In Week One of “The Artist’s Way“, Julia Cameron suggests making a list of five alternate lives (the Progoff journal method does this, too, calling them “roads not taken”). This is a simple but effective way to re-discover parts of ourselves that we may have left behind.
Cameron adds another step — to try and bring some flavor of one or all into the week.
Here’s my list:
Japanese scholar
Jungian therapist
Constitutional lawyer / social activist
Sheep farmer and weaver
Dancer
What are a few of your “roads not taken” and how might you let them into your life?
I’ll let you know how it goes.
[I’ve picked up Cameron’s book over and over in the past decades — Years when I have done the ‘Morning Pages’ practice have been better than the years when I have not. Her wisdom has been more than useful to me. This time, I was inspired by Heather K. Powers — a Charleston artist and organizational guru whom I met in September at the Sea Island Indigo Workshop. She just started an ‘Artist’s Way’ group in SC, which I found myself wishing I could participate in.
I hope to go week by week without breaks in order to let the momentum of Cameron’s 12-week process build. I am already dreading the Media Fast, which will be very, very hard for me. I also hope to find the journal pages from when I did this before — to compare].
Very interesting that you’ve made so many Surrender cards!
It seems to be a necessary message — this one has some specifics relative to the writing that I am doing.
Have reserved this book at the library … the very idea of a media break scared the h-e-double-toothpicks out of me, so I figure that’s probably exactly why I should do it!
well, that is so often true — that which we heartily resist is that which we need the most.