It’s not about how you start. It’s how you finish. This quote rang through my mind today as I reflected on the past week and the message was clear:
No matter how messy, choppy, slow, or hesitantly unprepared that first step is to what you are setting out to achieve, remember to start. When obstacles arise, keep going. Show up. Push through. You can finish.
This weekend, I watched my younger sister run her first 5K with her run club and shave off PR time. Go sis! She pushed through despite some challenges and finished strong. I joined the walk/joggers in the second wave of the race and told myself I’d only do a few laps because my legs were sore from strength training the day before. My brain told me to stop on the last lap, but I’m proud of myself for pushing through to the end.
In the same vain, I had a slow start to writing morning pages this week, but your girl showed up everyday. I am using this space to hold me accountable and shoutout to Josefina of
for starting a book club with other writers to complete the twelve week course (I’m looking forward to joining this community):
The Artist’s Way
Last week, I shared an introduction to Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. The first week was a trial run to gather my bearings and create structure (working on this…).
I completed my morning pages. Some days I barely hit a page, and other days I did the full three pages. I took myself on an at-home artist date to watch Inside Out and took some notes. The most important thing was I showed up to the empty pages despite my mood or what I was going through. I showed up and made time to watch the film. Showing up is key for most things in life.
The Artist Way requires you to write morning pages every day and go on a weekly artist date.
The morning pages are to help you face your creative blocks and get to the other side. The other side for me is freedom. The freedom to create, be and do the very work I am drawn to do. With the morning pages, I am sending a signal and notifying the universe of my dreams, dissatisfactions, hopes, fears and prayers. Think of this as journaling. It’s a powerful process where once you write something down, it holds weight.
Artist dates are a way for you to fill your cup. You are opening yourself to receive insight, inspiration, and guidance. Watching Inside Out made me realize how each emotion plays a role in our everyday experiences, the importance of core memories for children, the ways joy and sadness can co-exist, and how vulnerability can be healing. My sister is a 3rd grade teacher and she once told me, “Chidi, adults are just children who grew up.” As we get older, our emotions transform with us and those words rang true watching Inside Out and reading The Artist Way’s first two chapters. My inner artist is a child that needs nurturing and I’ll go through all the emotions (joy, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and more) as I work through creative recovery.
(Note: Some of these words are summarizations from the book. Not my words.)
Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity
This week is all about defining who you are. I found myself experiencing doubt and wanting to stop writing for fear of not meeting self-imposed expectations. The reality is: I’ve started this project and I am going to complete the twelve weeks. Writing is my way of understanding the world. It’s like breathing and circulation begins to cut off the minute I stop.
The author says attacks of self-doubt can lure us into self-sabotage and it is a symptom of recovery. Pushing past the doubt is where your message lies. In order to strengthen your identity as an artist of any form, you need to silence the noise and doubts and really pay attention. Attention and focus drive connection and survival. When you pay attention and act, you begin to thrive.
“Creativity belongs to the artist in each of us. To create means to relate. The root meaning of the word art is “to fit together” and we all do this every day. Not all of us are painters but we are all artists. Each time we fit things together we are creating – whether it is to make a loaf of bread, a child, a day.”
- Corita Kent
The chapter ended with a list of “rules for the road” in order to be an artist and I’ll share a few below:
Fill the well by caring for my artist.
Set small and gentle goals and meet them.
Pray for guidance, courage, and humility.
Remember that it is my job to do the work, not judge the work.
Friends, we are all artists in our unique way. It is not about how we start a thing but how we show up and finish.
Wishing you a Happy 4th and wonderful week ahead!
Be well,
Chidi Love
P.S. Tell me: How are you showing up this week? What are you finishing?