Please clap for me: I finished Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.
It took me a little over three years.
And I’m patting myself on the back because I did 90% of the assignments in the book. (Maybe more.)
In the next two issues, I’m going to do a deep dive into my experience with the book.
What is it?
The Artist’s Way is a 12-week creative recovery system disguised as a book. I’ve read my fair share of self-help books and craft books for writing and art, but this one is different. It’s a spiritual + psychological + emotional reconditioning program for people who feel disconnected from their creativity.
At its core, it’s built on this belief: Creativity isn’t something you “learn.” It’s something you unblock.
There are two anchor practices in the book:
1. Three handwritten, stream-of-consciousness pages every morning — called Morning Pages
2. A weekly solo Artist Date to rebuild your relationship with inspiration and reconnect with the pleasure of art
Did it change you?
Yes — in the best and worst ways.
The biggest gift of the book was becoming an unblocked artist.
The biggest curse of the book was… well, becoming an unblocked artist.
I spent the majority of my life and career following the rules that were laid out in front of me, while letting my personal creativity sit in the margins of my life.
But after about six months in any “good” job, I’d feel myself losing interest and quietly working on my next plan to build freedom from a 9–5.
Not because I wanted to — but because it always felt like there was more I needed to do with my life than sit in Zoom meetings for nine hours a day.
The Artist’s Way gave me permission to slow down and actually examine what was standing in the way of my creativity.
It helped me realize I had ADHD. And that acknowledgment and acceptance of myself led to a sturdier sense of self-worth.
That self-worth helped me evolve my creative voice and see that, as a multipassionate creative, I’m so much more than one talent.
I’m a writer. An illustrator. A strategist. A marketer. An actor. A singer. An editor. An entrepreneur.
But most importantly, it’s the combination of these things that makes me uniquely qualified to build a business around my art.
A Quick Ad Break
My newsletter started as a tiny experiment called: what if I just hit send.
That habit changed my entire career. (No notes.)
So I made a workshop for creatives stuck in “I’ll start soon” mode.
It’s time to find your creative voice.
Say the thing.
Send the email.
→ Launch the Damn Newsletter Already ($29)
or grab it free inside the Reset Society ($10/mo).
What about Morning Pages?
Now the full truth: I did not do Morning Pages every single day, but I journaled in some form at least five days a week.
Oftentimes, that looked like writing 10 things I’m grateful for and how each one made me feel. But most of my long-form writing focused on fears, anxieties, and worries — and then rescripting them. Or answering the prompts in the book.
They helped me uncover patterns I couldn’t even see in myself.
I’ve done therapy on and off for nearly a decade, but there’s something different about letting yourself write what you’re actually thinking. It clears the clutter so you can sit down and truly create.
Your Turn
Try Morning Pages.
Write three pages by hand each morning for five days — no structure, no filtering, no fixing, no pressure to be profound. Just write whatever’s there.
Treat it like an experiment, not a new habit, and notice what shifts in your focus, clarity, and creative energy.
Then head over to the Reset Society Skool and tell me how it went.