“Leap, and the net will appear.”

― Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

If you are a young(er) digital designer, you may have never heard of this book. I had an astrology reading a few months ago and after reading my chart, the astrologer recommended that I read it. She didn't say why, she just said it would help me in this season of my life.

Of course I've heard of The Artist's Way, but I thought it was more for real artists. Like - the ones teaching painting workshops in Santa Fe or screenwriters or seasoned actors. Not for freelance digital designers creating DTC email campaigns and Instagram ads :)

Anyhow, I downloaded the book & read it on my phone at night. Although the book was written in the 90's there is SO MUCH in it that still applies today. One of the first recommendations in the book is something called "Morning Pages" where before you start your day, you just start writing. It doesn't matter what you write, just that you write. For me, this meant writing "what am I supposed to write" and "this feels silly" and "I wish I could get started on my projects" but what I found was that as I started to just let go and type (I couldn't do it by hand. I tried my best, I swear) ideas starting coming to me for projects I was procrastinating on. For example, I was supposed to create an email template for a client I had absolutely no experience designing for. The industry was not in my wheelhouse AT ALL but for some reason, all of these ideas cropped up during my Morning Pages time. Then, I started using my Morning Pages time to write blog posts, because as you know, I hate writing. But you may have never found this site if there weren't keywords all over the page 😜. And NOW, I actually have a blog going.

If you are struggling with questions like "what is my life's purpose" or "why am I at a job that I hate", I think you would like this book. If things like the Universe, Spirituality and God freak you out, then you can skip it. I tend to lean "woo" so that could be why I got so much out of it. One of the biggest lessons I gleaned from the book is that all of the potential ideas ALREADY EXIST in the Universe. You just have to find them. So if you're blocked, there are SO many ways to unblock, simply by taking a break. Get up from your desk and moving your body, going outside, enjoying nature or just looking out your window.

I am so fascinated by all of this because it seems as if I work LESS, I make MORE money. When I don't strap myself to my desk and try to bang out every single project on my list, everything comes naturally. When I don't freak out because I have no clients in the pipeline, clients always appear. Less is more, literally. More on this later. For now if you are bored, prepare to be entertained by this youtube video about the book, summarized by "cutejay" . I swear I have no connection to whoever edited this 😁