Clearing Creative Blocks
Thoughts on The Artist's Way, creative recovery, and getting out of your own way
In a previous piece, I mentioned turning to the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron for creative inspiration. I hadn’t completed a new song or published a poem since the early months of the pandemic, and I was beginning to worry that my creative capacity had expired. It’s a very popular book, endorsed by artists and celebrities of all kinds throughout its 30+ years in print. Cameron describes it as a manual of recovery, encouraging readers—through a series of readings and exercises—to unearth and examine thought patterns and feelings that may hinder creative flow. The program is designed to last for twelve weeks, but I stopped in the middle of the week eight, deciding that the process was starting to do me more harm than good.
Not to say that I didn’t learn some valuable things about myself along the way. The book does a great job of holding up a mirror and revealing potential causes of creative blockage, but when it comes to offering practical suggestions for remediation, it tends to fall back on lazy, hazy pop-spiritual notions of connecting to the “creative energy of the universe” or “open(ing) ourselves to the great creator.”
Which would all be fine, if Cameron didn’t work so hard to present herself as a kind of healer or guru in possession of the spiritual keys to recovery and special access to the divine. Here is a quote to give you an idea of what I mean:
As a teacher, I often sense the presence of something transcendent—a spiritual electricity, if you will—and I have come to rely on it in transcending my own limitations.
What am I supposed to do with a statement so nebulous? Furthermore, starting the book with a list of ten Basic Principles and assigning prescriptive tasks (some of which seem arbitrary in nature) designed to “forge an alliance” with the “Great Creator”—it all sounds (and feels) more than a little bit religious cult-y.
A cornerstone of the program is the practice of writing Morning Pages, daily three-page “strictly stream-of-consciousness” journal entries intended to declutter the mind and offload impediments to creative action. Nothing wrong with that so far. There is plenty of research to support the psychological benefits of writing, but research also suggests that these benefits are dependent on what form the writing takes. In opposition to this, Cameron aggressively rejects the notion of Morning Pages taking any particular form. As a key part of the process, she advocates for “three pages of whatever crosses your mind.” She urges readers to explore their emotional and psychological issues in depth and then insists that they free-write several pages a day for twelve weeks. Under these conditions, it seems certain that people will write about their emotional and psychological concerns, which could prove problematic.
According to a research review on the American Psychological Association (APA) website,
Venting emotions alone—whether through writing or talking—is not enough… To tap writing's healing power, people must use it to better understand and learn from their emotions.
Meanwhile, Cameron says of her Morning Pages, “you shouldn’t even read them for the first eight weeks or so.” There isn’t much chance of reflection and learning when the only instructions are to dump your complicated feelings on the page and move on.
Taking the research further, psychologist Helen Marlo, PhD of Notre Dame de Namur University suggests:
Writing about trauma triggers distress and physical and emotional arousal, researchers have found. And not all people will work through that distress therapeutically or through continued writing.
The concern here is that unguided free-writing about one’s feelings, similar to talk therapy that encourages endless emotional venting absent any research-based plan designed to actually change unhealthy thought patterns, may leave one locked in a harmful closed cycle of rumination.
Cameron takes the extra step of describing Morning Pages as an “apparently pointless process,” another implication, it seems, that there is something mystical afoot whereby, like a stage magician, she holds up an everyday object and transforms it into something with inexplicable spiritual power. To be fair, Cameron never claims to be a doctor, a psychologist, or any kind of health practitioner. Still, conducting some research and grounding the program in a little more science might prevent leaving people with a pile of excavated feelings and memories without a viable plan for what to do with them.
So, what did I actually learn?
Being creative is about getting out of your own way, and for me, that means the following:
Abandon perfectionism.
We all know it’s not possible to be perfect. Yet, many of us chase perfection endlessly, for one reason: FEAR. Fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of death, fear of—whatever. The bottom line is that it’s human nature to avoid things we are afraid of, and what better way to be avoidant than to continually pursue the impossible? As long as there is always one more thing left to do to make your project better, you never have to be finished, and you never have to face your fear. Perfect!
Perfectionism is the surest way to hold yourself in place. It’s an insidious obstacle to creating, learning, growing, and having fun. And I love art’s little imperfections. Mistakes, glitches, happy accidents—whatever you want to call them—add character and beauty to art. I think of Bob Dylan’s legendary second album. It’s full of roughness—little stops and starts, off key notes, and buzzing guitar strings. In the middle of one take, he actually forgets the lyrics, laughs at himself, and keeps recording—and it’s brilliant. Without the mistakes, it just wouldn’t be the classic album it has become.
Think less. Do more.
For every creative project I have completed in my life, there are several I have talked myself out of even attempting. We all have an inner voice—a train of thought—that advises us constantly, whether we like it or not, to do this or think about that. It’s a more active voice for some people than for others (see my newsletter title to decide who I might be talking about here), and some of us are better at managing its more negative suggestions than others. Increasing creative productivity requires the discipline to push one’s inner critic aside and decide that—while it may be true that there are 101 reasons an idea won’t work—it’s worth giving it a try anyway. Does that mean every idea is going to result in a brilliant product just because you had the courage to try? Of course not. But failure is an undervalued commodity. Practicing, making mistakes, and trying again in light of the wisdom you have gained—this is how we improve.
Sometimes with art, I think we’re fighting against the ridiculous, pervasive notion that inspiration only comes to an artist like a lightning bolt from the heavens or via a direct line from God bestowed upon a chosen few, the geniuses among us (another reason I find The Artist’s Way problematic is that it seems to favor this idea). The truth is that making art—and becoming a better artist—takes hard work like anything else. It’s really all about the doing.
Allow yourself time and space.
Give yourself permission to be a creative person. Stop feeling guilty about spending time doing what you love to do. I am talking to myself here as much as to anyone else. I was not raised to consider making art a serious occupational pursuit, mainly due to economics. My grandparents passed their values to my parents, and my parents to me, straight out of the Great Depression. Priority one was to get a “stable” job and hold onto it. Artist did not make the list of responsible employment options. It was considered high risk, uncharted territory and therefore to be avoided. I understand why so many children of artists become artists themselves, but there were no examples of working artists in my life to legitimize that possibility.
At the same time, I did grow up around avid readers and music lovers, so one way or another, the spark to write was lit early, and I have felt driven (as if by a motor, at times) to write songs and poems ever since. Denying such an urge is equivalent to self-denial. This aspect of psychology, The Artist’s Way gets right. If you are driven to make art, either professionally or recreationally, don’t diminish its importance to your well-being and push it aside. Make room for creativity in your life as a matter of self-care.
Final thoughts on The Artist’s Way:
Do not drink the marketing Kool-Aid of its power to change your life. Only you can do that. Despite the way it is presented, it is not a recovery manual. If you truly need to be in recovery, find a good therapist. The author is a writer with a cult following whose limited list of credits outside of the enormously successful The Artist’s Way franchise (and related writings on creativity) includes an episode of Miami Vice. Beware when she treads into psychological territory. She speaks with no real authority in this area. That said, if you read critically and are selective about which ideas to take seriously, there are benefits to be gained.
I feel seen.