::: Housekeeping :::

UPDATE:  We are bumping our start date up to Sunday, February 10th!  Please get your books out, start reading and be prepared to start the exercises then!

Allow me to start this post by imploring you to make allowances for me as this is my first time doing anything of this nature.  Indeed, I’ve never conducted an online class or lead a group through a program like this before.  So, if I seem like I’m fumbling, I AM!  Please, bear with me!  I’m learning as I go too.

I’ve been somewhat concerned with the logistics of how the blog format of a classroom setting would work for this and have been asked the same.  This is how I’ve envisioned it:

To join, you send me your email address and blog URL, or post it here.  I’m keeping a list of everyone’s email addresses in case I need to get in touch with everyone for some reason.  Blog links are added to the blogroll here on the blog.  This is so that we can all visit each other’s blogs and cheer each other along this journey.

Then, to participate, subscribe to this blog by way of Bloglines, Blogreader, your toolbar, etc. and read any posts made here. You will follow along with the exercises in the book as we go over them (we will work Sunday-to-Sunday). Do the exercises either in your journal or whatever you feel comfortable posting on your blog. If you do post any of it on your blog, you can post a link back in the comments section here so that the other participants can encourage you in the work you’ve done.

You are always free to comment as much as you like on any of the posts here.  Be as active as you’d like here.  Questions, snags along the way, successes that you want to share?  Feel free to put those in the comments.  This is your blog too.

Please let us hear from you!  Participation is the key to the success of a class like this!  If we don’t all work together, we may as well be doing the program alone.  So, comment and post and let us know your progress!  Be in touch! 

Of course, if the majority of you prefer more interaction as a group, there are other options, such as a Yahoo! group.  As I’m treading through uncharted territory myself and as this is a class for EVERYONE, the floor is open to suggestions.  If you have any thoughts, please post them in the comments section.

Along the same lines, if you have any questions, please post those in the comments section.  I will post again on Tuesday morning and try to address any lingering questions that there might be.

As noted above, we bumped the start date up a bit.  We lost several people because of the long wait time and many more were losing momentum for it.  Also, I think it is better to work Sunday-to-Sunday rather than to work during the middle of the week.  Everyone I’ve talked to seems READY to get started on the program, to get down and dirty with themselves and into the middle of this life changing experience.

Briefly…

The two main tools for The Artist’s Way are Morning Pages, which Rebecca has already gone into, and Artist’s Dates.

Morning Pages – Three pages of stream-of-consciousness longhand morning writing.

Artist’s Dates – Preplanned solitary hours of pleasurable activity aimed at nurturing the creative consciousness.

These are the two basic tools that you will be using throughout the entire 12-week program.  They are both explained in detail in the introduction.

As we prepare to begin this journey, I hope you will start to do your morning pages.  Remember, there is no right way to do them.  All you have to do is write.  You can write anything.  ANYTHING AT ALL.  Just fill three pages.

Also, please read through Chapter One by Sunday night.  We will spend next week working the exercises in Chapter One.

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Remember… if you have ANY questions, suggestions or ideas, post them here in the comments or contact me.  This is your space and your journey too!  Enjoy it and help me help you get the most from it!!!