I want to detour for a moment and talk about the principles of The Creative Path/ The Artist’s Way.

In my work as Psychotherapist and Creativity Coach I draw on classes in The Creative Path which I taught twenty-eight times, using the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron working with hundreds of artists in many fields.

The metaphysical and psychological elements of how one creates a reality that can more fully support the creative process is taught.  Specific tools for awareness for that which hinders and that which fosters creativity are given. This enables students and clients to have a grounding in self-support, to be able to identify parts of the self which become engaged in the creative process.  These tools enable one to become more choiceful in developing mental states which are most supportive to the process of artmaking as well as in the art of living.

The text is The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron.  The book was the inspiration for the development of the class and is often assigned in working with individual clients today.  The book was a diving board for me. From there I dive into the pool of my own creative processes which I have developed in a happy swim. 

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron discusses what therapists might call a "parts model" of the creative process.  Similar in philosophy to the Gestalt therapy of Fritz Perls, but applied to the creative process, Cameron talks about three parts of the personality that interplay in the process of producing art.  Remember, the term "art" and "artist" are used generically.  My students have included actors, dancers, cookbook authors, filmmakers, writers, Ph.D. dissertation scholars, entrepreneurs, clothing designers, producers, musicians, teachers, and healers. 

 

More importantly, I have also come to realize that in each moment of awareness and choice in every life every person is an artist in the essential creation of his/her own life.  Creativity is a function of the mind and has nothing to do with being able to “draw a straight line,” which is how some define “artist. I use the terms "art" and "artist" as all-inclusive of all creative people that is each of us!

 

In The Artist's Way model, there are three archetypes that engage in the psycho-spiritual process of creativity:  The Higher Self, The Artist Child, and The Censor. 

The Higher Self is the part of the self that one may even call the soul.  It carries a wisdom and higher intelligence that transcends the limitations of personality.  The Higher Self carries the knowledge of one's life mission and purpose.  The Higher Self knows and loves the little self with unlimited compassion for the struggle of being human.  It is like the eyes and ears of the heart of God, always observing, providing guidance when it is accessed, listening with Love — with the big Love of unconditionality and divine acceptance.  Always ready to offer encouragement, especially to any creative task, the Higher Self is always there to fall back on and pick up the Artist Self in times of discouragement.

 

The Artist Child is full of spontaneity, wonder and delight.  Willing to plunge in and experiment, he/she is uninhibited in exploration.  The Artist Child has an indelible trust that the well of creativity is limitless.  Immersed in the improvisational, art-making process, the Artist Child has little interest in results and no interest nor ability to produce, publish or market the finished product. She is the playful builder of the sandcastle, uncaring as  the ocean washes it away at the end of the day. What the aArtist child embodies is enthusiasm. 

Enthusiasm :

mid 16th century (in enthusiasm (sense 2)): via late Latin enthusiasmus ‘inspiration, frenzy’ from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein ‘be inspired or possessed by a god’ (based on theos ‘god’). Enthusiasm is  the spiritual spark that lights the fire of a creative project. On could call it divine inspiration. Without the child-like enthusiasm no project would be initiated!And I would maintain that if this enthusiastic energy is not generated at some point along the way the project will, die before finished or be pronounced dead on arrival.

 

I have added the Artist Adult to this archetype.  The Artist Adult brings to the enthusiastic Artist Child the qualities of tenacity and the ability to carry a project through to completion.  The Artist Adult says, “Just Do It!” Only an Artist Adult would do the ninth or tenth drafts of a script, would frame the painting, or would submit the art to galleries.  In my view, it is the union of the Artist Child and Artist Adult that form the productive Artist Self.  

 

The Censor is the bastion of fear-based negativity.  The most wounded part of the psyche, the Censor cannot see beyond the dark walls of the wound.  The Censor is the part of the self that was burned by the fire on the stove as a young child and now warns the Artist Self, " Remember you got burned when you touched the stove. Don't learn to cook.  You'll only get burned again."  And then adds, "I'm only doing this to protect you." Here the scared child masquerades as the grown-up.

 

Each person's Censor lives in pain and shame. The shame-filled messages of the Censor are, in my view, the cause of poor self-esteem and ultimate depression.  Not imaginative, addicted to complaining and mixed with self-protective self-pity, every Censor says essentially the same thing:  

 

"You're not good enough.  You're not OK."

"No one will like you.  No one will like what you make."

"Everyone else can do it better.  It's already been done."

"Who do you think you are to . . . ."

"If only . . . ., then . . . . 

"You can't do it.  It's too hard."

 

Well, of course, at this point it is too hard.  One is emotionally depleted and physically exhausted.

 

So how has the Censor been speaking to me. I was delighted and fortunate that the Censor was not in the room as I produced the book. I was encouraged by the Higher Self, motivated by the enthusiasm of the Artist Child, and driven by the discipline and wisdom of the Artist Adult.
 Somehow with all that once the book was launched, I found myself shrinking.

 

Completion brings me to the final glorious and most difficult part for most artists. 

 

Yikes!! Now we have to face the possibility of rejection. The work may or may not sell. The critics may or may not review it with five stars. Audiences may love us or hate us – or simply ignore us!