Like much of the United States, Illinois is experiencing a terrible drought this year. Earlier this month, the USDA declared 98 of Illinois's 102 counties "disaster areas" because of the combination of drought and heat. Interestingly, the county I live in is one of the few NOT designated a disaster area. You'd never guess it from looking at the parched lawns around here.
I was inspired to suggest the topic of "writing droughts" to the TeachingAuthors team after reading "A Writer's (non) Drought" by my friend Leanne Pankuch on her blog. Leanne quotes a local meteorologist as saying, “Drought begets drought,” and talks about how the phrase is as true about writing as it is about weather. I agree.
On Monday, Mary Ann shared how she uses her journal to "prime the pump" by noting brief observations. Similarly, Leanne finds that journaling at least a page a day helps her get the writing flowing again. I sometimes use similar techniques. However, one of my favorite ways to deal with a writing drought is to go on what Julia Cameron calls an "Artist Date" in her book, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Tarcher Books).
If you're not familiar with the term, here's Cameron's description of it from her blog:
The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic”– think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration.If you have two minutes, I recommend you watch this videoclip of Cameron describing how an Artist Date works before reading on.
© Jusben @ Morguefile, used with permission |
When I found the adjacent photo on Morguefile, I thought it a great image to represent what Cameron calls "replenishing our inner wells." (Click on the image to enlarge it.) The photographer says the photo is of "water flow at the Holy Well in Edington Somersetshire England." To me, the inner source of our creativity is indeed "holy."
That doesn't mean an Artist Date is a solemn occasion. Here are examples of some I've taken:
- visiting a large garden center and walking around the blooming plants and garden decorations
- browsing an arts and craft fair, enjoying art
3 Comments on "Replenishing our Inner Well", last added: 8/17/2012Display Comments Add a Comment
I've read The Artist's Way, but it was a long time ago. Thanks for refreshing my memory. I've been "replenishing my inner well" lately by writing haiku, something I'd never done before. I'm finding I'm enjoying the process and feeling more energized toward my lengthier projects :-)
I'm late reading Carmela, but wanted to read about your 'drought' ideas. I have heard of the Artist's Way, but never read it or 'listened' to it. An artist's date is a great idea. The only idea I do is to dig out my old journals and read through them. Even if I don't find an idea exactly, sometimes the words just get me going again. Thanks for this!
Kenda, writing haiku sounds like a terrific way to replenish the well, as does reading through old journals, Linda. I'd like to try both of these. Thanks for sharing, ladies.