<aside> 💡 This week may find you grappling with changing self-definition. The essays, tasks, and exercises are designed to catapult you into productive introspection and integration of new self-awareness. This may be both very difficult and extremely exciting for you. Warning: Do not skip the tool of reading deprivation!

</aside>

1. Exercise 1, Morning Pages: Check off the days you’ve done morning pages.

   • [ ] Day 1
   • [ ] Day 2
   • [ ] Day 3
   • [ ] Day 4
   • [ ] Day 5
   • [ ] Day 6
   • [ ] Day 7

2. Exercise 2, Artist Date:

   • [ ] [Enter Date Here]

   Details of Date:

3. Exercise 3, Buried Dreams: This is an exercise in spontaneity, so be sure to write your answers out quickly.

   1. List 5 hobbies that sound fun. 1.
   2. List 5 classes that sound fun. 1.
   3. List 5 things you personally would never do that sound fun. 1.
   4. List 5 skills that would be fun to have. 1.
   5. List 5 things you used to enjoy doing. 1.
   6. List 5 silly things you would like to ry once. 1.

4. Exercise 4, Environment: Describe your ideal environment. Town? Country? Swank? Cozy? One paragraph. One image, drawn or clipped, that conveys this. What’s your favorite season? Why? Go through some magazines and find an image of this. Or draw it. Place it near your working area.

5. Exercise 5, Time Travel: Describe yourself at eighty. What did you do after fifty that you enjoyed? Be very specific. Now, write a letter from you at eighty to you at your current age. What would you tell yourself? What interests would you urge yourself to pursue? What dreams would you encourage?

6. Exercise 6, Time Travel: Remember yourself at eight. What did you like to do? What were your favorite things? Now, write a letter from you at eight to you at your current age. What would you tell yourself?

7. Exercise 7, Environment: Look at your house. Is there any room that you could make into a secret, private space for yourself? Convert the TV room? Buy a screen or hang a sheet and cordon off a section of some other room? This is your dream area. It should be decorated for fun and not as an office. All you really need is a chair or pillow, something to write on, some kind of little altar area for flowers and candles. This is to help you center on the fact that creativity is a spiritual, not an ego, issue.

8. Exercise 8: Use your life pie (from Week One) to review your growth. Has that nasty tarantula changed shape yet? Haven’t you been more active, less rigid, more expressive? Be careful not to expect too much too soon. That’s raising the jumps. Growth must have time to solidify into health. One day at a time, you are building the habit patterns of a healthy artist. Easy does do it. List ongoing self-nurturing toys you could buy your artist: books on tape, magazine subscriptions, theater tickets, a bowling ball.