KAREN BETH
How quickly things can change.
I’ve been looking back on my introduction from our last go-round of The Artist’s Way. Some things are very much the same:
I’m still Karen Beth.
I still sell vintage on Etsy.
I still have a blog (in addition to this one).
I still have a pretty varied network of creative online friends.
I still have creativity that stems in many different directions.
What have I changed since working through The Artist’s Way?
Changes often seem to happen so slowly and subtly that it is hard to pin-point when or how they happened. I know that the small decisions I made (and still make) each and everyday came together to make me a different person, more of the person I wanted to be. It sure didn’t happen overnight.
What are some of those decisions?
•I had my television service cut off.
•I bought a 109-year-old bungalow and have been renovating it.
•I read more books.
•I cook more.
•I garden (not well but I still garden).
•I make lists of things to look forward to.
•I run a community market (a quite successful community market).
•I’ve taken up a walking regimen with an old friend.
•I make lists of things I want to do, and I take steps to do them.
•My journal is now my best friend.
*I recommitted to being a vegetarian and started a vegetarian food blog.
*I auditioned for (and got) the leading roll in a community play.
*I got a new job that, most days, I love.
•I have made a difference in my community by way of that job and various other things.
And throughout all of those decisions, I’ve discovered so much about myself. Mostly I’ve discovered that the older I get (I’m 34), the more my interests tend toward domestic things like cooking, cleaning, decorating, buying furniture, and planting things. I’ve also discovered that there’s nothing like a creative goal to get me out of bed and moving in the morning. Well, that and coffee.
I’ve also discovered that if you are making strides to be the person you want to be, there is no reason to feel guilty. I let guilt consume me for so long, for things I didn’t do and thought I “should” have. Those “shoulds” were nothing to feel guilty about; they were simply decisions I made – or did not make – at the time. Part of creativity is letting yourself breathe, and I think we so often forget that.
What do I want to get from this go-round of The Artist’s Way?
Well, my new year’s goal for 2010 was simple: extreme self-care. I wanted to FINALLY put myself first and really do what I needed to do to take care of and even pamper myself. I want to expound on that in this journey through The Artist’s Way. Self-care and creativity go hand-in-hand and I want to explore all the ways that is possible. I want to learn to pamper myself by finding creativity in small things: a new vegetable, a beautiful sunset with my journal in hand, a movie genre I’ve always avoided.
Whether I get there fully on this journey or not doesn’t matter. The beauty of it is that it isn’t about a destination; it is about the journey. And I hope that each of you relish the one we are about to start together.
REBECCA
I’m a food blogger and freelance writer living in Nashville.
The last time we worked through The Artist’s Way, I was a newlywed who had just moved to a new city. A few years before, after a lot of soul-searching, I had changed careers (from professional writer to professional baker), but with the move, I was at loose ends. (You can read more about my career change here.)
Why didn’t I just look for another baking job? I did! But things always seemed to fall through, and it made me wonder if there were other possibilities for me.
What did working through The Artist’s Way do for me?
I loved connecting with people who wanted to express their creativity. When you’re struggling on your own, it’s easy to put off starting a project or to just get stuck. Being able to brainstorm with this group and find support here inspired me to make the most of my writing and baking experience and start a food blog, Ezra Pound Cake.
Now, I’m a professional freelance writer and food blogger. It’s a life I wouldn’t have imagined for myself without The Artist’s Way.
What do I want to get from this go-round of The Artist’s Way?
Personally, I’ll be working through The Artist’s Way to think about how to express my creativity in other areas. But my main goal is to help build a supportive community of people who want to grow creative lives. Let the brainstorming begin!
Lovely to read this About section, Karen, Rebecca.. ;D
I found you through a mutual friend, Lourdes..
Rock on..!
A good article. I’m on week 3 of the artist’s way and keen to see or read how the artist’s way has helped other people. You wrote this in 2010. Are you still doing the MPs and keeping the artist’s date? It would great to know how the book still continues to help you.
What a great idea, I am on week 7 and I have changed so much already.
Would love to connect with others doing the artists way.
Kevin
kevinbergin@bigpond.com