California Fever

AW post

Just put up a quick post on my Aritst's Way blog.

Sam has offered the services of her beloved Beaux to see if maybe he can help me with the laptop.  I'll chat with them tonight...wish me luck...

lift-off

Today we (the Blogging the Artist's Way group) begin week 1 of 'the work' together.  I'll be documenting my AW journey over here (I'll keep a link at the top of the right sidebar here).  It's a 12-week process, and it hasn't occurred to me until just now to wonder when those 12 weeks are up.  If we begin our weeks on a Saturday (today), then 12 weeks will be up on March 31.  That seems perfect to me.  April always signals Spring to me, even though I know that Spring technically arrives on March 21st.  How lovely to be engaged with this group process during the fallow winter months.  I look outside and see the bare, naked branches on the trees and think what a perfect image it is to accompany our journey.  I believe that for me to truly get the most out of it, I must be brave enough to strip myself naked.  To really lay claim to what is mine (and always has been), I must explore my roots...that tangled, gnarly web of mistaken beliefs and false illusions.  They've kept me upright all these years, but they haven't been healthy.  Time for a little tree doctoring.  :)

So a few notes as I embark on this AW journey with (at last count) nearly 60 other creative souls...  I will continue to blog here.  I will also continue to read the feeds in my Bloglines account (and continue to read the handful of blogs I read regularly that don't have syndicated feeds).  I comment frequently on many blogs.  I like leaving comments, because I like the bloggers I read to know that I've 'heard' them.  But there are only so many hours in a day, and part of the goal of this AW process is to live a more creatively fulfilling life in general.  And there's also the issue of being involved in the "Blogging The Artist's Way" group.  The whole idea of having the group is for us to support each other.  I know many of the participants and already read their blogs, but there are many who are new to me.  And it's maybe especially important to provide support to those we don't already know.  So that means reading a lot of new blogs, in addition to the bazillion I already read.  (And thank GOD for Bloglines!)  So I'll have to play it by ear to see how active a commenter I can be with this extra commitment for the next 12 weeks.  If I suddenly seem to be leaving a lot less comments for you, please don't take it personally.  It doesn't mean I've stopped reading...just that there are only so many hours a day one can spend typing.  ;)

I have Jeffrey's full support in doing this.  He thinks it's great we're doing it.  He even toyed with the idea of doing it himself, but isn't quite ready for the commitment required.  And that's okay.  I hope those of you who are regular readers here who are not part of the AW group will bear with me for the next three months if my focus often seems directed toward all things AW.  I hope that won't be the case--that's one of the reasons I started a separate AW blog.  If the AW work isn't interesting to you (and that's okay, too) there's still my main blog (here) for me to document everything else going on in my life. 

I will tell you this though:  I've learned from previous (solo) dives into the AW that there's really no way to set boundaries...okay, I'll be 'creative' over HERE...and then the rest of me over THERE.  It just doesn't work that way.  The whole idea is live a more authentic, integrated, creatively fulfilling LIFE...everywhere.  So hopefully it will only make for more interesting reading here, too.

I'm thrilled to be part of this fabulous Blogging the Artist's Way group, grateful to Kat for coming up with the idea and offering to facilitate it, and excited and scared (in a good way) to see where it will take us.  Here we go!

AW post

This morning's post is at A Creative Pilgrimage.