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Last week I talked about ‘Morning Pages’, today I’m going to talk about its very necessary accompaniment – Artist Dates.
This is another exercise from ‘The Artist Way’ by Julia Cameron and one of three that, for me, have given long term benefits (the other two being morning pages and creative affirmations).
So let’s get right into this.
‘Artist dates’ are regular appointments that you have with yourself, the goal of which is to fill and replenish your inner well of creativity. During these appointments you do things that you want to do. It’s as simple, and as complicated as that.
In the author’s own words:
“An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child. That means no lovers, friends, spouses, children—no taggers-on of any stripe.”
For me, like morning pages, the answer is really simple: because they work. I started them as an experiment. At the end of the Artist’s Way programme I felt that there was benefit in them, so I decided to keep doing them for 3 months and see how it was.
After three months, I still felt they were useful. That was three years ago; I still go on them.
What do I mean by “they work”? Well, for me, I see it as time that my inner child gets to steer the ship. I have a lot of responsibilities in life, as most adults do, and I spend most of my time doing things I should do, rather than things I want to do. Over time, I think that leads to our adult (responsible side) being dominant and makes it harder to access our playful (childlike, creative) side. This is a way of redressing the imbalance.
Some weeks I find that it’s really hard to shut off the adult side and even know what to do. But those are the weeks when I need it most.
After going on an artist date I am more able to be playful in my work, find new ideas, enjoy my art and have it not feel like a chore.
There are some rules, as set down in the book. Having flirted with not following the rules, I learned the hard way that the rules exist for a reason, and a good one at that. Without them, the essential goal of nurturing your inner artist (inner child) is not met.
Here are the rules:
All kinds of things ‘count’ as an artist date – going for a long walk, exploring a charity / junk shop, watching a movie, going to an art gallery. So long as it’s something that deep down you want to do, it counts. Sometimes I go and climb on the giant climbing frame in the park. Other times I curl up on the sofa and watch Ponyo. I’ve gone on an expedition to get a fancy hot chocolate.
Sometimes you don’t know what it is you want to do deep down. That’s okay. What I do when that happens is I mentally flick through a series of options and see what my gut response is. E.g. charity shop exploration? Gut: Meh. Go on a walk looking for flowers? Gut: Meh. Watch Kiki’s Delivery Service? Gut: Meh. Climb a Tree? Gut: Ooooh.
If I’m really stuck I’ll google ‘ideas for an artist date’ and read through what other people have done and see if any of that gets an ‘ooooh’ from my gut.
In her book, Julia says “everyone” and I would agree. I think we all would benefit from indulging our inner children. Having some fun and play in our lives helps us feel vital, connects us to ourselves, which in turn opens up space to better connect with others.
It’s a form of self care that goes beyond face masks and getting nails done (if you’re into that sort of thing). It’s self care for your psyche.
So, whatever your path, I suggest you give it a try. Do an experiment, stick with it for 12 weeks and then see how you feel.
