The Artist's Way: Week Three Roundup

I just finished week three of TAW, and it seemed a more volatile week than the earlier two. I was much more emotional, and felt not totally in control of my emotions. In fact, I was a bit of a basket case. I found the experience rather unpleasant; I felt stressed. Now this might not be completely due to TAW, but I can’t help thinking that it’s at least partially due to the muck-raking taking place in my morning pages. I found that partway through the week I had very little to say in the morning pages, and then at the end of the week a ton of stuff came pouring out, so something was going on there. Again, for the third time in a row, I had a hard time with the artist’s date. I went on a couple of walks (which I do anyway) and decided that that would do for an artist’s date. And I took an amazing nap on Saturday, so I guess that could be an artist’s date too. Before starting TAW I had great ideas about going to the farmer’s market, or to the used bookstore, or the library, or art exhibits, or cafes, or museums…. you get the picture. But it just seems too difficult to fit those kind of trips in, and it’s so much more comfortable just to walk. Or sleep. I’m not sure if I’m “cheating” or if I was just expecting too much of myself.

For my hour of artist brain activity I played around with the playlist I’m putting together for my friend’s birthday. To me making playlists is a very creative activity: I check that each song follows nicely from the previous one, and that the overall message or narrative works, and that the songs won’t give any kind of negative message, and so on. I actually love making playlists for friends, and for that matter for myself (although I hardly ever do).

The thoughts about childhood I found rather difficult. I had a hard time coming up with five things I like about myself as a child, which I found rather sad, and the food I ate from my childhood turned out not to be quite as good as I remembered: a sandwich made from white bread, mayo, a processed cheese slice, iceberg lettuce, and ruffle potato chips. I’m not sure why I expected it to taste good, although I do remember loving to eat those sandwiches at my best friend’s house when I was young, and craving them during my pregnancies. Blech.

A strange object came to me in a dream one night too, a delicate gold Star of David that I think I may have worn on a necklace when I was very young. The image was extremely vivid in the dream; the gold was bright, thin and crenelated, and so fragile and easy to bend. I’m sure it’s some kind of link to the spirituality inherent in TAW, but I’m not sure exactly what the connection is.

Tomorrow I’m starting week four, in which we must suffer reading deprivation. This is filling me with dread, as I am indeed addicted to reading, but I’m going to give a try anyway. It’s only one week….

Finally, a note about the timing: my friends at The Artist’s Way blog are taking two weeks to complete each of the first four weeks, which is a fantastic idea. I’m worried that with my work schedule I’ll be needing to take extra time in November to complete the tasks, so I’m barging ahead with the folks at The Creativityist now, so that I won’t feel so guilty when I fall behind in a month or two.

Have a great week everyone!!