Julia Camerons The Artist`s Way is a significant book even in the more than twenty five years since its publication. It is usually labelled as a self-help book, which it certainly is, but I`d rather call it a self-empowerment book, where you can find how to discover and nurture your creativity.
The basic belief in the book is that every person is creative. This is everyday creativity we are talking about and Cameron gives us the „program“ to help us reject self-doubt and find our own ways to be creative. Creativity as a form of self-therapy … wouldn`t it be fun! Richards* has written about everyday creativity: „ … it could improve our physical and psychological health, boost our immune function, and give us greater life satisfaction and meaning.“
The core exercise in the book is to write three pages in free-form every morning, till it becomes the habit. The pages are to be written by hand, which in its turn enhances our hand-brain connection.
You can find more useful exercises in the book – how to reframe your negative thoughts, deal with self-doubt and self-sabotage and how to manupulate your emotions for your own benefit. But I´ll leave it up to you to discover and make your everyday creativity a reality to be experienced.
***
*Richards, R. (2010). Everyday creativity: Process and way of life—Four key issues. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (p. 189–215). Cambridge University Press.
***
TarcherPeregree, 2016
Check from the e-catalogue ESTER
Eha Elmi
Department of Literature in Foreign Languages