From external to internal.

The serious business of working on ourselves!

Plugging in to all that stimulation from the outside world is all very well. It allows us to expand on our range of experiences and influences that impact on our creativity, often triggering unexpected and exciting developments.

But a vital and possibly even more significant requirement, not often mentioned on art courses, is the work we need to do on ourselves, from the inside.  

That gradual build up of an awareness of our own particular creative identity. A mindfulness as to our strengths and weaknesses, thought patterns and work processes. A knowledge that helps to keep us strong enough to keep taking risks, to have the energy to play and endlessly experiment and most importantly, to keep us producing and showing. 

Some creatives, with their nonconformist streak, may well have an aversion to self-help books, but many have turned to Julia Cameron's The Artists Way in order to access some practical exercises  that can help  tune us in more deeply to our own creative spirits.

As with all these types of books, you extract what works for you. 15 years on, writing 'morning pages' is a daily routine that still proves invaluable in focusing the mind and dealing with all the stuff that gets in the way.