Title: The Complete Artist’s Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
Author: Julia Cameron
Genre: Self-Help, Personal Development
What It’s About: A twelve-week workbook for a program that allows you to rediscover or find the creative aspects of yourself. Through writing, creativity and fun prompts, you learn to heal, to trust and see your creativity flourish.
My Verdict: I decided to do this book because a friend was starting this program for her own creativity. I figured I might as well join and also work on finding my creativity–getting out of the zone. I feel like as children, we are all so creative in our ways due to curiosity, and while I never got disconnected with that creative child within me, I did feel it dim because of work and life in general. I wanted to strengthen that connection and be creative again. So I took this book up and worked through the twelve week course, and there were some really useful tools in there–the morning pages, and the written prompts–which have helped me find an inner balance within. I find myself to be less anxious about things than before the program, and also I find myself doing more of the things I enjoy on the daily.
So in that aspect, the book has been very helpful for me, and if you are looking to connect with your creative self, this is a good way to start. That said, a word of warning: the author talks a lot about God, so for those of you who are not religious or are agnostic/atheist, this may be hard to swallow in reading this book; however, Julia explains in her opening that while she uses the term “God,” she’s not talking about God from a religious standpoint at all, but rather the forces that make up the universe and the way that it works.
I would recommend this book if you want to reconnect with your creative self.
The Girl with The Red Backpack 