“Art is an image-using system,” I tell students. “Imagine yourself as having an inner trout pond filled with images. When you use your creativity, you are drawing from this inner pond. When you draw on it heavily, you will over-fish your pond. Images will be harder and harder to come by unless you begin to consciously replenish your store of images. Taking your Artist Date replenishes your pond.”
“So that explains it,” exclaims a student. “I was writing like a bat out of hell and it dried up.”
I answer, “It dried up because you were writing like a bat out of hell. You over-fished your pond. When you are working intensely, you should double your Artist Dates.”
This advice meets with an immediate protest.
“But Julia, when I am working well, all I want to do is work.”
I understand. But I also know that bingeing on work robs you of staying power. A steady diet of Artist Dates ensures your creative out?ow. But taking regular Artist Dates is a difficult discipline. It requires that you harness your imagination and actively plot festive expeditions. You are out to delight yourself, and that requires that you observe with accuracy what you find delightful. The term “Artist Date” has two parts to it: “artist” and “date.” The ?rst order of business is to plan something your artist will enjoy. The second goal is to romance yourself a little. A date is something you look forward to. This means your Artist Date should be planned ahead of time. You are out to woo yourself.
“But, Julia, I can’t think of what to do,” students complain.
This small book aims at to answer this difficulty. I will explain and explore Artist Dates. I will suggest fifty-two possible dates—a full year’s worth of festive expeditions. It is my hope that reading my Artist Date suggestions will trigger you into devising Artist Dates of your own. So let us begin.
Copyright © 2013 by Julia Cameron. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
