The Miracle of the Artist's Date: 52 Ideas for Activities that will Nourish Your Creative Soul: A Special from Tarcher/Penguin

by Julia Cameron

Overview

Julia Cameron’s groundbreaking Artist's Way program has helped millions of individuals around the world discover their creative selves. In this invaluable companion to The Artist’s Way, Cameron provides further insight into one of her most powerful Artist’s Way tools: The Artist’s Date. The Artist's Date is a block of time that aspiring and established artists devote to stepping aside from their work to engage in simple, fun activities that nourish their creative spirits. All artists have experienced creative blocks and know the feeling of keeping their noses to the grindstone, making their days feel only dutiful and drab. According to Cameron, what is needed is a good dose of enforced play, whether it involves a trip to a museum or toy store or simply baking a pie. In The Miracle of the Artist's Date, Cameron presents 52 ideas for Artist's Dates—one for each week of the year—that will inspire and delight.

Also included in this e-special is an excerpt from The Artist's Way for Parents, the most highly requested addition to Cameron's canon of work, as well as an excerpt from The Prosperous Heart, in which Cameron offers the practical financial tools to guide you to prosperity in all areas of your life.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698140424
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/25/2013
Series:	Artist's Way
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	42
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than three decades. She is the author of more than thirty books, including such bestselling works on the creative process as The Artist’s Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. Also a novelist, playwright, songwriter, and poet, she has multiple credits in theater, film, and television.

Read an Excerpt

“Art is an image-using system,” I tell students. “Imagine yourself as having an inner trout pond filled with images. When you use your creativity, you are drawing from this inner pond. When you draw on it heavily, you will over-fish your pond. Images will be harder and harder to come by unless you begin to consciously replenish your store of images. Taking your Artist Date replenishes your pond.”

“So that explains it,” exclaims a student. “I was writing like a bat out of hell and it dried up.”

I answer, “It dried up because you were writing like a bat out of hell. You over-fished your pond. When you are working intensely, you should double your Artist Dates.”

This advice meets with an immediate protest.

“But Julia, when I am working well, all I want to do is work.”

I understand. But I also know that bingeing on work robs you of staying power. A steady diet of Artist Dates ensures your creative out?ow. But taking regular Artist Dates is a difficult discipline. It requires that you harness your imagination and actively plot festive expeditions. You are out to delight yourself, and that requires that you observe with accuracy what you find delightful. The term “Artist Date” has two parts to it: “artist” and “date.” The ?rst order of business is to plan something your artist will enjoy. The second goal is to romance yourself a little. A date is something you look forward to. This means your Artist Date should be planned ahead of time. You are out to woo yourself.

“But, Julia, I can’t think of what to do,” students complain.

This small book aims at to answer this difficulty. I will explain and explore Artist Dates. I will suggest fifty-two possible dates—a full year’s worth of festive expeditions. It is my hope that reading my Artist Date suggestions will trigger you into devising Artist Dates of your own. So let us begin.