Stimulating the Inner Artist

I write on my walls.
I close my eyes and allow my hands to spell out words at random. I do not think about their meaning or their order. I simply allow them to escape me.

I first read about a similar idea in Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. Julia calls this exercise the "Morning Pages." Every morning, she advises that you write three pages of longhand, pointless, stream of conscious material. For example:

"I've noticed lately that my dog's hair is starting to form these vicious little matted clumps. How I will brush those out, I never know. Looks like it's time to have the groomer shave him again. I hate the groomer. She looks upon me with the most pitiful eyes, as if I have no compassion for animals. Does she know I never wanted this dog in the first place? Does she know he was brought home without my consent? She wouldn't care even she she did . . ."

There is no right way to write these. No one is allowed to see them and she even suggests that you put them in an envelope so you can't leaf back through yourself. You might notice that this exercise yields all sorts of self-pitying, negative, repetitive or even bland thoughts. Perfect! The purpose here is to simply drain your brain of all the nonsense that stands between you and your creativity.

Another essential exercise in creativity that I have loved from this book is called the "Artist Date." This is a block of time (perhaps two hours a week or so) dedicated to nurturing your inner artist. Most of the time, this is an excursion of sorts where you open yourself up to insight and inpsiration from the environment of your choice. Your artist date might be a stroll through a local art gallery, a treasure hunt through a junk store, taking yourself to the matinée, or a quiet walk on the beach. No one is allowed to accompany you on your artist date. This is meant to be done alone. You may notice the urge to resist this, finding it too self indulgent or using the excuse that you don't have the time. You must defend your artist date from all others who might encroach upon it. Regarding the "Morning Pages" and the "Artist Date," Julia states:

"Think of this combination of tools in terms of a radio receiver and transmitter. It is a two-step, two-directional process: out and then in. Doing the morning pages, you are sending--notifying yourself and the universe of your dreams, dissatisfactions, hopes. Doing your artist date, you are receiving--opening yourself to insight, inspiration and guidance."

Something I have personally found very helpful in my creative process is shifting my body position when I feel blocked. I may be sitting on the couch for an hour and when I start to feel stuck, I lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling or I go sit in a corner and view the room from a different angle. This somehow stimulates my brain to think of new ways to write lyrics from a different angle as well. One of my mentors, Tony Litster, suggested once to try standing on my head.

I try it.

I fumble.

I start laughing.

Hard.

My husband starts laughing while snapping shots of my fanny.

Presto!

Next time, I think I will try it alone.

What do YOU do to stimulate creativity?

P.S. Quinn Curtis is featuring me today on her awesome blog, "Created by Chicks." Check it out!