Zazazu

As many of you know, I’ve been working through The Artist’s Way with a group of wonderful and creative people.  The blog we set up is here.  In an effort to get more out of the exercises at the end of the chapters and because I really admire how this particular participant does hers so thoroughly and freely, I thought I would follow suit and post (some of) mine here.  JC doesn’t stipulate that you do all of the exercises, just most of them.

Week Three

Describe five traits I liked in myself as a child…
I loved my imagination, my hope and faith in the future, my dramatic flair, my trust, and – above all – my unwavering confidence in myself and who I was.

List five childhood accomplishments…
1.  Drawing an impeccable picture of Mickey and Minnie Mouse for my Dad
2.  Singing “Friends are Friends Forever” in the talent show as a duet and being told I should have done a solo because I was so good
3.  Being editor of my high school yearbook and it turning out so great!  It was such hard work but SO worth it… such a great accomplishment!
4.  Being in Advanced Placement English, on three years of yearbook (one year as editor) and on the county-wide newspaper team
5.  Having great hair all through high school

Bad habits – time killers & creative drainers…
1.  Procrastinating – simply NOT doing stuff that I need to do.
2.  Spending too much time online – I do a lot of things that I need and want to do online but they are things that I’ve created to do that don’t really serve much purpose toward my ultimate life goals.
3.  Worrying.  Stressing.  Pacing.  Letting anxiety literally overcome me.
4.  Not exercising.  At all.
5.  Not eating healthfully or drinking enough water or taking vitamins.
6.  Not having a healthy network of friends around me in real life.
7.  Not getting out of the house enough.
{I need to stop here or I will have *certain people* after me for sure.}

Make a list of three friends who nurture you and their traits that serve you well:
1.  Tracy – always supportive, no matter what, will always back me up and go with the decisions that I make.
2.  Rebecca – tells it like it is, a resource that I couldn’t do without in my life… is also the friend who is always up for a challenge with me.
3.  Kirsty – keeps me in line about getting back out in life and keeps the principles of The Secret in the forefront of my mind… very proactive and positive… she is like my little inspirational army.

Five people I admire and the traits they possess…
1.  Mom for her desire to help others.
2.  Dad for his inherent wisdom and way of knowing how to handle things.
3.  John Martin for being so good that all that he is good at and being so interested in all that he is interested in.
4.  Jason for taking care of himself.
5.  Laura for being as active in life as she is.

List five people I wish I had met who are dead or who I’d like to hang out with in in the afterlife and their traits…
1.  My maternal grandmother-I just wish I had known her… I have a feeling that I’m a lot like her and that we would have loved each other a lot.
2.  Anne Boleyn – To see really what she was like, what she looked like and to find out where her spirit, determination and courage came from.
3.  Jane Austen – To witness her imagination, intellect and wonder firsthand.
4.  Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette – Just to see how someone lives a life truly on their own terms.
5.  Queen Elizabeth I of England – Arguably, the most powerful monarch in history.  I’m fascinated with British royal history and this is where it begins… such a powerful historical bachelorette.   So much to learn…

Finally… what do these lists tell me about what traits I admire?  What of these traits could I incorporate into my own life?

Something to think about…

We kicked off The Artist’s Way program on Sunday and it is already turning into a big success. We have such great participation on the first post and a lot of good discussion. I’m really geeked up about the cool group of people who have signed on to participate in this program with us. I can already tell that we are going to get such good from it, whether we love our daily morning pages or not. Ha!

After seeing Oprah the other day, I decided to revisit my vision board and see what I could change on it. Let it be known that I’m not a huge Oprah fan but I do like to tune in when she features anything about The Secret. I’ve read TS and watched the DVD and really think that the Law of Attraction is powerful. Not only that but I’ve seen it work in my life (only in small ways so far) and in the lives of close friends (in big ways for some) so I have proof that it can work.

At any rate, after seeing the show, I was pretty motivated to drag out my vision board and see what I might be able to do to make it work better for me. I saw right off the bat that my old VB wasn’t very specific at all. I had many generalized things on it, things that I wasn’t even sure what I meant by, things I knew weren’t clear enough at all. So, I set about to specify it, to really clean it up, hone it down and get specific with some things I wanted. I went from a great big one to a pretty petite one. I’m much happier and have more confidence in the new one.

This was the old one:

This is the new one:

I’ve also been looking over my 101/1001 list again after having neglected it for a long time (too long) and have realized that some of the items on it aren’t things that I’m dedicated to long-term. Unlike my first vision board, some of the things I put on my 101/1001 list were too specific. I need to tweak it a bit, I think. So, I’m going to work on that this week. I will post the new list up here when I get it done. It won’t be a complete overhaul but it will be a bit more doable, something I can dedicate to and actually complete. Any item suggestions? For a really cool list, check out my friend Pogo Yoga’s list. She has just posted hers and has some great items planned! Go Pogo Yoga!

That’s what’s going on in my world. What’s going on in yours?

My good friend and constant source of support and inspiration Rebecca directed me to a very cool site today. The site is called Zen Habits and is actually a blog that you can subscribe to. Very cool, very information and VERY inspirational. Check it out! So many wonderful articles there to read!In still other news, The Artist’s Way group will begin in just a short while – on Valentine’s Day. We are still welcoming people to join us so hop on over and check it out. We would love to have you participate in the journey with us.

Seems like there was something else I was going to mention but I can’t remember what. Oh well…

I know that MANY of you are wonderfully creative people. I’m sure that MANY of you are also familiar with The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I’m also sure that MANY of you – those who have read it or gone through or tried the program – know how good and beneficial it can be and is.

How many of you though – like me – have started it and flaked out?

Well, here is a chance for you to start again. I’ve just started a blog for anyone wanting to read the book, do the exercises and finally get through the 12-week program and unblock your creativity. I would LOVE for you all to join in if you’d like. We have people from Etsy, different creative blogs, MySpace, friends, and recommended creatives who might be able to contribute valuably.

So, if you are interested or inclined, check it out!

The Artist’s Way Blog

Hope to see you there!

{{{ Of course, the new blog will in no way take the place of this blog. Zazazu will still be around in full force. }}}