I enjoyed reading this. Slowed me down. In particular I resonated with ‘collapse and control’. It made me chuckle because I can really relate. Right now knowing when I need even more solitude or when it’s too much…tipping over into lonely isolation. Thank you for sharing.
Nikki, I find it such a balancing act. Especially now living alone. For me the loneliness comes when I am not tending soulfully whether other people are involved or not. 😌 Thank you for reading and being here. 💞
Interesting nudge this morning. I can see The Artist’s Way on the shelf from where I sit. I have never done it and have no idea how it came to be on my shelf. But there it is! Also eagerly anticipating the blooms of our yellow peonies. Such a lovely blessing of early summer. Any day now! 💛
Thank you for sharing these soulful tending practices. The Artist's Way has been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple years, maybe it's time I finally sit with it. In the meantime peony has been such an ally during grief. Thank you for this reminder and your supportive mourning practices.
I have a feeling you’re not alone in having the book be with you for some time before starting… it’s a commitment! And WOW thank you for this resource Leila. 💕 Of course peonies are a moon flower! So much to reflect upon. 🙏🏾
Hello Sebene, I love your writing. Thank you for it. I’ve been doing the artists’s way on and off for years too. I started the morning pages again last September, but have stopped recently for fear that, when I’m no longer here alive, my children will come across them and read my rubbish 😂so, anyway, I’m currently turning these pages into an art journal of sorts. I think Julia Cameron would approve…. Wishing you lots of love from here - rain soaked Scotland ( going to buy myself some peonies today !) x
Exactly! I did shred mine from many years ago. And keeping an art journal is a wonderful experience! Good paper so I can use whatever medium calls me and small pages so it’s not too much to fill are key for me.
My spouse couldn't find her Artist's Way, so she borrowed mine, which was filled with notes from when I ventured through it many years ago. My spouse is much better at morning pages than I, or at least much more consistent. But the artist date is always what has stayed with me, the gift of self care for my creative curious artist self.
I love that you’ve both done it . My ex did it in Italian. It must be in so many languages and countries. I find I’m like your spouse, I find the morning pages easier, not only because I don’t need to leave my bed to do them 😝 but I think there’s something so powerful about them, like I’m being too audacious. Thanks for framing it as self care, Mal. And thanks for sharing. 🥰
I love ‘soulful tending’. Your words are easy for this Enneagram 4 to take in! I started Cameron’s It’s Never too Late to Start Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Similar to the Artist’s Way, there are morning pages and Artist Dates. And what is different is Memoir, a weekly guided process for bringing up memories of parts of life (in increments). I am moving through it at a pace that is soulful. When I did Artist’s Way years ago, I couldn’t (or didn’t) give myself that flexibility and grace. And peonies are my favourite...maybe I will find some today or tomorrow!
I don’t know about this book and I love the reframe. I love heard there’s also a 7 week program with a different focus. I’m afraid to look and see how many there are. 👀 i could end up with so many ways 📚 😂 Thanks for sharing Linda! 💓
What sweet synchronicity! I'm currently on Week 2 of AW : ) I have started the book many many times, but only completed it once (and that was a decade/many lifetimes ago). The morning pages have felt live giving, and most importantly it's been really nice to relax around it....the perfectionist in me wanted to "repeat" week 1 because I didn't get to most of the exercises. I have a whatsapp group with two friends (they haven't met before) and we just let everyone know when we've completed our writing for the day or get around to our artist date. The loose accountability feels healing, too.
How sweet Marissa. And I love the WhatsApp group idea. My niece just told me she’s doing it too. Maybe I need to follow your lead. And no I have not done most of the exercises and I’m on week 8. 😂 Happy to be journeying together! 🫶🏾
I really resonated with this today. Lately I too have felt like something is off and my inclination is to go to therapy and find what’s wrong but like you said I think it’s just about leaning into the practices that support us. ❤️
I am having a synchronistic moment in finding just by chance your substack account by browsing, and liking the title of your page! Recently I happened to pick up your book You Belong: A Call for Connection, while attending a Unity service after my dear friend died tragically in March. Life changes, loss, re imagining , creating rituals for changing times. I love your thoughts, I love peonies. I’m new to Substack. I’m glad to find you here. Thank you.
I wish I could share a photo here of the gorgeous peonies in my yard. I’d like to give something to you, Sebene, and all who have shared here. My focus these days is awakening to beauty all around me and fully living (and dying) in each moment. 🌸
I love the Artists Way too! I also first read it in the 90s. I revived my morning page habit just over two years ago now and I am so glad I did. I suppose my weekly hikes are my artist date. 😎
Thanks for sharing this. It’s amazing how many of us have been with the morning pages over decades… what a legacy Julia Cameron has! And yes to hikes as creativity dates! 💓💓💓
Good Morning Sebene, I am at the end of week 9. I did the Artist way when it first came out to develop the part of myself that painted and it worked. I think there are lines and threads of adventure that can be traced to the present. This time my project is to retire after being a social worker for 51 years. All the questions and task are relevant to releasing an identity as well as developing one. The morning pages have been amazing. I have not been able to do an artist date. There is an uncharacteristic resistance. Going in is easier that going out at the moment.
As you described your altar and the peonies, I turned to the left and looked out my window and thought "that is my altar". A 150 year old pine, the dogwoods and mountain ash in flower and the buds on my peonies. Thank you for soulful tending.
Oh Anne. I love that image of your altar! Altars everywhere! I’m on week 8 so I’m just behind you… Good for you for knowing what’s needed in this moment. I’ve also been resisting the dates but when I do them, they’re magic too… Thanknyou for sharing here. 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾
Anne, I am in a similar life phase and live in a very beautiful place, too. You inspire me to, at some point, see what Artist’s Way might offer me now.
As others have noted, such a rich soul-filled share. Breakfast for my heart and soul. I first got through about half The Artist's Way when my youngest was only months old, sleeping away in his baby swing so I could get my morning pages in before he needed to be fed. That was 30 years ago. I've done morning pages on and off ever sense. Julia and Natalie Goldberg have been my guiding lights for years. Next week I'll have my 67th turn around the sun and you're inspiring me to get a fresh copy-begin and (ideally) complete it! I planted my first peony a few weeks ago. It probably won't yield blossoms for a few years. My mother's back yard was surrounded in them. It was a mystery how she acomplished it!
Blessings this Gemini New Moon stellium extravaganza.
What a beautiful mothering of you and your youngest to tend to pages in the midst of what I imagine was many competing needs. I love the idea of you returning to it now. It’s wild to remember certain things i had (may have?) written then. And what a lovely legacy of peonies. I’m loving all the peony love emerging from this post! Thanks for sharing Mary. 💓🫶🏾💓
Love peonies like you. Where do you find/order yours? Usually they are out of season now, but I found a gorgeous arrangement of at least 10 stems in my grocery store's florist shop 10 days ago. Felt like Kuan Yin was smiling directly upon me! Here's to more peony power!
How do you dry/keep them? Mine are about dried out now, too. I was thinking of trying to make rose/peony water with them for fragrance. Any tips? Thanks!
Good Morming. 🌺🌺
I enjoyed reading this. Slowed me down. In particular I resonated with ‘collapse and control’. It made me chuckle because I can really relate. Right now knowing when I need even more solitude or when it’s too much…tipping over into lonely isolation. Thank you for sharing.
Nikki, I find it such a balancing act. Especially now living alone. For me the loneliness comes when I am not tending soulfully whether other people are involved or not. 😌 Thank you for reading and being here. 💞
Thank you Sebene. That’s something for me to consider:tending soulfully. 🌺🌺🌺
Interesting nudge this morning. I can see The Artist’s Way on the shelf from where I sit. I have never done it and have no idea how it came to be on my shelf. But there it is! Also eagerly anticipating the blooms of our yellow peonies. Such a lovely blessing of early summer. Any day now! 💛
Ann, I love the mystery! 😆 Please keep me posted on the book and peonies! 😘
The peonies are bloomin glorious!! 💛💛💛
😍😍😍
Thank you for sharing these soulful tending practices. The Artist's Way has been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple years, maybe it's time I finally sit with it. In the meantime peony has been such an ally during grief. Thank you for this reminder and your supportive mourning practices.
https://www.motherwortandrose.com/peony
I have a feeling you’re not alone in having the book be with you for some time before starting… it’s a commitment! And WOW thank you for this resource Leila. 💕 Of course peonies are a moon flower! So much to reflect upon. 🙏🏾
Thank you for this link. What a beautiful site!
no problem! they're also here on substack: https://griefspells.substack.com/
Another thank you for the link to this website!
Hello Sebene, I love your writing. Thank you for it. I’ve been doing the artists’s way on and off for years too. I started the morning pages again last September, but have stopped recently for fear that, when I’m no longer here alive, my children will come across them and read my rubbish 😂so, anyway, I’m currently turning these pages into an art journal of sorts. I think Julia Cameron would approve…. Wishing you lots of love from here - rain soaked Scotland ( going to buy myself some peonies today !) x
Exactly! I did shred mine from many years ago. And keeping an art journal is a wonderful experience! Good paper so I can use whatever medium calls me and small pages so it’s not too much to fill are key for me.
Oh I love the idea of an art journal! 💓💓💓 Also I know a number of people who shred their morning pages after they finish every notebook… an option? 😂
My spouse couldn't find her Artist's Way, so she borrowed mine, which was filled with notes from when I ventured through it many years ago. My spouse is much better at morning pages than I, or at least much more consistent. But the artist date is always what has stayed with me, the gift of self care for my creative curious artist self.
I love that you’ve both done it . My ex did it in Italian. It must be in so many languages and countries. I find I’m like your spouse, I find the morning pages easier, not only because I don’t need to leave my bed to do them 😝 but I think there’s something so powerful about them, like I’m being too audacious. Thanks for framing it as self care, Mal. And thanks for sharing. 🥰
I love ‘soulful tending’. Your words are easy for this Enneagram 4 to take in! I started Cameron’s It’s Never too Late to Start Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Similar to the Artist’s Way, there are morning pages and Artist Dates. And what is different is Memoir, a weekly guided process for bringing up memories of parts of life (in increments). I am moving through it at a pace that is soulful. When I did Artist’s Way years ago, I couldn’t (or didn’t) give myself that flexibility and grace. And peonies are my favourite...maybe I will find some today or tomorrow!
I don’t know about this book and I love the reframe. I love heard there’s also a 7 week program with a different focus. I’m afraid to look and see how many there are. 👀 i could end up with so many ways 📚 😂 Thanks for sharing Linda! 💓
What sweet synchronicity! I'm currently on Week 2 of AW : ) I have started the book many many times, but only completed it once (and that was a decade/many lifetimes ago). The morning pages have felt live giving, and most importantly it's been really nice to relax around it....the perfectionist in me wanted to "repeat" week 1 because I didn't get to most of the exercises. I have a whatsapp group with two friends (they haven't met before) and we just let everyone know when we've completed our writing for the day or get around to our artist date. The loose accountability feels healing, too.
How sweet Marissa. And I love the WhatsApp group idea. My niece just told me she’s doing it too. Maybe I need to follow your lead. And no I have not done most of the exercises and I’m on week 8. 😂 Happy to be journeying together! 🫶🏾
I really resonated with this today. Lately I too have felt like something is off and my inclination is to go to therapy and find what’s wrong but like you said I think it’s just about leaning into the practices that support us. ❤️
Thanks for sharing Kelly. Yes, we often know exactly what’s needed when we listen deeply. 💗😊💗 Thanks for connecting.
I am having a synchronistic moment in finding just by chance your substack account by browsing, and liking the title of your page! Recently I happened to pick up your book You Belong: A Call for Connection, while attending a Unity service after my dear friend died tragically in March. Life changes, loss, re imagining , creating rituals for changing times. I love your thoughts, I love peonies. I’m new to Substack. I’m glad to find you here. Thank you.
Oh Eileen. I’m sorry about the loss of your friend. And thanks for reading and connecting. Sending lots of good peony energy your way today. 💓💓💓
❤️🙏🏻
I wish I could share a photo here of the gorgeous peonies in my yard. I’d like to give something to you, Sebene, and all who have shared here. My focus these days is awakening to beauty all around me and fully living (and dying) in each moment. 🌸
I also wanted to say how much I loved your soulful tending list! “Geeking out” made me chuckle as it’s definitely on my list, too. ❤️
I love the Artists Way too! I also first read it in the 90s. I revived my morning page habit just over two years ago now and I am so glad I did. I suppose my weekly hikes are my artist date. 😎
Thanks for sharing this. It’s amazing how many of us have been with the morning pages over decades… what a legacy Julia Cameron has! And yes to hikes as creativity dates! 💓💓💓
Good Morning Sebene, I am at the end of week 9. I did the Artist way when it first came out to develop the part of myself that painted and it worked. I think there are lines and threads of adventure that can be traced to the present. This time my project is to retire after being a social worker for 51 years. All the questions and task are relevant to releasing an identity as well as developing one. The morning pages have been amazing. I have not been able to do an artist date. There is an uncharacteristic resistance. Going in is easier that going out at the moment.
As you described your altar and the peonies, I turned to the left and looked out my window and thought "that is my altar". A 150 year old pine, the dogwoods and mountain ash in flower and the buds on my peonies. Thank you for soulful tending.
Oh Anne. I love that image of your altar! Altars everywhere! I’m on week 8 so I’m just behind you… Good for you for knowing what’s needed in this moment. I’ve also been resisting the dates but when I do them, they’re magic too… Thanknyou for sharing here. 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾
Anne, I am in a similar life phase and live in a very beautiful place, too. You inspire me to, at some point, see what Artist’s Way might offer me now.
Beautiful post, thank you Sebene!
💓💓💓
As others have noted, such a rich soul-filled share. Breakfast for my heart and soul. I first got through about half The Artist's Way when my youngest was only months old, sleeping away in his baby swing so I could get my morning pages in before he needed to be fed. That was 30 years ago. I've done morning pages on and off ever sense. Julia and Natalie Goldberg have been my guiding lights for years. Next week I'll have my 67th turn around the sun and you're inspiring me to get a fresh copy-begin and (ideally) complete it! I planted my first peony a few weeks ago. It probably won't yield blossoms for a few years. My mother's back yard was surrounded in them. It was a mystery how she acomplished it!
Blessings this Gemini New Moon stellium extravaganza.
What a beautiful mothering of you and your youngest to tend to pages in the midst of what I imagine was many competing needs. I love the idea of you returning to it now. It’s wild to remember certain things i had (may have?) written then. And what a lovely legacy of peonies. I’m loving all the peony love emerging from this post! Thanks for sharing Mary. 💓🫶🏾💓
My peony plant came from a plant that my Dad nurtured. It is older than my 74 years. It is in bud now.
Wow! WOW! 😮
Love peonies like you. Where do you find/order yours? Usually they are out of season now, but I found a gorgeous arrangement of at least 10 stems in my grocery store's florist shop 10 days ago. Felt like Kuan Yin was smiling directly upon me! Here's to more peony power!
I got mine at a grocery store too. That was a few weeks ago… I still have them. Amazing dried too…
How do you dry/keep them? Mine are about dried out now, too. I was thinking of trying to make rose/peony water with them for fragrance. Any tips? Thanks!
Oh, I have no clue! 😂 I just let them dry. Lol