Kimberly O'Connor

On Saturday I had the most fun teaching ever at Denver Public Library’s Eugene Field Branch leading a workshop on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

The Artist’s Way changed my life about 25 years ago, when artist Caroline Armijo told me about it. I was early in my teaching career, and I’d never before considered the idea that “artist” was a title you could claim for yourself. (I thought you had to move to New York City and become famous first.)

On Saturday, we explored the two main tools Cameron gives us in the book for claiming creativity and the artist title: Morning Pages and Artist’s Dates. Morning pages are three pages of longhand writing you do as soon as you can when you wake up each morning. They aren’t meant to be art, just letting your brain say whatever comes up. And Artist’s Dates are when you take yourself out to do something fun once a week. You go alone. Together, Cameron says, Morning Pages clear out junk and Artist’s Dates “fill the well,” freeing us to live more creative and fulfilling lives.

We had so much fun at the workshop! Besides reuniting with three wonderful souls I haven’t seen in a LONG time (Hi Sheila! Hi Trini! Hi Marissa!) and one soulmate I get to see more often (Hi Ali!), I met 15 other wonderful people. We created some new stuff and had some great conversations.

I wanted to share the slideshow I created for the workshop! You can see that here. It’s a basic introduction to the book and the tools.

Also, here are a few terrific links:

• a list of ideas for artist’s dates
• Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese,” for inspiration
• “Elizabeth Gilbert Meets Julia Cameron” podcast

As I shared with the workshop, I want to commit to The Artist’s Way tools again. If I get 10 new followers this week, I’ll commit to posting about my journey with The Artist’s Way every week for 12 weeks! You can follow by entering your email address in the “Subscribe” button at the bottom of this page.

Oh! Several people asked about my book on Saturday. You can buy White Lung anywhere you buy books, but I suggest ordering it from Spell Books, a terrific and brand new independent bookstore in Littleton.

Enjoy!