Laura Bowers

There are some lessons in life that stick to you like spaghetti sauce stains to plastic storage containers. Others, however, are often quickly forgotten, forcing you to learn them over and over again.

For me, Passion before Publication falls in the latter category.

I first learned this lesson about twenty years ago when I decided to take a writers workshop class at my local community college.

Holy cow. Twenty years … has it really been that long??? Wow. That kind of makes me depressed.

Anyway, moving on.

Happy Tuesday, friends, I hope all is well in your world … and that you’re not too buried in snow! My world is blanketed with white, so I’m taking some time this morning to chat about my Artist’s Way Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety experience!

Catch up with my intro post by clicking here!

What is The Artist’s Way?

The Artist’s Way (affiliate link) is an amazing book by Julia Cameron, first published in 1992 that has sparked creative recovery for countless readers! It guides readers on a twelve-week program full of exercises and thought-provoking activities to help trapped artists find their creative courage.

Amazon links are affiliate ones. This doesn’t cost you more but does give me a small commission to use for blogging expenses.

Like so many, I’ve been a huge fan of morning pages, a free journaling practice taught by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way.

“The bedrock tool of a creative recovery is a daily practice called Morning Pages.” Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

Julia Cameron’s website

Seeing as how I’m a huge Disney fan who’s been to Disney World and Disneyland around … oh, a thousand times, (slight exaggeration,) I had to take Bob Iger’s MasterClass! I’m not much of a business person so I went into this with low expectations. My husband also joined me for the first ten or so classes, since he does have a construction company.

(Remember these last two points – they will come into play later.)

As a reminder, I’m not an affiliate of MasterClass, all opinions are my own, and I have the All-Access Pass that currently costs $180.00.

I’ve read a lot of personal development books. I mean, a lot.

Some were game-changers like Deep Work by Cal Newport and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Some were lovely motivators that added to my subconscious in subtle, inspiring ways like You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero and Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis. And some ended up being DNF because I just couldn’t connect like The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor.