Last week I wrote about morning pages; this week I’d like to address the artist date. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron describes the artist date as a weekly block of time dedicated to nurturing your creative consciousness, also known as your inner artist. During this time, you’re to spend quality time alone doing something you enjoy. It might be seeing a movie, visiting a museum or gallery, or—in my case—taking a long walk with nature. These two pieces, morning pages and the artist date, provide the basic tools for creative recovery or for maintaining creative flow.
The artist date fills our creative well. Choose the kind of activity that speaks to you and fills you with the sensory images you need. Hiking works well for me since I write mysteries set in the Colorado mountains; it also raises my spirits and gives me some much needed exercise after spending long days at the keyboard.
While writing this blog, I realized that I’ve been neglecting my inner artist lately. Better take that girl on a date.
Please join me here for musings about life, writing, and the writing life.
