I took off the last week because I was out enjoying what little nice weather we have left before it gets too cold outside to do anything. We don't have many warm days left, so last week we took advantage. My partner, his pup, and I took a trip to the Deleware Water Gap to do some hiking. It was so beautiful! To my surprise though, many of the trees haven't changed yet. I also wanted to space out some time to deeply engage with a new exercise I've been doing from a book I started.
Last week I started a new book, The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. I got this book suggestion from one of the passages in "Tools of Titans." Filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez, was interviewed in Titans, and he talked about how this book helped him break through the creative barriers he had. He referenced some of the exercises from The Artist's Way in his interview. He mentioned that they taught him to be resourceful and successfully tap into his internal creativity. We all have an immense amount of creativity that's waiting to be utilized.
I'm on the first wave of exercises this week, and I'm doing my best to be very intentional with them. The first exercise is to set your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier than your regular wake-up time so you can write three full pages of longhand creative writing. These pages are to be kept in one central location that you do not re-read or let others read. It's been quite interesting to see what I put on paper when my mind is fresh. I usually recall what I was dreaming about, and I tie that into what I'm feeling at the moment. I can feel that I'm slowly breaking down some barriers that I've had about my creativity, but I want to continue this exercise to experience a full breakthrough.
I've found that I've also done a lot of reflection on gratitude for many things. Recently, I was expressing the amount of gratitude I feel towards my body. As with many, I struggle with the relationship with my body. Especially during this Rona time, my body has done quite a few changes in its composition. In these exercises, I'm learning to accept my body for what it is and appreciate it for all it does for me. I'm learning to embrace the perfectness of it because it serves me well. It allows me to do so many things in my life, and I'm grateful that it gives me so much freedom.
I feel that this exercise can open up many doors of emotions for those who choose to do it. I mean, I am only two weeks in, and I have already felt a glimmer of breaking through. Some of the other exercises include writing out positive affirmations for every doubt you have about yourself. Changing the perspective of who you are. I can feel this one also helped me quite a bit in seeing myself in a more positive light.
I'm curious to see how I process and complete the other assignments, so stay tuned!
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