Customer Rating: 
Summary: Unblocking Your Creativity
Comment: I am currently about midway through "The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity". I am enjoying the book. Julia Cameron writes about unblocking creativity through doing several different exercises. The first exercise is the "Morning Pages". This is 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing that you are supposed to do first thing every morning. The only problem I have with this is that she wants it done in longhand on notebook paper. I prefer to type. The idea behind the "Morning Pages" is to get all of the mental clutter and psychic gunk out of your head and onto the page. Then you will have room for creativity. So far, so good, in my case at least, but then again, I write every morning anyway. The second exercise is "The Artist Date". Ms. Cameron says that we should go alone a few times a week on creative excursion. I have had more trouble doing this.
All in all, I think this is a wonderful tool for unblocking creativity, and if you are already a writer, the morning pages are very useful. If you are a painter, as I am, then it works as well. It helps you focus in on your creativity and it has helped me see more clearly the things that have kept me blocked.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: I actually wanted a Christian book and was encouraged by those that complained about that element. The author actually says god can be whatever you want to call it and gives a variety of examples. That aside, it is really just common sense suggestions such as setting aside time to meditate daily through writing as well as setting aside time weekly to practice your craft whether it is writing, painting or acting. Good suggestions but nothing new.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Comment: I was in a mess, putting on weight, v low self esteem, looking for help and a wonderful 'guru' said he could put sticky plaster on BUT. He was so so right - however, initially the book seemed to be not for me - am not an 'artist' and the emphasis on this in the early pages nearly made me switch off. But don't, and in my view this is not the real message. For me, the real message, is about valuing and loving yourself. Also this book does ask for a quite a commitment - morning pages, etc. But do not be put off - I have changed out of all recognition. Lost 11lb in 2 weeks, look and feel alive and gently confident - am getting used to 'spoiling' myself and putting myself - not first - but giving me the initial time that I need, which then makes me calmer and able to be there for others - 'in my time' NOT ' when they shout! Brilliant.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not helpful for people who grew up being creative.
Comment: First of all, I must admit that I am reading this book as a requirement for an art class. Unlike most people in my art class, I grew up in a creative, nurturing environment and I have been allowed all of my life to do and be creative. I have been an professional artist for well over 15 years, and then I receive this book.
Trying to be fair to my instructor and classmates, I am dutifully reading and trying to follow Ms. Cameron's advice. However, I am not finding the book as helpful as I had hoped and there are many points at which I find that the book falls very short of being universally useful.
First of all, Ms. Cameron assumes that the reader grew up with unsupportive parents and also assumes that the reader's creative self was bullied completely into submission. Because none of this applies to me, I'm finding that many of the chapters don't offer much information for me that results in any kind of constructive change or benefit.
Secondly, I found this book to be willfully more religious than I bargained for. During my doing of exercises in Chapter 2, I found myself rewriting the principles to eliminate the word "God" and replace it with something like "the world." This part of the book's assumption is insulting to someone like myself who recognizes that creativity (and indeed perception) comes completely from within. On its own. No God required! Imagine that!
There are some good and useful things about this book, which is why I give it 3 stars instead of 2. The morning pages are helpful to me -- my problem isn't creativity, it's organizatiton. I do the pages, but only in an abbreviated form. I write in a small book and keep my time writing each morning to 15 mintues. Three small pages in my tiny handwriting is more than enough to get my crap thoughts onto paper and my day started before 6:45 am. I may never stop morning pages... but Ms. Cameron -- affirmations? You have to be kidding me. I quit copying sentances multiple times after 3rd grade, thank you very much.
The artist's date is also nice, but since I already do other things I enjoy that aren't my artwork (watch indie films, play guitar, play ukulele, go shopping in trendy urban boutiques, you name it), adding ANOTHER artist date keeps me from a couple of hours of real work per week. My problem isn't getting good and creative ideas, it's finding the time to actually do the ideas that I constantly generate.
Aside from those features, I'm finding it difficult to believe that 7 more weeks of the program will net anything more than reading a lot of fluffy claptrap that is probably helpful to the actually blocked creatives but not at all helpful to me... and in that amount of time I could have enjoyed a work of fiction that chose to read.
I'll be recommending this to only my most insecure friends.
If you're in my situation, you might find "Time Management for the Creative Person" and a workbook on overcoming Procrastination a whole lot more helpful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Inspiring - A Creative Journey
Comment: I love this journal.. I started out going about it as the companion book suggests, to write first thing in the morning, but that just became unreasonable at times - especially with children. But I did aim for three pages daily, and it just really helped to clear my mind and spark so much creativity. I ended up buying another journal and filled it up as well... Now journaling has become a must to me. I have over a dozen journals completely filled now and haven't stopped yet.
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