“The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron (post 3): Selling millions of books that teach people how they can hear and work with their alternate personalities

The Artist’s Way has been a self-help phenomenon, selling millions of books (1). It is based on the psychology of fiction writers, who hear and work with their alternate personalities.

Here are a few quotes from the beginning:

“My life has always included strong internal directives. Marching orders, I call them…I learned to just show up at the page and write down what I heard. Writing became more like eavesdropping…I wasn’t doing it. By resigning as the self-conscious author, I wrote freely” (2, pp. xvii-xix).

“What we are talking about is an induced—or invited—spiritual experience…” (2, p. 1).

“…recognize, nurture, and protect your inner artist…” (2, p. 7).

“There are two pivotal tools in creative recovery: the morning pages and the artist date” (2, p. 9).

“We are victims of our own internalized perfectionist, a nasty internal and eternal critic, the Censor, who…keeps up a constant stream of subversive remarks that are often disguised as the truth” (2, p. 11).

“Your artist is a child and it needs to be fed. Morning pages feed your child artist. So write your morning pages. Three pages of whatever crosses your mind…Morning pages…get us beyond our Censor…” (2, p. 12).

“But what exactly is an artist date? An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist…Your artist is a child…Above all, learn to listen to what your artist child has to say…” (2, pp. 18-19).

1. Penelope Green. “Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages.” New York Times, Feb. 2, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/style/julia-cameron-the-artists-way.html

2. Julia Cameron. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. 25th Anniversary Edition. New York, Tarcher Perigee/Penguin Random House, 2016.