Welcome to Week 5 of my Artist's Way Adventure
If you are unfamiliar with this new series, take a look at The Artist’s Way Adventure – Prologue and come back here later.
This week was strange. Not strange as in everything went horribly wrong, nor did a chain of unexpected events happen back-to-back. Instead, this week was surreal. I knew I was participating in the week. I did the reading, the tasks, the Morning Pages yet I did not feel connected with the theme or The Artist's Way. I'm sure it is because I'm half-way there that I feel as if nothing is happening. However, when I take a step back and look at what I have done, a lot has changed.
It is a strange feeling and I'm sure that unless you go through this yourself... You won't understand what I mean.
I'll compare this feeling with any kind of project that you start out strong while super inspired. You then notice the eagerness to work on it wanes as time passes. Yeah, that's the best way to describe it.
Artist Way Lesson: Wish Lists
Since this was a week of 'possibilities', a lot of the tasks and reading had to do with wishing. The initial weeks were about who you are as a person. This week and I'm assuming the following weeks are about who you want to be. Several of the tasks were about imagining our lives when we are old. Other tasks were about how we wish we were when we were in our 'prime' (i.e. 20).
I want to say it was difficult. The contrary was true, it was quite easy to list off the possessions and experiences want. The results were shocking. My wishes turned out to be experience based as opposed to materialistic. This admittedly was a bit of a shock to me. I like new and shiny things. You can ask anyone who knows me.
Afterward, I started a Pinterest Board for this week's assignments. I pinned images of things I want to own or places I want to live. I aim to print out some of those images to create an actual vision board since I'm sure that's the aim of the assignments. To not only point out what you want but to see it consistently so it eventually becomes a reality.
My Artist Date
I did my Artist Date last minute. A fellow artist by the name of Dutch Doscher had tweeted at me expressing his own concerns over the Artist Dates. Admittedly it is easy to get excited and make plans to go out with yourself in the beginning. As proven last week and again this week, I had begun to procrastinate. I became less and less motivated to take my inner artist out on a date.
I planned to go out to a street festival on Saturday.
It's a Portuguese festival that happens around this time of year that is in my neighborhood. I only go due to curiosity, but I never stick around long. It is not my kind of "scene". This is why I decided to go elsewhere.
Nearby where my significant other works is a bus stop. This bus stop has collaborated with a local library and together they rent out books for people waiting to read while they wait. It's an ingenious idea and I decided why not give this a shot and make it a date?
I looked through the three shelves the bus stop had. Most of the books were as you'd expect from a 'free' library. Almost all the books were historical or historical fiction hardcovers. They were bare without protective sleeves and generally unappealing.
Synchronicity had other plans.
Enter Strawberry Tattoo by Sam Jones.
The book was meant for me to pick up and read.I picked it up because it was the only appealing book in the three-shelf library. I then took it to a nearby park and sat on a bench. I sat there for hours. I read the cover from front to back. The main character within it was an artist like me, she was one who struggled to find her true identity and turn her passion into a flourishing career.
I picked it up because it was the only appealing book in the three-shelf library. I then took it to a nearby park and sat on a bench. I sat there for hours. I read the summary and reviews on the front to back. The main character within it was an artist like myself. She was one who struggled to find her true identity and to turn her passion into a flourishing career.
While yes, this story is a mystery crime fiction story where a murder occurs and the reader follows the protagonist to figure out who did it- and why... The characters resonated with me. The location even more so because it was the big city. The one place that I adore and currently work in.
This artist date is honestly what made this week beneficial to me. It was what lifted me from what could have been a 'blah' week to one full of purpose. I honestly would have gained nothing from adventuring through a festival I have seen a dozen times. The lenses of this book, "Enter Strawberry Tattoo", on the other hand made me think... A lot.
Conclusion about Artist Way Week 5
Week 5 was about recovering a sense of possibility, or at least that is the title of the chapter. For me, this week was about recovering a sense of discovery with Artist Way. It was the one thing that took this dying adventure and reviving it. This chapter reminded me that while this journey has lost its shine due to the 'newness' factor fading away, I still have a lot to learn and discover and I'm more than willing to find those answers.
Are you on your Artist Way Adventure? Are you still feeling as inspired? Feel free to comment or tweet your responses to Twitter, I would love to hear from you!