A Slow Walk Into the New Year
Morning Pages, The Artist's Date, and the week-two itch.
Welcome to another installment of The Bittersweet, where I share my search for a richer perspective on the Bittersweet moments that make up modern life.
Hello Friends,
If you’ve been here a minute, you know I love a New Year, but 2024 rattled me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. I couldn’t muster my usual excitement around resolutions and goals.
This year, I decided to tiptoe my way in.
I took that weird week between Christmas and the New Year to really consider what I want out of 2025 and landed on the fact that I have no freaking clue.
I’ve been a homemaker1 for 13 years, and now that the remodel is finished and we are done making babies, I’m left wondering, “What’s next for me?”
Enter, The Artist’s Way
I’ve read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way (TAW) about a dozen times, and I always get something about the practice.2 If nothing else, it will get my pen moving.
The two basic tools of TAW are Morning Pages (three pages of long handwriting) and the Artist’s Date (One to two hours a week devoted to creativity).
The first few days felt pretty good, but then I was hit with the inevitable week 2 itch. Like starting a new workout routine, my (creativity) muscles were a little more sore than I’d like, and I started dragging my feet.
First, I warmed up the house (I’m always cold). Then, I put on my fuzzy socks and a blanket for my lap. Then, I spent about 10 minutes searching for a playlist on Spotify. I might throw in a load of laundry, start the dishwasher, or soak my air plants because… Multitasking. Finally, I begin to write, only to get up two minutes later to get a drink.3
It takes me about 20 minutes to write three pages4, but I can easily waste a whole hour.
It’s one thing to write when you know you have something to say; it’s another when you know you're just going to bitch and moan for three pages.
How long will I do this dance? My guess is until I’m more comfortable being uncomfortable.
I always feel better when I’m done; more often than not, something unlocks, and the next right step reveals itself to me.
Here’s an example:
So many of my important relationships have suffered in the last five years (personal tragedy, COVID, new baby) Last year also saw the end of a 20-year friendship, and that left me devastated.
I was whining about all this in my morning pages when I landed on my word of the year … FRIENDSHIP. How do I show up in friendships? What are my expectations? etc
I’ll keep you posted on where this takes me. For now, I’m reading The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life w/ Friendship at the Center5 but I think there is a lot of opportunity to explore here.
For my artist’s date, I chose to style the shelving in our living room. It had been a catch-all for framed pictures and nicknacks, and I was tired of looking at it. Plus, my favorite kind of organizing project is one that hums in the back of your brain as a mess to be dealt with later, but then later never comes.
I read somewhere that when people walk into your home, you want what they see to tell a story about the people who live there. This helped me get rid of a bunch of things that were cute when I bought them but just didn’t hold any meaning for me.
This is where I am today. Thank you for listening.
Emily
Have you ever tried The Artist’s Way? Share your experience below.
I’m working out what to call myself these days. On the one hand, “homemaker” feels antiquated, and most people use the phrases stay-at-home mom or SAHM. But there’s something about “homemaker” that feels more active. I certainly don’t stay anywhere, least of all home. For now, I’m just trying “homemaker” on to see how it fits.
If you are a friend of Bill W. it’s basically the program but with art. You will recognize a lot of the language.
Water, iced tea, protein drink.
I’d like to thank my messy handwriting and total disregard for spelling out every word. “throut” for throughout, and “tryg” for trying.
If you have any suggestions on books about friendship (fiction or nonfiction), I’d love to hear them.
The Artist Way really got me on track after I retired. I religiously wrote my morning pages and went on weekly artists dates which led me to a community of fiber artists and filled my days with a new creative skill and good friends. Then I moved to another state, then COVID and here I am again pretty much alone. I opened the book last week and hope it will lead me to the next fulfilling chapter of my life because right now it’s kind of lonely.
I love everything you write!!!!! The shelves do look perfect. I have the same top shelf picture on a shelf in my room!!! Happy New Year!