Archive for March, 2009
Teresa McCrone is our guest blogger for week 8. I completely resonated with this…I always say procrastination is my greatest skill (after napping.) And I too have been learning to get things done with the little and often approach. Teresa says:
"In last week’s
lesson on how to not procrastinate I learned that lots of things can be
achieved despite the kitchen being a tip, the accounts not being done and the
yellow box full to overflowing. The
yellow box is a box file full of bits of paper that need dealing with – in
theory I go through it every Friday – in practice it’s been months.
I can do flute
practice with dirty dishes in the sink.
I can daydream about my creative entrepreneurial adventure with the
accounts of the business I’m about to close not quite organized and I can do a
bit of knitting as long as the dreaded yellow box is in a another room.
This week, amongst
other things, I learnt a very valuable lesson in life and art – just do a
bit. I don’t have to spend at least an
hour going over the many mistakes in the Bach Partita – I can just do a few
scales. I don’t have to roll my eyes at
the thought of never finishing the scarf which begun in a spasm of enthusiasm
18 months ago – I can just do a few rows.
I can also just print out the phone bills off the computer and fill them
in on the account sheet before meandering off in my morning pages about how I
might organize ballroom dancing parties.
I don’t have to transform my pocket handkerchief garden into something
Sissinghurst would be proud of in a single day. I can just do a bit of watering
and grub up a handful of weeds.
So after reading
chapter 8 last night I did pick up my knitting and do some rows. I also did a bit more this morning while the
computer is warming up. I might even get
to do a little flute practice – just as soon as I’ve sorted out the
kitchen. It’s a disgrace."
How is everyone else doing this week? xx
Guest blogger Kirsty Norton talks about her Artist's Way journey:
"Wow,
what a journey this has been. I started the Artists Way with such great gusto as
it was just what I needed to give me the strength and courage to follow my dream
of being a full time yoga teacher/writer and wellbeing expert. I committed
myself to the project and started off so well, I thought it was a 'nice' thing
to do and was going to be great fun, la la la, easy peasy etc.
It's not
easy is it?! To confront yourself and who you are and how you sabotage your own
plans has been a great journey for me. When I say 'great' I don't mean I've
enjoyed it all – its been scary and upsetting and I've felt wobbly and insecure
and at times just a mess!
It was probably at this point I managed to find
lots of excuses not to do the weekly chapters…
I had so much buzzing
around in my head – I got up at 6 to do my own yoga practice then went to work,
taught yoga in the evenings, came home and did my website, admin and put actions
into place for my new way of life. I really didn't know where to fit in the
Artists Way as well and can't believe I'm still trying to make excuses and
justify my actions to you by writing it all down here. In fact it makes me
laugh. Some things take a little longer to change in yourself…
When
Suzy got in touch to ask me if I could do my week 7 blog I felt a disappointment
in myself from not doing as I had intended and sticking to the book 100%. Then I
took a step back and looked at how much I've achieved since starting this and
I'm now a full time yoga teacher with offers of teaching posts left, right and
centre and the private clients are really rolling in and I've been writing
articles – the most recent one for Italian Glamour magazine. I'm thrilled to
bits.
Thankfully I'm back into the Artists Way and am thrilled this week
is about a sense of connection – it has come at a key time and working out who I
envy is just perfect to help me focus on where I go next. The thing I'm most
looking forward to is the collage which I've put some time aside to do tonight.
My big risk is to start uploading free videos onto YouTube for those people that
cant get to yoga classes. It'll be scary being in front of a camera and allowing
the public to judge me but I'm doing it, its all part of my dream.
Good
luck to all of you finding your connection – we're over half way through and I
really hope you are all benefitting from this as much as I am. Its so good to
know that there are others out there doing this, a sense of community is what
we're missing these days and to have this reminder that it does exist has also
made me really grateful. "
Here's kirsty's fab website address:
www.kirstynorton.co.uk
How are we all doing? How has your week been? I've had a much better week. I have been much kinder to myself – more bubble baths, less inner beat-up. I've also had great fun creating my collage. I was suprised to see how strongly 'home' featured. And I think I'm going to be dying my hair bright platinum blonde – as every single picture of the women I cut out had bright blonde hair. Not quite sure what that says…?
My artist's date was supposed to be with a Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, and his screening of the film Fire Under Snow about his imprisonment in a Chinese Jail. He was speaking in London last night.
But I didn't make it. I ended up in a field in the sunshine today and fell asleep by a river. Not sure if that counts as an artist's date but it did feel a bit Thomas Hardy.
What have you been doing on your artist's dates?
We're on to week 8 now. This is going to be an interesting week – 'filling the form'. I love this exercise as it's fairly close to the Big Leap philosophy of baby steps. "Instead of writing a business plan, just write a few figures on the back of an envelope, I say. Just start, do something, anything, I cry!" Cameron also urges us to do the same. To turn up to the page. I've been writing my Big Peace book for the past 3 months (due in on the 30th) so have definitely had a visceral experience of what that feels like. Just writing a few pages a day and today I checked and suddenly there are 96 pages. Nearly there.
The exercises are lovely too – we're reinventing our childhoods and creating our ideal days – bliss!
Have a lovely week. Keep at the morning pages and let me know how you're doing with your artist's dates.
Have a good week.
Suzy x
How was week 6 for you? Are you feeling abundant? Because of all the research I'm doing on writing my Big Peace book, I'm feeling completely inspired. Everything from Buddhist Monks writing about happiness to Carl Honore (see post below) on the Slow Movement and why the recession is the perfect time to slow down.
But it's interesting that the more I become inspired, the more I tend to sabotage yourself. My drinking ban went out of the window on Thursday and Saturday and felt awful – physically and emotionally and I was back to whining about the wine in my pages.
And all week, I've found myself saying yes, when I meant no, doing non-nurturing things that means that I can't fit in my morning pages or artist's date. So this has been a very interesting week for me. I think I'm seeing how I limit my own abundance by being mean and miserly with myself. I can be quite horrible to myself sometimes. My poor old little inner artist becomes miserable and then sulks. And everything closes up shop. Mmm, interesting how this Artist's Way shows us our tricks and ticks – isn't it?
What's been your journey this week?
Week 7 and we're recovering a sense of connection. And although I'm feeling a bit tender after last week, i'm relieved to see week 7 has two of my favourite exercises in it. The envy one…..figure out what or who you envy or feel jealous about and then work out from there – what is it that they have that you want. Then take action and create it for yourself.
The other is about taking risk. I always say we big leapers are not so much more talented or special than the average person (although we are special and talented), we're just braver. So I think the 'risk' exercise will be a doddle this week. We know how to take risks – and no matter how scared – we do it anyway.
I'm also looking forward to the collage-making. I know at Big Leap, we
use this 'vision boarding' idea quite a lot but I recently found my
collage from the last time I did the Artist's Way – and it's quite
spooky what's on there.
And this week – I will definitely be focusses on the mantra:
TREATING MYSELF LIKE A PRECIOUS OBJECT WILL MAKE ME STRONG.
Homework for this week:
Morning pages.
Your Artist's Date.
Three or four exercises – choose the ones you like the look of and the ones you most resist.
Choose three or four exercises
Excuse me…I'm running late this week. Perhaps because I've been attempting to slow down.
I have been very inspired by the Slow Movement this week. This is a brilliant article written by founder of the Slow Movement Carl Honore.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/24/ethicalliving.creditcrunch
So, I've been very, very slow this week and I have given up running around like a blue A**e fly.
So week 7 of the Artist's Way will be up a bit later today – bear with me.
Week 7 we are recovering a sense of connection so let's connect later. x
Phew! I'm just back from a day of 'design your creative life' with the Swedish writing coach and publisher Ann Ljungberg. What a day! I was privileged to be speaking along side Fay Weldon – the brilliant author who regaled us with her journey to write her last novel in her basement 'with the spiders' in only 8 weeks. Particularly inspiring for me – as my deadline approaches for my own book The Big Peace – which has to be finished in 3 weeks. Can't wait to read Fay's new novel 2013.
American creativity coach Cynthia Morris and novelist and writing coach Jacqui Lofthouse were also speaking and giving us step by step, practical advice on everything from how to finish that novel to how to garner self belief.
Eric Maisel, billed as America's foremost creativity coach also had me up on stage role-playing being the editor listening to Cynthia's pitch of her new novel. Very interesting to understand what it feels like to be on the other side of the table and hear a writer – who you know to be accomplished and talented – pitch a story to you. I understood how subjective the process was and how succinct you need to be to grab an editor's attention.It's very interesting to log on to Eric's site The Atheist's Way too. If you struggle with Cameron's spiritual bent, you may find Eric's belief system inspiring and useful. His subtitle for the site and his book is Living Well without Gods.
It was an exceptional day and I learnt a lot from the other experts - inspiring, useful and just wonderful to be in a dialogue about creativity and swop techniques and tips on how to harness it.
How are you doing on The Artist's Way journey? This week we were recovering a sense of possibility. How was that for you? I had a wonderful piece of synchronicity as I procrastinated some more with my screenplay. I'm on to the fifth draft but haven't touched it for months – not sure whether to send it out or not. I needed a baby step – some last feedback – and an email popped into my inbox from a script reading service The Script Surgeons. It felt like a little 'sign', something to keep my sense of possibility bubbling.
Have struggled with the 'virtue trap' somewhat this week. I've spent a great deal of my life striving to be 'good, to be nice, to be helpful, to be unselfish' so I've been noticing particular resentments this week – not wanting to help friends, wanting to retreat, not listen, not help but to shrug and walk away.
I felt physical envy that made my top lip stick to my teeth in a rictus smile today as Fay Weldon talked about retreating from the world to just write for 8 weeks. Forget a 'room of one's own', get yourself a basement – even with the spiders.
How have you found week 5?
Week 6 – we're half way through. Are you still with us? Are you hanging in there? Embracing the process? Hanging on by a thread?
Not sure I'm particularly looking forward to week 6 – which probably speaks volumes about my attitudes towards money and abundance. But that's why I'm probably looking forward to the 'counting exercise' – making a note of every penny I spend over the next week. I want to know what the hell I do with my money. I love to fritter but Cameron is right, it is often at the 'cost' of denying myself the luxuries that I do want to buy. Another interesting week ahead.
Homework this week:
Morning pages – how many days did you do last week?
The Artist's Date – I managed a bath with a magazine last week, which a friend openly scorned. 'Not exactly an artist's date,' she scoffed. I'm doing the best I can!
Try the exercises you like the look of and the ones you resist the most. I'm going to practise saying 'yes' to the freebies.
Let me know how you get on.
Suzy x
P.S It was also fantastic to meet so many Big Leapers at the London's Writer's Club on Thursday. Great to meet you all and can't wait to discover how the group will unfold. See you there next month.
Guest Blogger Tom
Week 5, Recovering a sense of possibility.
some greyhound tickets to ones with a more suitable time as our plans had
changed. Not being familiar with how things work in the US we were worried we
may be stuck with some tickets that didn’t suit our revised schedule.
decided to try our luck at the ticket office. We approached the lady at the
ticket booth, a middle-aged black woman who looked very youthful and content in
what I thought an unusual setting for someone to look content. Her impressively
polished nails caught my attention as my friend approached her and asked if it
was possible to change the times on our tickets. The lady looked up with a look
that conveyed a sense of contempt and compassion at the same time before she
spoke. ‘Honey, nothing is impossible!’ she announced in an assertive
but reassuring tone. I immediately felt a smile dawn on my previously concerned
face, not sure if it was due to the fact we could change the time on our tickets
or because of this lady’s contagious optimism.
now think back and feel this woman must have had found her big peace, right
there at the ticket booth of the greyhound coaches office in NYC.
‘Nothing is impossible…’ I kept repeating in my head. But how can this be, it
surely is nothing more than a cheesy sportswear marketing campaign motto, less
so a life affirming dictum.
one of the turbulent ones, like Mediterranean people know well, with long
periods of us feeling we’re soul mates, followed by periods of falling out and
feeling cross with each other to be followed by periods where we make up,
forgive but not forget and that gets repeated, hopefully not ad infinitum. We’re
obviously on our sunny patch of friendship at the moment. We were born on the
same date; that surely is not just a coincidence.
walk in the park. This time our argument lies in possibility. He loves mixing
music and I ask him why doesn’t he become a DJ? ‘That’s not possible,’ he
replies, ‘I don’t have the talent to be a DJ?’ ‘You are talented,’ I
protest. He doesn’t reply and I feel my words have gone to waste. ‘Why don’t you
come to live in London?’ I say in an attempt to continue the conversation.
‘That’s not possible,’ he continues, ‘I don’t have that sort of money to live in
London?’ ‘You’ll make the money!’ I proclaim almost in despair. But
what is it that drives me away from my Big Peace at that moment? Do I need to
convince myself that I’m talented, that I can make the money before I can
convince other people? Do I need to convince myself that nothing is impossible?
Certainly that lady had convinced herself of that.
life in a big and often scary city like London despite coming from a small and
safe village in Greece of five hundred inhabitants, nothing like the fictitious
Kalokeri depicted in Mamma Mia (and certainly with no Greek old ladies dancing
to ABBA songs) and a family whose income could just about afford the basics, who
had embraced and indulged in their limits. However, I took the plunge and came
to London, battled with depression and unemployment during the recession
following the year 2001 and now eight years later, I managed to be doing the job
of my dreams at Greenpeace and have a great circle of friends in the most
exciting city in the world – and I don’t want to hear any nonsense about NYC
being the most exciting city, that used to be the case years ago.
into the spotlight. It’s time I indulged in the possibility of being a
successful and prolific writer. Perhaps indeed, nothing is
impossible.
inner artists.
Just in case you haven't got plans for the weekend, I'm doing a talk in London on Sunday at a creativity conference – alongside Fay Weldon and Eric Maisel, one of America's big creativity gurus.
Anne who is organising it has offered a last minute price of £110 to any Big Leaper who wants to go. (original price £210)
http://www.designyourcreativelife.com/
How are you doing this week? I'm actually having a wonderful week. I'm firing on all creative cylinders, I'm sleeping like a baby and feel very calm. No tantrums or resistance. I'm surrendering! It's working!
How about you?
or phone +44 750 34 33 863
I was so embroiled in my own resistance that I didn't discover the benefits?
Who managed to go the full 7 days without reading – how did you find it?
How was week 4 for you? I certainly was hitting my resistance wall. "It's not working, It's not working, I hate this!" I was heard to cry. "I'm going to read if I want to, so there!" Tantrums? My inner three year old was in full cry, my inner artist was left quivering in the shadows.
I've heard from quite a few of you this week everything from 'I've blown it' to 'this is utter crap and writing the pages is like torture.' So it was lovely to know I wasn't alone.
But to my mind, there isn't any way to ‘blow' this process is there? Please god, I hope not. Isn't this about journey? Not
about getting to week 12.
I believe it's about pulling out the insights
that you need.
Do it your own way. There
is no way to fail this – is there?
Because if there is,
then I will be expelled for not doing my morning pages (1 out of 7 last week)
and for reading as much as I can this week and putting two fingers up at the
reading ban. I’m just trying to observe what’s going on with me. I’m never very
good with rules or authority so it’s no surprise to me that I’m behaving badly!
But that’s just interesting to acknowledge in itself.
But there is certainly stuff shifting – I took another 5 bags to the tip, I've created a yoga/chill out room beside my office – a space for just me. I had my coaching call this week and my coach commented on how I had to stop being 'nice' and get through this anger that was simmering throughout our call. So I went and chopped some wood for my fire. With a great big axe! If anyone saw me, they would think I was a woman demented. But I must say, it was certainly one of the most therapeutic moments of this month.
And now we're going to be let loose on Week 5 -god helps us! We're going to get ourselves out of the virtue trap, stop playing nice and get off 'the treadmill of virtuous production' and stop 'vampirizing our souls'. (Funny I had a dream about vampires last week).
And we're going to lean more into some spiritual dependency. Which sounds blissful. I'm ready to stop resisting this week. It's too exhausting. I want to trust. I want to trust that this is the right path for me. I just want to surrender, lean in, be held and know that all I need to do is trust.
This will be a big leap but one I'm itching to make.
Homework:
Morning pages (try to do better than I'm doing!)
Artist's Date.
And try to do the exercises that you like the sound of the most and the ones you want to ignore.
Speak to you this week!
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