<aside> đź’ˇ This week we explore the perils that can ambush us on our creative path. Because creativity is a spiritual issue, many of the perils are spiritual perils. In the essays, tasks, and exercises of this week, we search out the toxic patterns we cling to that block our creative flow.
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Exercise 1, Morning Pages: Check off the days you’ve done morning pages.
How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (Have you used them yet to think about creative luxury for yourself?) How was the experience for you?
Exercise 2, Artist Date:
Details of Date:
Have you had the experience of hearing answers during this leisure time?
What did you do for your date?
How did it feel?
Have you taken an artist date yet that really felt adventurous?
Exercise 3: Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?
Exercise 4: Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them.”
Exercise 5, The Deadlies: Take a piece of paper and cut seven small strips from it. On each strip write one of the following words: alcohol, drugs, sex, work, money, food, family/friends. Fold these strips of paper and place them in an envelope. We call these folded slips the dead lies. You’ll see why in a minute. Now draw one of the deadlies from the envelope and write five ways in which it has had a negative impact on your life. (If the one you choose seems difficult or inapplicable to you, consider this resistance.) You will do this seven times, each time putting back the previous slip of paper so that you are always drawing from seven possible choices. Yes, you may draw the same deadly repeatedly. Yes, this is significant. Very often, it is the last impact on the final list of an annoying “Oh no, not again” that yields a break, through denial, into clarity.
Exercise 6, Touchstones: Make a quick list of things you love, happiness touchstones for you. River rocks worn smooth, willow trees, cornflowers, chicory, real Italian bread, homemade vegetable soup, the Bo Deans’ music, black beans and rice, the smell of new-mown grass, blue velvet (the cloth and the song), Aunt Minnie’s crumb pie …   Post this list where it can console you and remind you of your own personal touchstones. You may want to draw one of the items on your list—or acquire it.
Exercise 7, The Awful Truth: Answer the following questions. Tell the truth.
What habit do you have that gets in the way of your creativity? Tell the truth.
What do you think might be a problem? It is.
What do you plan to do about the habit or problem?
What is your payoff in holding on to this block?
If you can’t figure out your payoff, ask a trusted friend.
Tell the truth. Which friends make you doubt yourself? (The self-doubt is yours already, but they trigger it.)Tell the truth.
Which friends believe in you and your talent? (The talent is yours, but they make you feel it.)
What is the payoff in keeping your destructive friends? If the answer is, “I like them,” the next question is, “Why?”Which destructive habits do your destructive friends share with your destructive self?
Which constructive habits do your constructive friends share with your constructive self?
Exercise 8, Setting a Bottom Line: Working with your answers to the questions above, try setting a bottom line for yourself. Begin with five of your most painful behaviors. You can always add more later.