yo u name it. T he
point is th at yo u tr y usin g it. For m any of us, th in kin g of it as a
form o f spi ritua l electricity has been a very useful jumping -off
place.
By th e sim ple, scientific approach of experimenta tion and
obse rva tio n, a workable con nec tion wi th th e flow of good or-
derl y di recti on can easily be established . It is not the int ent of
th ese pages to engage in explain ing, de ba ting, or defini ng th at
flow. You do not need to und erstan d elec tricity to use it.
Do not call it God unless th at is com fortable for you. T here
seems to be no need to nam e it un less th at name is a useful
sho rthand for w ha t yo u ex per ience. Do not pretend to believe
whe n yo u do no t. If yo u remain forever an athei st, agnostic-
so be it. You w ill sti ll be able to experience an altered life
throu gh working wi th th ese pr inciples.
I have worked artis t- to-artis t wit h potters, pho tographers,
poets, screenwriters, dancers, novelists, acto rs, directors-and
w ith th ose w ho knew on ly w ha t th ey dreamed to be or w ho
only dream ed of bein g somehow more creative. I have seen
blocked painters paint, broken poets speak in to ng ues, halt and
lam e and ma imed write rs racin g th rou gh final drafts. I have
co me to not only believe but kn ow:
N o ma tter w ha t yo ur age or yo ur life path, whether mak-
in g art is yo ur career or your hobb y or your dream, it is not too
late or to o eg(\ti~ l ~cal or too selfis h or too silly to wo rk on yo ur
creativ ity. O ne fift y- year-old stu den t w ho "always wan ted to
w rite" used th ese tools and emerged as a pr ize-winning play-
wright. A j udge used these tools to fulfill h is lifelong dr eams
of sculpti ng. N ot all students become full- time arti sts as a re-
sult of th e co urse. In fact, m any full- time artis ts report th at
th ey have become more crea tively ro unded into full-ti me
peopl e.
 I N T R OD U C T IO N XX lll

Throu gh m y ow n ex pe rience-an d th at of co u n tless o th-

ers th at I h ave sha red- I h ave co me to bel ieve th at cr ea tiv ity is
our tru e n ature, th at blo ck s are an unn atural thwa rting o f a
process at o n ce as n ormal an d as miraculous as th e blo ssoming
of a flower at the end o f a slen de r g ree n ste rn . I h ave fo u n d thi s
process o f m ak in g spi ritua l co n ta ct to be both si m ple an d Why illdeedmust " God" be a
straigh tforward. 1l0UIl ? Why nota verb . . . the
If yo u are crea tively block ed-s-and I believe all o f us are to most activeanddynamic (~f all?
some extent-it is po ssible, eve n probable, that yo u can learn MAny D ALY
to crea te more freel y throu gh yo ur willin g use of th e to ols thi s TH EOLOGIAN
book provides. Ju st as do in g H atha Yo ga stretches alters co n-
sc io us ness wh en all yo u arc doing is stre tc hi ng, doing the ex -
ercises in this bo ok alte rs consciousn ess w he n " all " yo u are
doing is w riting and pla yi n g. Do these things an d a break-
through w ill foll ow-whether yo u believe in it or no t. Wh ether
yo u call it a sp iritua l awa ke n ing or n ot.
In sh o rt, the th eory doesn't m atter as mu ch as th e p racti ce
it self does. What yo u are d oing is crea ting pathw ays in yo ur
co nscio us ness th rou gh w hich th e crea tive forces can operate.
Once yo u ag ree to clea ring these p athw ays, yo ur crea tiv ity
cmerges. In a se ns e, yo ur crea tiv ity is like yo ur blood. Ju st as
bl ood is a fact o f yo ur ph ysical body an d n othing yo u in-
vented, crea tiv ity is a fact of yo ur sp ir itua l body an d noth ing
th at yo u must in vent.

MY OWN J OURNEY

I beg an teaching th e crea tivity worksh ops in N ew York. I

tau ght th em becau se I was told to teach th cm . O ne m inute I
w as w alking in th e Wcst Vill age o n a cobblest one stree t w ith
b eautiful afte rnoo n light. The n ex t minute I su dde n ly knew
that 1 shou ld begin teach in g people, gro u ps o f people, h ow to
unblock . M aybe it was a w ish ex ha led o n so mebody else's
w alk. Certain ly Greenw ich Vill age must co n tain a grea te r de n-
sity o f artists- blocke d and o thcrw ise- tha n nearl y anyplace
else in America.
" I need to unbl ock ," so meone m ay have breathed o u t.
"I know how to do it ," 1 may h ave responded , pickin g up
the cu e. M y life h as always included strong internal direct ives.
Marching orders, 1call them.
XX IV T HE A RT IST 'S W AY

In any case, I sudde nly kn ew that I did kn ow how to un-

In the brush doing what it's doing, th ou ght drinking m ade me a w rite r, but now I suddenly
it will stumble on what one
couldn't do by oneself
R OB ERT M OTH ERW ELL
block peopl e and th at I was meant to do so, starting th en and
there with th e lesson s I myself had learn ed .
Wh ere did th e lessons come from?
In 197 8, in January, I st opped drinking. I had never
thou ght not drinkin g mi ght m ake me sto p. In my mind,
drinkin g and w riting we nt together lik e, wel l, sco tch and
so da. For me, th e tri ck was always getting past th e fear and
on to the page. I was playin g beat th e clock-tryin g to w rite be-
fore th e booze closed in lik e fo g and my w indow of crea tiv ity
was blocked again.
By th e ti me I was thirty and abru ptly sober, I had an office
on th e Param ount lot and had m ade a w ho le caree r out of th at
kind o f crea tivity. C reative in spasms . C reative as an act of w ill
and ego. C reative on beh alf of othe rs. C reative, yes, but in
spur ts, lik e blood from a severed caro tid art ery. A decade of
writing and all I kn ew was how to m ake th ese headl on g dash es
and hurl myself, against all odds, at th e wa ll of wha teve r I was
w riting. If creativity was spiritual in any sense, it was only in
its resemblance to a cruc ifixion. I fell up on th e th orns of prose.
I bled .
If I could have con tinued writing th e old, painful way, I
wo uld cert ainl y still be doin g it. T he wee k I go t sober, I had
two nati on al m agazin e pieces out, a newl y mi nt ed featu re
script, and an alco ho l probl em I could not handle any lon ger.
I told myself th at if sobriety meant no creativit y I did not
wa nt to be sobe r. Yet I recogn ized th at dr inking wo uld kill me
and the creativity. I needed to learn to write sober-or else give
up writing en tirely. N ecessity, not virtu e, was the beginning
o f m y spirituality. I wa s forced to find a new creative path . And
that is where my lessons began.
I learn ed to turn my creativity over to th e only go d I could
beli eve in, th e go d of creativity, th e life force D ylan Thomas
called "the for ce th at th rough th e gree n fuse dri ves th e flower."
I learn ed to get out of th e way and let th at crea tive for ce wo rk
th rough me. I learn ed to just sh ow up at th e page and w rit e
down w ha t I heard . Writing becam e m ore lik e eavesdro pping
and less lik e inve nting a nucl ear bomb. It was n't so tri cky, and it
didn't blow up on me any more. I didn't have to be in th e mood .
 I N T ROD U C T I O N xxv

I didn't have to take m y emo tio na l temperature to see if in spi ra-

tion was pendin g. I sim ply w ro te. N o negotiati ons. Goo d,
bad ? N one o f my bu siness. I was n't doi ng it. By resign in g as
th e sel f-conscio us autho r, I w ro te freely.
In ret rospect, I am asto unde d I could let go of th e drama of
bein g a suffering ar tist. N othin g dies hard er th an a bad idea. T hepositionof the artisr
And few ideas are worse th an th e ones we have abo ut art. We is humble. He is essentially
can cha rge so m an y thin gs o ff to our suffering -a rtist ide ntity: a channel.
drunkenness, promiscuity, fiscal probl ems, a cert ain ruthless-
P IET M ON DRIAN
ness or self- des tru ctiveness in m atters of th e heart. We all
kn ow how b roke- crazy-p romiscu ous-unreliable artists are .
And if th ey don't have to be, th en w ha t's m y exc use?
The ide a th at I co uld be sane , so ber, and creati ve terrified
m e, im plying, as it d id, th e possibility of person al account-
ability. " You m ean if I have these gifts, I'm su pposed to use
th em ?" Yes.
P rovidentially, I was sent another blocked wri ter to work
with-and o n-at th is time. I began to teach him w ha t I was
learning. (Get o ut of th e way. Let if work through yo u. Ac-
cum ulate pages, not judgments.) H e, too, began to unblock .
N ow th ere were tw o of us. Soon I had ano the r "victim ," th is
one a painter. T he tools worked fo r visua l artists, too.
This was very exc iting to m e. In m y g rande r moments, I
imagined I w as turning into a crea tive cartograph er, m appin g
a way out o f co n fusio n for m ysel f and fo r w hoever wa nte d to
foll ow. I never planned to become a teach er. I was only angry I'd
never had a teach er m ysel f Why did I have to learn w ha t I
learned th e way I learn ed it: all by tr ial and error, all by wal king
into wa lls? We ar tists sho uld be m or e teach able, I th ou ght.
Sh ortcuts and hazard s of th e tr ail co uld be flagged .
These we re th e th oughts th at edd ied w ith m e as I took m y
afte rnoo n wa lks-enjoying th e light o ff th e Hudson, plo tting
what I w ould w rite next. Enter th e m arching o rde rs: I w as to
teach.
Within a week, I was o ffered a teach in g position a nd space
at th e N ew York Feminist Art Institute-which I had never
heard of M y first class-blocked painter s, noveli sts, poet s,
and filmm akers-assembled itself I began teaching th em th e
lessons th at are now in this book. Since th at class th ere have
been m an y o thers, and m an y m or e lessons as we ll.
XXV I TH E ART 1 ST ' S WAY

Th e A rtist's Way began as informa l class notes m andated by

m y partner, M ark Bryan. As word o f m outh spread, I began
m ailin g ou t packets of m aterials. A per ip at eti c Jun gi an , J ohn
Giannini , spread word of th e techniqu es w herever he
lectured- seem ingly eve rywhe re. Requ est s for m aterials al-
God IIIl/St becom e allactivity ill w ays foll owed . N ext , th e crea tio n spiritua lity netw ork go t
consciousness.
0111' w ord of the work, and people wro te in fro m Dubuq ue, British
Colum bia, Indian a. Stude n ts m at eri alized all ove r th e globe. "I
J O EL S. GO LDS M IT H
am in Switzerl and w ith th e State Depa rtme n t. Please sen d
m e . . ." So I did .
T he packet s ex panded and th e number of stude n ts ex-
panded . Finally, as the res ult o f some very pointed ur gin g from
M ark- "Writ e it all down . You can help a lot of peopl e. It
should be a book"-I be gan form ally to assem ble m y thou ghts.
I wro te an d M ark , w ho was by th is ti me m y eo- teac he r and
taskmast er, told me wha t I had left o ut. I w ro te more an d M ark
told me w hat I had still left out. H e reminded me th at I had seen
plenty o f m ir acles to suppo rt m y th eori es and ur ged me to in -
clud e those, too. I put on th e page w ha t I h ad been puttin g into
pr acti ce for a decade.
T he resultin g pages emerged as a blu eprint for do-it-
yo urs el f recover y. Like mouth- to - m outh res usci tation or th e
H eim lich m an euvcr, th e tools in thi s book are in tended as life-
save rs. Ple ase use th em and pass the m on .
M an y times, I've heard words to th is effec t: "Before I took
yo ur class, I was co m pletely separa te fro m m y crea tiv ity. T he
years o f bitterness an d loss had taken th eir toll. T he n, g radu-
ally, th e m ir acle started to h app en . I h ave go ne back to school
to ge t m y degr ee in thcatcr, I'm aud it io n ing for the first time in
yea rs, I' m w riti n g on a stea dy basis- an d , m ost important of
all, I fin ally feel co m for table calli ng m yself an artist."
I doubt I can co nvey to yo u th e feeling of th e miracul ou s
th at I ex pe rience as a teacher, witnessin g th e befor e an d afte r in
th e lives o f stude n ts. Over th e durati on o f th e co urse, the sheer
ph ysical transform ation can be startling, m akin g m e realize
th at th e term ell/ightel1 /1l ellt is a lit eral one . Stu de n ts' faces o ften
take on a glow as th ey co n tac t th ei r crea tive ene rg ies. The same
cha rge d spiritua l atmosphere th at fills a grea t work of art can
fill a crea tivity class. In a sense, as we are crea tive bein gs, our
lives become ou r work of art.
 Spiritual Electricity
The Basic Principles
F OR M O ST OF US , th e idea th at th e crea tor encourages creativi ty
is a radi cal th ought. We tend to thin k , or at leas t fear, th at cre-
ative d ream s are ego tistical, so meth ing th at Go d wouldn't
ap prove of for us. After all, our crea tive art ist is an inn er yo ung -
ster and pron e to chi ldish thinkin g. If o ur m om or dad ex-
pressed doubt or disapproval for o ur creative dream s, we m ay
project th at sa me at titude onto a par ental go d. This th in king
must be und one.
Wh at we are talkin g abo ut is an ind uce d-or invited-
spiri tua l ex perience . I refe r to this pro cess as spiritual chiroprac-
tic. We' und ertake certa in spir itua l exe rcises to achieve alig n-
m ent wi th the crea tive energy o f th e un iverse.
If yo u th in k of th e un iverse as a vas t elec trical sea in w hic h
yo u are immersed and fro m w hich yo u are formed , ope n ing to
yo ur creativity cha nges yo u from so me th ing bobbin g in th at
sea to a m ore full y fun ct ioning, more co nsc io us, m ore cooper-
ative part of th at ecosys te m.
As a teach er, I ofte n sens e th e presen ce o f something tran-
scende nt-a spiri tua l elec trici ty, if yo u w ill-and I have co me
to rel y on it in tr an scending m y own limitat ion s. I take th e
2 TH E ART IST'S WAY
T he music 0J this opera
[M adame Butte rflyJ wasdic-
tated to me by God; I was merelv Go d as th e crea tor b ut sel do m see creator as the literal term for
instnnncntal ill puttino it 011
paperand communicating it to
thepublic.
G IA COMO P U C C INI
S traightaway the ideasflow ill
"p oll llle, directlvjrom God.
J OH AN N ES BRA H M S
We IIlIl St accept that this creative writing desk : "Leap, and the net wi ll appear."
pulse with ill us is God's creative
p ulse itself
J O SEPH CH ILTON PEAR CE
It is the creative po tential itself in
human be ill.l~s that is the image 0J
God.
M ARY DALY
phrase inspired teacher to be a q uite literal compliment. A h ig he r
h an d tha n j us t my own engages u s. Christ said, "Wherever
tw o or m ore are gathered toge ther, there I am in your m ids t."
T he go d of crea tiv ity see ms to feel th e sa me way.
T he heart of creativity is an experience of th e m ysti cal
un io n ; t he heart of th e mys tica l union is an experience of cre -
at ivi ty. T hose w ho sp eak in sp iri tual terms rout inely refer to
artist. I am sugges ti n g yo u take the term creator q uite lit erall y.
You are seeki n g to forge a crea tive alliance, artist-to-artist w it h
th e Great Crea tor. Accep ting this concept can g rea tl y expand
your crea tive po ssib ili ties.
As yo u work wi th the to ols in this bo o k , as yo u un dertake
th e week ly task s, m an y cha nges w ill be se t in motio n. C h ief
among th ese changes will be the triggering of svnchronicitv: we
cha nge an d th e u niverse furt hers an d ex pa nds t ha t ch ange. I
have an irreverent shorthand for thi s that I keep taped to my
It is my experience both as an artis t and as a teacher th at
w he n we m ove o ut o n faith in to th e act of creation, the u ni-
ve rse is ab le to ad vance. It is a lit tle like openi ng the gate at th e
to p of a fie ld irrigatio n system . Once we remove th e block s,
th e flow m oves in .
Again , I do n o t ask yo u to believe th is. In o rder fo r this cre -
ative emergence to happen , yo u don't have to believe in God. I
simply ask yo u to observe and note this process as it unfolds . In
effect , yo u will be m id w ivin g and w itnessing yo ur own cre-
ative pro g ression.
Creativi ty is an experience-to m y eye, a spirit ua l experi-
ence. It does no t matte r w h ich way yo u thi nk of it: creativi ty
lea d ing to spirit ua lity o r spirit ua lity leadin g to crea tivity. In
fact, I do not m ake a disti nc tio n betw een th e two. In th e face of
suc h experience, th e w hole questio n of bel ief is rendered ob-
so lete. As Ca rl J u ng answered th e q ues tion of belief lat e in hi s
life, " I don't bel ieve; I know."
T he following sp iritu al pri nci ples are the bedrock o n
w hich crea tive recove ry and d iscovery can be built. Read them
th rou gh o nce a d ay, an d keep an in ner ear cocked for any sh ifts
in atti tudes or beli efs.
 S P I R I TU A L E LE CT R I C IT Y : TH E B A SI C PRI N CI PL ES 3

BASIC PRINCIPLES

I. Creativity is the natural order of life. Life Every blade ofx rass has its A IIXel
that bends over it and whispers,
is energy: pure creative energy.
"Gro ll~ grollJ."
2. There is an underlying, in-dwelling cre-
TH E T Al. M U D
ative force infusing all of life-including
ourselves. Great improvisers are like
3. When we open ourselves to our creativity, priests. They arc thillkillg
ollly of theirgod.
we open ourselves to the creator's creativ-
ity within us and our lives. STI; P HAN E G RAPPEL LI
MU SI C I A N
4. We are, ourselves, creations. And we, in
turn, are meant to continue creativity by What lIJe play is life.
being creative ourselves.
L OUI S AR M STRONG
5. Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our cre-
ativity is our gift back to God. Creativity is harnessing univer-
sality and lIlakillg itj tollJ throllgh
6. The refu sal to be creative is self-will and is
YOllr cyes.
counter to our true nature.
P ET E R K O EST E NBA UM
7. When we op en ourselves to exploring our
creativity, we open ourselves to God: good
orderly direction.
S. As we op en our creative channel to the
creator, many gentle but powerful changes
are to be expected.
9. It is safe to open ourselves up to greater
and great er creativity.
10. Our creative dreams and yearnings come
from a divine source. As we move toward
our dreams, we move toward our divinity.
4 T HE A RT IST' S W A Y

H OW T O USE T H IS BOOK
FOR YOUR C REAT IVE RE C O VERY

There are a number of ways to use thi s book. Mos t of all, I in-
vite yo u to use it creatively. T his sectio n o ffers yo u a sor t o f
I paint 1I0t by S~lZh t but byfa ith. roa d m ap th rou gh th e process, w ith so me spe cific ideas abo ut
Fa ithXii/cs yOIl siXht. how to proceed . So m e stude nts have done th e co urse so lo; o th-
ers have formed circles to work th rou gh the boo k to gether. (In
AM O S Fancusor-
the back o f th e book , yo u'll find g uidelines abo ut doing th e
work in g ro u ps.) N o m atter w hich way yo u choose, T he A rt-
Why should Il'e all use aliI' rrc-
ative pOIIJer .. . ? Because there ist's Wa y wi ll wo rk for yo u.
is 1I0thillX that makes people so Firs t, yo u m ay wa nt to glance th rou gh the boo k to ge t a
gCllCr<ms,joYf" l, lively, boldand sense of th e territ ory covered. (Reading th e book thro ug h is
compassionate, so illdifferellt to not the sa me as usin g it.) Each chapte r includes essays, ex-
.ficlZhtillg and the accumulation of erc ises, task s, and a weekly chec k- in. D on't be daun ted by th e
objects and //I OIICY. amount o f work it see ms to entail. Much of the work is rea lly
Bn END A U ELA ND
play, and th e co urse takes little m ore th an o ne hour a day.
Wh en I am formally teaching, I sug ge st students se t a
weekl y schedule. For exa m ple, if yo u're go ing to wo rk a
Sunday-to-Sunday week, begin by read ing th e cha pter o f th e
wee k o n Sunday n ig ht. A fter yo u've read the chap te r, speed-
w rite th ro ug h th e exercises. The exercises in each week are
critical. So are th e m orning pages and th e art ist dat e. (Mo re
abo ut th ese in th e next chapte r.) You prob abl y wo n't have time
to co m plete all of the o ther task s in any given week . Try to d o
abo ut half Kn ow th at th e rest are th ere for use w he n yo u are
able to get back to th em . In choosing w h ich half of the tasks to
do, use two guide lines . Pic k th ose th at appea l to yo u and th ose
yo u stro ng ly resist. Leave th e more neut ral o nes for lat er.
Just reme m be r, in choosing, th at we o fte n resist w ha t we
m ost need.
In all, m ake a tim e co m m itme nt of abo ut seve n to ten
hours a week-an hour a day, or slig htly m or e if yo u choose.
This m odest co m m itmen t to usin g th e tools can yield tr emen-
dous results w ithin th e twel ve wee ks o f th e co urse. T he same
tools, used over a lon ger per iod, can alter the trajectory o f a
lifeti m e.
In w o rkin g w ith this book , remember th at T he A rtist's Wa y
is a spiral path. You wi ll circle th rou gh so me of the issues over
 S PIR I TUAL ELECT IU C I T Y : T HE BAS IC PRIN CIP L E S 5

and over, each time at a different level. T here is no such thin g

as bein g d one wi th an artis tic life. Frustrati ons and rewards ex-
ist at all level s o n th e path . Our aim here is to find the trail, es-
tablish o ur footing, and begin th e climb. The crea tive vistas
th at ope n w ill qui ckl y exc ite yo u.
T hepl/rposeof art is nota
What to Exp ect rarified, intellectuai distillate-
it is life, intensified, brilliantlife.
M an y of us wi sh we were m ore crea tive. M an y of us sense
A LAI N ARIA S-MISSON
we are m ore creative, but un able to effectively tap th at crea tiv-
ity. O ur dream s elude us. O ur lives feel so mehow flat. O fte n ,
we have g rea t id eas, wonde rful d reams, but are unabl e to actu-
alize th em for o urselves. Sometimes we have spec ific creative
longings we would love to be able to fulfill- learn ing to play
th e pian o, painting, tak in g an acting class, or w riti ng . So me-
times o ur goal is m ore diffuse. We hun ger for w ha t mi ght be
called crea tive livin g-an ex pa nde d sense o f creativity in o ur
bu sin ess lives, in sha ring w ith our children , our spo use, o ur
friends.
While th ere is no quick fix for inst ant, pain -free crea tivi ty,
crea tive recovery (or discovery) is a teach able, tr ackable spir-
itual pro cess. Eac h o f us is complex an d hi ghly individual, yet
th ere are co m mon reco gni zable den ominat ors to the crea tive
recovery pro cess.
Workin g w ith thi s pro cess, I see a certai n amount of de-
fian ce and gidd iness in the fir st few weeks. This entry stage is
foll owed closely by ex plosive anger in th e co urse's m idsect ion .
The anger is foll owed by g rie f, th en alte rna ting waves o f resis-
tan ce and hope. This peak s- and-valleys ph ase of grow th be-
co mes a ser ies of expans io ns and co ntractio ns, a birthing pro-
cess in w hich stude nts ex pe rience inte nse ela tio n and defen sive
sk ep ticism.
This cho ppy growth ph ase is foll owed by a strong ur ge to
abandon th e process and re turn to life as we know it. In o the r
words, a bargaining per iod. People are ofte n tempted to aba n-
don th e co urse at thi s point. I call th is a crea tive U -turn. Re-
co m m itment to th e pro cess next tr iggers th e free-fa ll of a m a-
j or ego surrender. Foll owin g this, th e final ph ase of th e co urse
is characte rize d by a new sense of self m ar ked by increased
6 THE ARTI ST' S W A Y
What lies behindus and what lies in g detachment o r noiiattachme nt, which is em blema tic of co nsis-
beforeus aretiny matters, com-
paredto what lies within us.
RALPHWALD O
EM ERSON
autonomy, res ilience, ex pec tancy, and exci te me nt-as well as
by th e cap acit y to m ake and execute co ncrete creati ve plan s.
If this so un ds lik e a lot of emo tio na l tumult, it is. When we
en ga ge in a creativ ity recov er y, we ente r into a w ithd raw al pro-
cess from life as we k now it. W ithdrawal is ano the r way of say-
tent work wi th any m editati on practi ce.
In movie terms, we slowly pull focus, lifting up and away
from being em be dde d in o ur lives until we attain an overview.
This ove rv iew em po we rs us to m ake valid crea tive choices.
Think of it as a j ourney w ith difficult, varied, and fascin ating
terrain . You are m ovin g to high er g ro und . T he fruit of yo ur
withdraw al is w hat yo u ne ed to under st and as a positive pro-
cess, both pain ful an d ex h ilarating.
M an y of us find th at w e have squa ndered our own creative
ene rg ies by in vesting disp roportionately in th e live s, hop es,
dreams, and plan s of o thers. Their lives have obsc ured and de-
toured o ur own. As we co nsolida te a core th rough o ur w ith-
drawal pr ocess, we become m ore able to artic ulate o ur ow n
boundaries, dreams, and authe ntic goa ls. O ur personal flex-
ibility increases w hile our m alleability to th e w hims of o the rs
decreases. We ex pe rience a heighten ed sense of autonomy and
possibilit y.
Ordinarily, w he n we spea k of wi thd rawa l, we think of
havin g a subs ta nce removed from us. We give up alco ho l,
dru gs, suga r, fats, caffeine , ni cotine- and we su ffer a w ith-
d raw al. It's useful to view crea tive w ithd rawa l a little dif-
ferently. We o urselves are th e subs tance we w ithd raw to, not
from , as we pull our ove rex ten ded and mispl aced crea tive en-
ergy back into o ur own co re.
We be gin to excavate our buried dreams. This is a tricky
process. So me of o ur d reams are very vo latile, and th e m ere act
of brushing th em off sends an enorm o us surge of ene rgy bolt-
in g through o ur den ial sys te m. Such g rief! Such loss! Such
pain! It is at th is po int in th e recover y pro cess th at we make
wh at Rob ert Bl y calls a " des cent into ashes." We m ourn the
sel f we aban do ne d . We g ree t this sel f as we might g ree t a lover
at th e end of a long and cos tly war.
To effec t a crea tive recovery, we must undergo a time of
 SP I R ITUAL E LE CT R I C ITY: TH E BA SI C PRIN CIP L E S 7

mournin g. In dealin g wi th th e suicide of th e " nice" self we

have been m akin g do wi th, we find a cer tain amount of grief
to be esse n tial. O ur tears pr ep are th e groun d for our futu re
grow th. Without th is creative m oistening, w e m ay remai n
barren. We must allow th e bolt of pain to str ike us. Rem ember,
thi s is useful pain ; lightning illuminates.
H ow do yo u kn ow if yo u are crea tively blocked ?Jealou sy
is an exce llen t clu e. Are th ere ar tists w ho m yo u rese nt? Do yo u
tell yours elf, " I could do th at, if only . . ." D o yo u tell your-
self th at if on ly yo u took yo ur creative potential ser iously, yo u
mi ght:

• Sto p telling yo ursel f, " It's too late."

• Stop waiting until you m ake eno ug h mon ey to do some-
th in g yo u'd really love.
• Stop tell in g yo urself, " It's just my ego" w henever yo u
yearn for a mor e creative life.
• Stop telling yo urs elf th at dream s don't m att er, th at th ey
are on ly dreams and th at yo u sho uld be mor e sensible.
• Sto p fearin g th at yo ur fam ily and friends would thi n k
yo u crazy.
• Stop telli n g yo urself th at crea tivity is a luxur y and th at
yo u sho uld be gra teful for w ha t yo u've go t.

As yo u learn to recogni ze, nurtu re, and pr ote ct yo ur inner

artist, yo u w ill be able to move beyond pain and crea tive con-
stric tion. You w ill learn ways to recognize an d resolve fear, re-
move emo tio nal scar tissue, and stre ng the n yo ur co nfi de nce.
D am aging old ideas abo ut crea tivity w ill be ex plored and dis-
carded. Workin g w ith this book, yo u w ill ex perience an in ten-
sive, guided enco unter wi th yo ur own creativity-your pr i-
vate villains, cha m pio ns, w ishes , fears, dr eam s, hop es, and
triumphs. The ex perience w ill m ake yo u exci ted, dep ressed ,
ang ry, afra id, joyous, hop eful, an d, ultim atel y, m ore free.
 The Basic Tools
THERE AR ETWO PIVOTAL to ols in crea tive recovery : the morning
pages and the artist date. A last in g crea tive awa ke ning requires
th e co ns iste n t use o f both. I lik e to in trod uce th em both imme-
diately, and at sufficie n t len gth to answer m o st of yo ur qu es-
tions. This cha p te r expl ain s th ese tool s carefully and in depth.
Please read it with special care and begin th e immed iate use o f
bo th to ol s.

THE M O RNING PAGES

In o rder to re trieve yo ur crea tivi ty, yo u nee d to find it. I ask

yo u to d o th is by an apparen rly pointless p rocess I call the morn-
ing pages. You w ill d o th e pages d aily th rough all th e w eeks of
th e co urse and, I hop e, mu ch longer. I have been d oin g th em
for a decad e now. I have st ude n ts w ho have worked w ith th em
nearl y tha t lon g and w ho would no m ore aba ndon th em th an
b reathin g.
Gi nny, a w rite r- produce r, credits th e morning pages with
ins piratio n for her recent scree n plays and clarity in plannin g
her net w ork specials. ''I'm su pe rs titio us abou t th em by now,"
she says. " W he n I was editing m y last special, I wo uld ge t up at
5:00 A.M. to get th em don e before I wen t in to w ork."
Wh at are m orning pages? Put sim ply, th e morning pages
10 TH E AR TIST 'S WAY
Wordsarca[on n of action, capa-
ble of ilif/lI('//cillg chano«.
IN Gnm B ENGI S
You needto claim the events of
YOll r life to make voursel] YOl/rs.
ANN E-WILSON S CH AEF
are three pages of lon gh and writing, strictly strea m-o f-con-
scio usness : " O h, go d, ano ther mornin g. I have NOTH ING to
say. I need to was h th e cur tains. D id I get m y laun dr y yester -
day? Blah , blah , blah .. ." T hey mi ght also, mor e in glori-
ously, be called brain drain, since th at is one of th ei r m ain fun c-
tion s.
Th ere is 110 wrOllLI! I/la)'to do Inom illg pages. T hese dai ly morn-
in g meand erings are not me ant to be art. Or even writing. I
stress th at point to reassure th e non writers wo rking with thi s
bo ok . Writ in g is sim ply one o f th e tools. Pages are meant to be,
simply, th e act of movin g th e hand across th e page and w ritin g
down whatever co mes to m ind. N othin g is too petty, too silly,
too stupid, or too we ird to be in clud ed.
T he morning pages are not supposed to so und sma rt-
altho ug h so me t imes th ey mi ght. M ost tim es th ey wo n't, and
nob od y w ill ever kn ow exce pt yo u. N ob ody is allowed to read
yo ur morning pages exce pt yo u. And yo u sho uldn 't even read
them yo urs elf for th e first eight wee ks or so. Ju st write three
page s, and stick th em into an envelo pe. O r w rite three pages in
a spiral not ebook and don't leaf back th rou gh. JIISt write three
pa,~ es . .. and w rite three mor e pages th e next day.
Sept em be r 30 , 1991 . . . Over the weekend, for Do rncn-
ica's biology pr oject, she and I wen t bug hu nting on th e
Rio Grande and Pott Creek. We collected water craw lies
and butte rflies. I m ade a crimson ho rnem adc butt erfly net
th at was quite funct io nal alt houg h d rago nflies eluded us
to our dism ay. We did not catch th e tarantula st rollin g
down th e di rt ro ad near our hou se. Wej us t enjoyed spo t-
tin g it.
Althou gh occas ionally colorfu l, th e mornin g pages are
o ften negati ve, frequ ently fragmented , o fte n self- pity ing, re-
petitive, st ilted or babyish , angry or blan d- even silly so und-
in g. Good !
O ct. 2 , 19 91 . . . I am up and have had a head ach e and
have taken aspirin and feci a little better alt ho ug h st ill
sha ky. I m ay have th at flu afte r all. I am ge tt ing to th e bot-
 THE B A SI C TOO LS 11

tom of a lot o f unpackin g and still no teapot from Laura

wh om I am so rely m issin g. Wh at a heartb reak . ..

All th at angry, whiny, petty stuff th at yo u write down in

th e m orning stands between yo u and yo ur crea tivity. Worry-
in g abo ut th e j ob, th e laundry, th e funn y kn ock in th e car, th e A mind too active is 11 0 mind
we ird look in yo ur lover 's eye- this stuff eddies th rou gh our at all.
subconscio us and muddies o ur days. Ge t it o n th e page.
TH EO D OR E R O ETH KE
Th e morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery. As
blocked artists, w e tend to criticize o urse lves m ercil essly. Even
Th e events ill ollrlives happen ill
if we look like fun cti oning artists to th e w orld, we feci we
a seqllellce ill time, but ill their
never do enoug h and w ha t we do isn't right. We are victi ms of
s(~lI ificance to ourselves, theyfind
our own internali zed perfectionist, a nast y internal and ete rn al their OlVIl order . . . the contin-
cr itic, the Censor, wh o resid es in o ur (left ) brain and keep s up a 1I0 11 S threadoJrevelation.
const ant strea m of sub versive rem arks th at are ofte n disguised
EUDORA W ELTY
as th e truth. The Censo r says wonde rful things lik e: " You call
th at writing ? What a j oke. You can't eve n punctuate. If yo u
haven't done it by now yo u never w ill. You can't eve n spell.
What m akes yo u thin k yo u can be crea tive?" And o n and on.
M ak e this a rul e: always remember th at yo ur Censo r's
negative o pi nions are not th e truth. T his takes practice. By
spilling o ut of bed and straight onto th e page every morning,
yo u learn to eva de th e Censor. Because th ere is no w ro ng way
to w rite th e m ornin g pages, th e Censor's opinio n doesn't coun t.
Let yo ur Censor rattle o n. (And it will. ) Ju st keep yo ur hand
m oving across th e page. Write down th e Censor's th oughts if
yo u w ant to. N ote how it loves to aim for yo ur crea tive ju gular.
M ak e no mi stak e: th e Censor is o ut to ge t yo u. It's a cunn ing
foe. Ever y tim e yo u ge t sma rter, so does it. So yo u wro te one
good play? T he Censor tells yo u th at's all th ere is. So yo u drew
yo ur first ske tch? The Censor says, " It's not Picasso."
Think o f yo ur Censor as a car toon serpe nt, slithe ring
aro un d yo ur creative Ed en , hissin g vil e th in gs to keep you o ff
g ua rd. If a serpen t doesn't appea l to yo u, yo u mi ght wa nt to
find a good cartoon im age o f yo ur Censor, m ayb e th e sha rk
from Jaws, and put an X th rou gh it. Post it w here yo u tend to
w rite or o n th e in sid e cove r o f yo ur noteb ook. Ju st m akin g th e
Censo r in to th e na st y, cleve r little characte r th at it is begins to
pry loose so me o f its power ove r yo u and yo ur creativity.
12 TH E A RT IST'S WAY

M ore th an one stude nt has tacked up an unfl attering pic-

ture of th e parent respons ible for th e Censor's in stallati on in
his o r her psyche and called th at hi s or her Censo r. The po int is
to stop takin g th e Censor as th e vo ice of reason and learn to
hear it for th e blockin g device th at it is. M orning pages will
help yo u to do this.
Morn ino pages are nonneootiable. N ever ski p or ski m p on
m orning pages. Your m ood doesn't m atter. T he rotten thin g
yo ur Censor says doesn't m atter. We have this idea th at we need
to be in th e m ood to write. We don 't.
M ornin g pages w ill teach you th at yo ur m ood doesn't
really m atter. So me of th e best crea tive work gets done on th e
days w he n yo u feel th at everythi ng yo u're do ing is just plain
junk. The m orning pages w ill teach yo u to sto p judging and
just let yo urself w ri te. So w ha t if yo u're tired , crabby, dis-
tr acted , stressed? Your artist is a child an d it need s to be fed.
M ornin g pages feed yo ur ar tist child. So w rite yo ur m orning
pages.
T hree pages of w ha teve r crosses yo ur m ind-that 's all
th ere is to it. If yo u can't th ink of any thing to w rite, the n write,
" I can't think of anythi ng to w rite. . . ." Do this until yo u have
filled th ree pages. Doallythillg unti! yOIl havefill edthreepages.
Wh en peopl e ask , "Why do we w rite morni ng pages?" I
j oke, " To get to th e o ther side ." T hey think I am kiddin g, but
I'm not. M orning pages do ge t us to th e o ther side: th e o ther
side of o ur fear, of our negati vity, of o ur m ood s. Ab ove all,
th ey ge t us beyond o ur Censor. Beyond th e reach of the Cen-
so r's babble we find o ur own qu iet cen te r, th e place w he re
we hear the still, sma ll vo ice th at is at once o ur crea to r's and
ourow n.
A word is in order here abo ut lo gic brain and artist brain.
Logicbraill is o ur brain of choice in the Weste rn H emisphere. It
is th e catego rical brain. It thinks in a neat , lin ear fash io n . As a
rul e, lo gic brain perceives th e worl d accordi ng to known cate-
go ries. A ho rse is a certai n co m bi na tio n of an imal parts th at
m ake up a horse. A fall fores t is viewed as a series of colors that
add up to "fall forest." It looks at a fall fores t an d notes: red ,
o range, yellow, g reen , go ld.
Lo gic brain was an d is o ur survival b rain . It works on
 THE BAS I C TOO LS 13

kn own principl es. Anythin g unkn own is per ceiv ed as w ro ng

and possibl y dan gerous. Logi c brain lik es th in gs to be neat lit-
tle so ld iers m arching in a straig ht lin e. Lo gic brain is th e brain
we usually listen to, espec ially w he n we are telling o urselves to
be sensi ble.
Lo gic brain is o ur Censo r, o ur second (and thi rd and Poetry often ('I/ (e/'5 throuol: (he
fourth) th oughts. Faced w ith an o rig ina l sen te nce , ph rase, window of irrelevance.
paint squiggle, it says, "What th e hell is th at ? That's not right! "
M. C. RIC H ARDS
Artist brain is our in ventor, o ur child, our ver y own per-
so na l abse n t- m inded pro fesso r. Artist brain says, "Hey! That
is so neat! " It puts odd thin gs together (boa t equa ls wave and
wa lker) . It lik es calling a spee d ing GTO a w ild anima l: " T he
black howl in g wolf pulled into th e d rive- in . . ."
A rti st brain is o ur crea tive, holi st ic brain . It thinks in
patterns and sha dings, It sees a fall fores t and thinks: Wow!
Leaf bouquet ! Pretty! Gold-gilt-s him mery -eart hs kin-ki ng's-
car pe t! A rti st brain is associative and freewheeling. It m akes
new co nnec tio ns, yo ki ng to gether im ages to in voke m eaning:
lik e th e N orse m yths calling a boat "wave- ho rse." In Star Wa rs,
th e name Skywa lke r is a lovely artist- brain flash.
Why all this lo gic-brain / artist-brain talk? Because th e
m orning pages teach lo gic brain to stand aside and let ar tist
brain play.
T he Censor is part of o ur left over survival brain . It was th e
par t in charge of deciding w he the r it was safe for us to leave
th e forest and go out in to the mead ow. O ur Censo r scans o ur
crea tive mead ow for any dan gerous beast ies. Any origina l
th ou ght can look pretty dan gerous to o ur Censor.
T he o nly se nte nces/ pa intings /sculptures/ pho tog raphs it
lik es are o nes th at it has seen m an y tim es before. Safe sen-
ten ces. Safe paintings. N ot ex plora to ry blurts, squiggles, o r
j ottings. List en to yo ur Censor and it wi ll tell yo u th at eve ry -
thin g origina l is wrong/ dan ge rou slrotten .
Who wo uldn't be blocked if every tim e yo u tiptoed into
th e ope n so me bo dy (yo ur Censor) m ade fun of yo u? The
m orning pages w ill teach yo u to stop listening to th at rid icu le.
T hey w ill allow yo u to det ach from yo ur negati ve Censor.
It m ay be useful for yo u to think o f th e m orning pages as
m editati on. It m ay not be th e pr acti ce o f m edit at ion yo u are
14 TH E ART IST'S W A Y
lnspiration mav bea[orm of
superconsciousness, orperhaps oJ T he re are m an y ways of thinking abo u t m editati on. Scientists
subconsciousness-s-I wouldn't
know. But I aliisureit is the
antithesis oJ selj-consciousncss. to slow, sha llow to deep. M an agem ent consultants, in pursuit
A AR ON CO PLA ND
accus to me d to. You m ay, in fact , not be accus to me d to m edi-
tating at all. The pages m ay not see m spiritua l or even m edita-
tive-more like negati ve and m aterialisti c, actua lly- but th ey
are a valid form of m editati on th at gives us in sight and helps us
effect cha nge in o ur lives.
Let's take a loo k at w ha t we sta nd to gain by m ed itatin g.
spea k o f it in terms o f brain hemispheres and shun ting tech-
niqu es. We m ove from lo gic brain to artist brain and from fast
of co rpo rate ph ysical health, have learned to think o f m edita-
tion primar ily as a stress-management techniqu e. Spiritual
see kers choose to view th e process as a ga teway to God . Artists
and crea tivity m aven s approve o f it as a co n dui t for hi gh er cre-
ative in sights.
All of th ese notions are true-as far as th ey go. T hey do
no t go far eno ugh . Yes, we w ill alte r our brain hemisph ere,
lower o ur stress, discover an inner co ntac t w ith a creative
so urce, and have m an y creative insights. Yes, for any one of
th ese reasons, th e pursuit is a worthy o ne. Even taken in co m-
bin ati on , however, th ey are still intell ectu al cons tructs fo r
w ha t is primaril y an ex perience of w ho leness, rig htness, and
power.
Wc m editate to di scover o ur own identity, o ur right place
in th e sche me of th e universe. T hro ug h m editati on, we ac-
quire and eve ntua lly acknowledge o ur co nnec tio n to an inner
power so urce th at has th e ability to tr an sform o ur oute r world.
In o ther words, meditati on gives us not onl y th e light of in-
sigh t but also th e power for ex pans ive ch an ge.
Insight in and of itself is an intell ectual co mfort. Power in
and of itself is a blind for ce th at can destroy as eas ily as build. It
is o nly w he n we co nsc io us ly learn to link power and light tha t
we begin to feel our rightful identities as creati ve beings. The
mornin g pages allow us to for ge this link. T hey provid e us
wi th a spiritua l ham-radi o set to co n tact th e Creato r With in.
For this reason , th e morning pages are a spi ri tua l practice.
It is impossible to w rite m orning pages for any ex te nded
peri od of time w itho ut co m ing in to co n tact wi th an un ex-
pected inner power. Although I used th em for m any years be-
 T HE BAS I C TOOLS 15

fore I realized this, th e pages are a path way to a strong and clear
sense of self T hey are a trail th at we foll ow into o ur ow n inte-
rio r, w he re we meet both o ur own crea tiv ity and o ur crea tor.
M ornin g pages m ap o ur own in terior. Without th em, our
dreams m ay remain ter ra incognita. I kn ow mine did . U sin g
th em, th e light o f in sight is coupled with the power for ex pan- It always comes back to thesame
sive change. It is very difficult to co m plain abou t a situa tio n necessity:go deep ellol/c,? h and
m orning after morn ing, m onth afte r month, w itho ut bein g there is a bedrock of truth, how-
m oved to co ns truc tive actio n . The pages lead us o ut o f desp air everhard.
and into und reamed-o f so lu tio ns. M AY SA IlT ON
The firs t ti m e I did m orning pages, I was livin g in Taos,
N ew M exico. I had go ne th ere to so rt m yself out-into w ha t, I
d idn't know. For th e third time in a row, I'd had a film scuttled
du e to studio politics. Such disasters are routin e to scree n-
w rite rs, but to me th ey felt lik e mi scarriages. C u m ulatively,
th ey we re disast rous. I wa nte d to give th e m ovies up . M ovies
had broken m y heart. I didn't wa nt any more brain child ren to
m eet unt im ely deaths. I'd go ne to N ew M exico to m end m y
heart and see what else, if any thing, I m ight want to do.
Livin g in a sma ll ado be house th at looked north to Taos
M ountain , I began a practi ce of w ri ti ng m orning pages. N o-
body told m e to do th em. I had never heard of any bo dy doi ng
the m . Ijust go t th e in sistent, inner sense th at I sho uld do th em
and so I did . I sat at a woode n table looking north to Taos
M ountain an d I w rote.
The m ornin g pages we re m y pastime, so meth ing to do in-
stea d of stari ng at th e m ountain all th e time. The m ountain, a
humpb acked m arvel di fferent in eve ry weather, raised m ore
qu esti ons th an I did. Wrapp ed in clouds one day, dark and wet
th e next, th at m ountain dominat ed m y view and m y morning
pages as wel l. Wha t did it-or any thi ng- mea n? I asked page
afte r page, m orning afte r m orning. N o answer.
And th en , o ne we t m orning, a cha racte r nam ed J ohnny
came stro lling into m y pages. Without planning to, I was writ-
in g a no vel. The morning pages had shown me a way.
Anyone w ho faithfull y w rites m orning pages w ill be led to
a co nnec tio n w ith a so urce o f w isdom w ithin . When I am
stuck w ith a painful situa tio n o r problem that I don 't th ink
I kn ow how to handl e, I wi ll go to th e pages and ask for
16 TH E A RT I ST' S WA Y
guida nce. To do th is, I write "LJ" as a shortha nd for m e, " Little
julie,' and then I ask m y qu esti on .
Like allability ora muscle,
hearillg YOll r inner wisdom
is strcnytliened by doing it.
R O BBl E G ASS
It is ill the kllowledge of the
.'<?ellllille conditions of Oll r lives actly right- far more right th an so me thing m ore co m plicated
that we 111 ust draw Oll r strength to wo uld have been . And so, for th e record, I wa nt to say: pages
liveand our reasonsf orliving.
S IMONE DE B EAU VOIR
LJ: Wh at sho uld I tell th em abo ut this inner wi sd om ?
(Then I list en for th e repl y and w rite th at down , too. )
A NS WE R: You sho uld tell th em everyone has a di rect dial to
Go d. N o o ne need s to go throu gh an ope rato r. Tell th em to tr y
this technique w ith a problem of the ir own. T hey w ill.
So metimes, as above, th e answer m ay see m flippant or too
simple. I have co me to belie ve th at seem is th e o pe rative wo rd.
Ver y o fte n, w he n I act on th e adv ice I have be en given, it is ex-
are m y w ay o f m editat in g; I do th em becau se th ey work.
A fin al assura nce : th e m orni ng pages w ill work for paint-
ers, for sculpto rs, for poet s, for acto rs, for law yers, for hou se-
w ives- for anyo ne w ho wan ts to try any thi ng crea tive . Don't
think th ey are a to ol for w rite rs o nly. H ooey. T hese pa ges are
not intended for writers on ly. Law yers w ho use th em swea r
th ey m ake th em m ore effective in co urt. Da ncers claim their
balan ce improves-and not j ust emo tio na lly. If any th ing ,
w rite rs, w ho have a reg rettable de sir e to w rite m orni ng pages
in stead of just do th em , m ay have th e hard est time see ing th eir
impact. What th ey're likely to see is th at th eir o ther w riting
see ms to sudde n ly be far m o re free and ex pans ive and so me -
how easy to do. In sho rt, no m atter w hat yo ur reserva tio n or
yo ur occ u pa tio n, m orning pages w ill functio n for yo u.
T im othy, a buttoned-down, buttoned-lip cur m udgeon
million air e, began w riting m orning pages wi th a skeptic's
sco rn. H e didn't wa nt to do th em w itho ut so me pro of th at th ey
would w ork . The damn pages had no lab el , no D un and Brad-
street ratin g. They just so unded silly, and Ti mo thy hat ed silly.
Timothy was, in stree t parl an ce, a serio us player. Hi s pok er
face was so straight it looked m or e lik e a fir eplace poker th an a
m ere cards harp's defen se. Pract iced for years in the corpora te
board roo m , T im othy's invincible facad e was as da rk, shi ny,
and exp en sive as m ah o gan y. N o emotio ns scra tche d th e sur -
face of this m an's calm. H e was a one- ma n m onument to th e
M asculine M ystique.
 TH E BAS I C TOO LS 17

"Oh, all rig ht . . ." T im oth y agreed to th e pages, but only

because he had paid good money to be to ld to do th em. Wi thi n
th ree wee ks, straig htlaced, pin-st riped Ti mo thy became a
m orning-pages advocate. The results of hi s work w ith them
convi nce d him . He sta rted- heave n forbid-to have a little
creative fun. " I bou gh t guitar stri ngs for this old guitar I had Painting isj ust anotherway of
lyin g aro un d," he reported one week. And th en , " I rew ired my kccping a diary.
stereo. I bou ght so me wonderful Italian recording s." Although
P ABLO P IC ASSO
he hesi tated to acknowledge it, even to hi msel f, T imothy's
writer's block was melting. Up at dawn, Gregorian chant on Experience, evenfor a painter,
th e stereo, he was w riting free ly. is /JOt exclusivelv visual.
N ot everyone un dert akes th e morning pages wi th such ob-
WALTER M EIGS
vious an tagonis m . Ph ylli s, a leggy, racehorse socia lite w ho for
years had hidd en her brains beh ind her beau ty and her life be-
hind her man's, tried th e mo rn ing pages w ith a great deal of
surface cheer-and an inner co nviction they would never work
for her. It had been ten years since she had allowed herself to
write any th ing other th an letters and br ead-and-butter lists.
About a month into mornin g pages, seem ing ly out of no-
w here, Ph yllis go t her firs t poem. In th e three years she has
used pages since, she has writte n poems, speeches, radio shows,
and a non fiction book .
Anton, gru m py bu t graceful in h is use of th e pages, ac-
com plished unblocking as an actor. Laura, talented bu t blocked
as a w riter, paint er, and m usician, found th at the morn in g
pages moved her to her piano, typ ew rit er, and pain t supplies.
While yo u m ay undert ake this co urse wi th an agenda as to
w ha t yo u wan t unbl ocked, the tools may free crea tive areas
yo u have long ign ored or even been blind to. Ingebor g, using
th e pages to unbl ock her crea tive write r, moved fro m bein g
one of Germa ny's top music critics to com posing for the first
time in twent y years. She was stunned an d m ade several ec-
static transatl antic calls to share her good new s.
O ften, th e studen ts most resistant to morning pages come
to love them th e best. In fact, hating th e mornin g pages is a
very good sign. Loving the m is a good sign, too, if yo u kee p
w riti ng even w hen yo u sudde n ly don't. A neutra l attitude is
th e third pos ition, but it's really just a defensive st rategy th at
m ay m ask boredom.
18 T HE A RT IST'S WA Y

Boredom isjust "What's th e use?" in d isgu ise. And " Wha t's
th e use?" is fear, an d fear m eans yo u are secretly in desp air. So
put yo ur fears on th e page. Put any thing on th e page. Put three
pages o f it o n th e page.

Th e most potent muse oJall is 0 111' THE ARTI ST DATE

OW Ilinnerchild.
The o the r basic tool of T he Artis t's Way m ay str ike yo u as a
ST EP H EN
non tool , a di version. You m ay see clea rly how m orning pages
N ACH M A NO VITCH
co uld work yet find yo urs elf highly dubious abo ut so mething
A t the height oJ laIlJ?htel; the uni- called an artist date. I assure yo u, artis t dates work, too.
verse isfillllg intoa kaleidoscope Think of th is co m bina tio n of tools in term s of a radi o re-
of new possibilities. ceiver and transm itt er. It is a tw o-step, tw o-directi on al pro-
cess: out and th en i l l. Doing yo ur m orning pages, yo u are
J EA N H OU ST ON
sen ding- no ti fying yo urself and th e universe of yo ur dreams,
dissati sfacti ons, hop es. Doing yo ur artist dat e, yo u are rece iv-
in g-op en in g yo urself to insight, inspira tio n, g uidance .
But w ha t exac tly is an ar tist date? An ar tist dat e is a block of
time, perh aps two hours weekly, espec ially set aside an d co m-
mitted to nu rturin g yo ur crea tive co nscio us ness, yo ur inner
artist. In its m ost pri mary form, th e artis t date is an excursion,
a play dat e th at yo u preplan and defend aga ins t all inte rlo pers.
You do not take anyo ne on this artis t da te but yo u an d yo ur in-
ner ar tis t, a. k.a. yo ur crea tive child . That mean s no lovers,
friends, spo uses, chi ld ren-no taggers- on of any str ipe.
If yo u th ink th is so unds stu pid or th at yo u wi ll never be
able to affor d th e tim e, identify tha t reactio n as res istance. You
cann ot afford not to find time for art ist dates.
" D o yo u spe nd qu ality time w ith each o the r?" tr oubled
co u ples are ofte n aske d by th eir th erapi st. Parents of disturbed
children are asked th e sa me thin g.
" Well ... w ha t do yo u m ean , 'qua lity time' ?" is th e usu al
weasely resp on se. " We spen d a lot of time to gether."
" Yes . . . but is it qua lity tim e? Do yo u eve r have any fun
to gether?" th e therapist m ay press.
" Fun?" (W hoever heard of havin g fun in a rotten rel at ion-
ship lik e th is one?)
"Do yo u go on da tes? Ju st to talk ? Ju st to listen to each
o the r?"
"Dates? . . . B ut we're m ar ried, too bu sy, too broke, too- "
 T HE BAS I C TOO LS 19

"Too sca red," the therapist m ay interrupt. (H ey, don't

suga rco at it .)
It is frightening to spe n d quality time wi th a ch ild o r lover,
and o ur artist can be see n as both to us. A week ly artist d ate is
remarkabl y thrcatenin g- and remarkab ly producti ve.
A d atc ? With my artist? Th e creation of something new is
Yes. Your artist need s to be taken o u t, pampered , and lis- not accomplished by the intellect
ten ed to. T he re are as m any w ays to eva de this co m m it men t as but by theplay illstillet actill<l!
there are d ays o f yo ur life. ' 'I' m to o b roke" is th e favo rcd o ne, from inner necessity. T he creative
alt h o ugh n o o ne said the d ate need in vol ve elab orat e expen scs. mind plays with the objects it
You r artist is a child . Time with a par ent m atters m ore th an loves.
m onies spe n t. A visit to a grea t junk store, a so lo trip to the C. G. J UN G
beach , an old m ovie see n alo ne to gether, a visi t to an aq uariu m
o r an art ga llc ry - these cos t time, n ot m oncy. Remember, it is
th e time co m m it men t th at is sacred .
In looking for a par allel , think of th e ch ild o f di vo rce w ho
ge ts to sec a bel ov ed par ent o n ly o n weeken ds, (D uring m ost
of th e week , yo ur artist is in the cus tody of a stern, worka day
ad ult.) What th at chi ld wa n ts is atte ntion , n ot ex pe nsive o u t-
in gs. What that ch ild does n ot w ant is to sh are the precious
parent w ith so meone like th e new sign ifica n t other,
Spe nd ing tim e in so litu de w ith yo ur artis t ch ild is essen tial
to sel f-n urturing. A lon g co u n try wa lk, a so litary ex pe ditio n
to th e beach for a su n risc o r su ns et, a so rtie o u t to a st range
ch urch to hear gos pel music, to an ethn ic n eighborhood to
tast e forei gn sig h ts an d so un ds-your ar tis t mi ght enjoy any o f
th ese. O r yo ur ar tist might like b owlin g.
Co m m it yo u rself to a weekly ar tis t's dat e, an d th en w at ch
yo ur killj oy side tr y to wriggle o u t of it. Wat ch how this sac re d
tim e ge ts eas ily encroache d upon. Wa tch how th e sac red time
sud de n ly includes a thi rd part y. Learn to g ua rd aga ins t these
in vasions.
Ab ov e all, learn to list en to what yo ur artist ch ild ha s to say
o n, and abou t, th ese j oint ex pe ditio ns. Fo r exa m ple, "Oh, I
hat e this se rio us stuff," yo ur artis t m ay ex claim if yo u persist in
tak in g it o n ly to grow n- u p places th at are culturall y ed ify ing
and good fo r it.
List en to th at! It is telling yo u yo ur art needs m ore playful
infl ow. A little fun can go a long way tow ard m ak in g yo ur
wo rk feel m ore lik e play. We fo rget th at th e imagin at ion-at-
20 TH E ART 1 S T ' S WAY
Every child is allartist. Th e
problem is how to remain all
artist ollce hegrows up.
PABLO PI CASS O
During /these}periods of
relaxationaft erconcentrated
intellectual activity, the intuitive
mind seems to take overandcan
produce the sudden clarifyillg
insights whichgi veso much
joy and delight.
FRITJ O F C APRA
PHY SICI ST
play is at th e heart o f all good work. And increasin g our capac-
ity for good creative wo rk is what thi s book is abo ut.
You are likely to find yo ur self avoiding your artist dates.
Reco gnize thi s resist ance as a fear of intimacy- selfintimacy.
Often in troubled relationships, we settle into an avoidance
pattern with our significant others. We don't want to hear what
th ey are thinkin g becau se it just m ight hurt. So we avoid th em,
know in g that, once th ey ge t th e chance, our significant others
w ill probably blurt out something we do not want to hear. It is
pos sible th ey w ill wa nt an answe r we do not have and can't give
th em. It is equally possible we mi ght do th e same to them and
th at th en th e tw o of us will stare at each other in asto n ish me nt,
saying, "But I never kn ew you felt lik e th at!"
It is probable th at th ese self-disclosur es, frightening though
th ey are, will lead to the building of a real relationship, one in
which th e participants are free to be who th ey are and to be-
come w hat th ey w ish. This possibility is what m akes the risk s
of self-disclo sure and true intimacy profitable. In orde r to have
a real relationship with our creativity, we must take th e time
and care to cultivate it. Our creativity will use this time to con-
front us, to confide in us, to bond with us, and to plan.
The morning pages acqu aint us with w hat we think and
what we think we need . We identify problem areas and co n-
cern s. We com plain , enume rate, identify, isolate, fret . T his is
step one, analogous to pr ayer. In th e cou rse of th e release en-
ge nde red by our artist date, step two, we begin to hear solu-
tion s. Perh aps equally important, we begin to fund th e creati ve
reserves we will dr aw on in fulfillin g our artistry.
Fillin g the Well, Stockin g the Pond
Art is an im age-u sin g sys tem . In order to create, we draw
from our inner well. T his inner well, an arti sti c reservo ir, is
ideally like a we ll-s tocked trout pond. We've go t big fish, little
fish, fat fish , skinny fish-an abunda nce of artistic fish to fry.
As artists, we must realize that we have to m aintain thi s artistic
ecosyste m . If we don't give some atten tion to upkeep, our we ll
is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked .
An y ex tended peri od or piece of work dr aws heavil y on
 THE BASI C TOOLS 21

our artistic wel l. Overtapping th e we ll, lik e ove rfishing the

pond, leaves us w ith dim ini shed resources. We fish in vain for
th e im ages we req uire. O u r work dries up and we wonde r
w hy, "j ust when it was go ing so we ll." T he truth is tha t work
can dry up because it is go ing so well.
As artists, we must learn to be self-no ur ishi ng. We must YOl/nger Self- who can beas
become aler t eno ug h to consciously replenish our creative re- balky and stubborn as the most
so urces as we draw on th em - to restock th e trout pond, so to can tankerous three-year-old-is
speak. I call th is processjillinLI? the well. not impressed by words. Like a
Filling th e we ll invo lves th e active pursuit of im ages to re- native ofM issouri, it wants to be
fresh our ar tis tic reserv oi rs. Art is born in atten tion. Its m id- shown. To arouse its interest, we
w ife is detail. Art m ay seem to spring fro m pain , but perhaps must seduce it with prettypictures
th at is because pain serves to focus our atten tio n on to de tai ls and pleasurablesensations- take
it out diningand dancing as it
(for inst ance, th e excr uciati ng ly beautiful curve of a lost lover's
were. On ly in this way can D eep
neck). Art may seem to invo lve br oad strokes, grand sche mes,
Selfbereached.
grea t plans. But it is th e atten tio n to de tail th at stays wi th us;
th e sing ular image is w hat haunts us and becomes ar t. Eve n in STARHAWK
THEOLOG IA N
th e m idst of pain , th is sing ular image brin gs deli ght. T he ar t-
ist w ho tells yo u di fferent is lyin g.
In orde r to fun cti on in th e langu age of art, we must learn
to live in it co mfortably. T he langu age of art is im age, sym bo l.
It is a wordless lan gu age even w hen our very ar t is to chase it
w ith words. T he ar tis t's lan gu age is a sensual one, a langu age
of felt experience. W he n we work at our art, we di p in to th e
wel l of our experience and scoop ou t images. Because we do
th is, we need to learn how to put images back. H ow do we fill
the we ll?
We feed it im ages. Art is an art ist- brai n pursuit. T he artist
br ain is our im age br ain , home and haven to our best crea tive
impulses. T he ar tis t brain cannot be reached-or tr iggered-
effec tively by words alone. The artist b rain is th e senso ry
brain : sigh t and sound, sme ll and taste, tou ch. These are the
element s of magic, and magic is th e elem ental stuff of ar t.
In filling th e we ll, th ink m agi c. T hink delight. T hink fun.
Do not thi nk du ty. Do not do w ha t yo u should do-spiritu al
sit- ups lik e readin g a dull but reco m me nded critical text . Do
w ha t intrigu es yo u, ex plore w ha t interests you; think m yster y,
not m astery.
A m ystery dr aw s us in, leads us on, lures us. (A duty may
22 TH E ART 1 S T'S WAY

numb us o ut, turn us off, tune us ou t.) In filling th e we ll, fol-

Nobody sees aflower-really- it th e visi ble, vis ua l world. Sigh t lead s to insight.
issosmall it takes time- we
haven't time-mId to seetakes
time, like to haveafr iend
takes time.
GEORG IA O' KEEFFE
So yO Il see, imagination needs listenin g to a grea t piece of music can be a very effective medi-
moodlillg-lollg, inefficiellt, tati on. Five minutes of barefoot da nc ing to dru m m usic can
happy idlillg, dawdling and
putterino.
B REN D A U EL A N D
low yo ur sense of the m ysterious, not yo ur sense of w ha t yo u
sho uld know m o re abo ut. A mystery can be very simple: if I
d rive th is roa d, not m y usu al road, w ha t wi ll I see? C hanging a
kn ow n ro ute throw s us into th e now. We become refoc use d on
A mys te ry can be sim pie r eve n th an that: if I light th is stick
of incen se, w ha t w ill I feci ? Scen t is an o fte n-overloo ked path-
way to powerful associations and healin g. T he scent of C hris t-
mas at any time of year-or th e scent of fres h bread or home-
m ade so u p-can nourish the hun g ry artist wi thi n .
So me so unds lull us. O thers sti m ulate us. Ten m in utes of
send our art ist into its play-fray- day refreshed.
Filli ng th e we ll needn't be all novelt y. Cooking can fill th e
wel l. W he n we cho p and pare vege tab les, we do so with o ur
th ou ghts as well. Reme mber, ar t is an artis t- brain pur su it.
T his brain is reac he d throug h rh yth m- through rhyme, not
reason . Scraping a carrot, peeli ng an app le- these actio ns are
qu ite literally foo d for th ou ght.
An y reg ular, repetit ive actio n primes the wel l. Writers
have heard ma ny woeful tales of th e Bronte sisters and poor
Jan e Au sten , fo rced to hide th ei r sto ries under th eir needle-
work. A little experiment with some m en ding can cas t a whole
new light on th ese activi ties. N eed lew ork , by defi ni tion reg u-
lar and repe ti tive, both soothes and sti m ulates th e ar tist
wi thi n . W hole plo ts can be stitc hed u p w hi le we sew. As ar t-
ists, we can very literally reap w ha t we sew.
"Why do I ge t my best ideas in the shower?" an exas pe r-
ated E ins tei n is said to have remarked . Brain research now te lls
us th at th is is becau se showering is an artist- bra in activity.
Showering, sw im mi ng, scru bbi ng, shavi ng, steering a
car-so m an y s- like-ycs words !-all of th ese are reg ular, re-
pet itive act ivi ties tha t may ti p us over from our lo gic bra in into
o ur m ore crea tive artist brain. Solutio ns to st icky crea tive
pr obl em s m ay bubble u p thro ug h th e d ishwa ter, emerge on th e
freeway j us t as we are exec uti ng a tricky merge, . . .
Learn w hich of th ese works bes t for yo u and use it. Ma ny
 T HE BA SI C TOO L s 23

artists have found it useful to keep a notep ad o r tape recorder

next to th em as th ey d rive. Steve n Spiel berg claims that hi s
very best ideas have come to him as he was d ri vin g th e free-
ways. This is no acci de nt. N egotiating th e flow o f tr affic , he
was an ar tist im merse d in an oncom ing, eve r-a lte ring flow of
images. Im ages trigger th e artist brain . Im ages fill th e well. Th e true mystery of the world is
O ur focu sed atte n tion is cri tical to filling th e wel l. We need the visible, not the invisible.
to encoun ter o ur life ex periences, not ign ore th em. M an y o f us
OS CA R WI LD E
read co m pulsively to screen our awa reness. O n a crowde d (in-
terest in g) train , we train o ur atten tio n on a newsp aper, losin g
th e sig h ts an d so unds aro un d us-all im ages for the we ll.

CON T RACT

I, , underst and th at I am un-

der takin g an inten sive, g uide d encounter wi th m y
own crea tivity. I co m m it m ysel f to th e twelve- week
d ura tio n of th e co urse. I, _
co m mi t to weekly rea ding, daily m ornin g pages, a
weekly ar tist date, an d th e fulfillment of each
week's tas ks.

I, , fur the r understand th at

this co urse wi ll raise issues and emo tio ns for m e to
deal w ith. I, , co m mit m y-
sel f to excelle nt self-care-adequa te slee p, diet,
exercise, and pamperin g-fo r th e durati on of th e
co urse.

(sig nature)

(dat e)
24 THE ART 1ST 'S WAY
Inside yOIl there's an artist yOIl
don't know about. . . . Say yes
quickl», if y OIl know, if YOIl've
known itfrom beforethe begin-
ningof the universe.
JALAI UD-DIN RUMI
Artists block is a ver y literal ex pression. Blocks must be ac-
knowled ged and dislodged. Filling th e well is th e sur est way to
do thi s.
Art is the im agin ation at play in the field of time. Let yo ur-
self play.
CREATIVITY C O N T RACT
When I am teach in g th e Artist's Way, I require stu den ts to
m ake a contract with themselves, com m itting to the work of
the course. C an yo u give yours elf th at gift? Say yes by means of
some sm all ceremony. Buy a nice notebook for yo ur pages;
hire your bab ysitter ahead of time for th e weekly artist dates.
Read the contract on the preceding page. Amend it, if you lik e;
then sign and dat e it. Come back to it w hen yo u need encour-
agement to go on.