The Artist's Way

For some time, perhaps forever, I've been feeling something was missing from my life. I couldn't understand what was the matter with me. I have a wonderful husband, two amazing girls, a beautiful home and the luxury of being able to stay at home and raise my family. I thought I had everything I wanted and yet I couldn't shake the feeling of somehow wanting more. I was becoming fed up and increasingly irritable. At first I put it down to being tired from waking for night feeds but even more sleep didn't help. And then one day, for whatever reason, inspiration struck and for the first time in ages I got out my notebooks and started to write. Immediately the cloud lifted and I felt truly happy. Afterwards I was able to enjoy even more my time with my girls, I was able to be more patient and present. The key it seemed was to spend time doing something that I love, and for me that is writing. 

After talking this over with a friend she suggested that I try a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I'd already heard of the book as both my mum and sister have read it and I had it on my list of things to do some time in the future when I have more time. Not wanting to loose my new found enthusiasm however, I immediately ordered a second-hand copy of the book online. And so came to the end my two years long writer's block. 

So what is The Artist's Way? It's a 12 week course in 'discovering and recovering your creative self.' Each week there are tasks to complete aimed at helping you to unblock your creativity. It helps you to silence your inner 'censor' and work through any issues from your past which are stopping you from following your dreams. In addition to these tasks you are encouraged to write 'morning pages', three pages every morning of whatever comes into your mind, and also to go on a weekly 'artist's date'. 

I'm two weeks into the course and already I've noticed a big shift in my mindset. I've struggled for a long time with the feeling of 'I'm not good enough.' Now I'm starting to realise that being 'good enough' is not what's important. What's important is simply to spend time doing the things you love. The biggest difference is that I'm finally writing again. I'm filling pages upon pages in my notebooks which have been sitting empty and gathering dust on my shelf for the past few years. The other incredible thing is that it's having an impact on other areas of my life. I'm able to be more patient and present with my children, I'm enjoying more than ever my weekly dance classes and I'm more organised and efficient in taking care of my daily chores.

I'm so looking forward to seeing where this course will take me. If the difference after only two weeks is so great then after twelve who knows what I'll manage to achieve. I'd love to be able to connect with anyone else who has followed this course so please leave a comment with any thoughts or ideas you'd like to share.

Happy creating everyone.

love Sarah Elizabeth
xox

Enneagram of personality

Last night I went to a very interesting seminar about Enneagrams. It's basically a system of defining personalities and behaviour patterns which can be used as a method of self-understanding and self-development. I'd never heard anything about this before and I was hugely sceptical, however, I was asked by a friend to go along so I thought I'd give it a try.

They started off by describing the first personality type "The Reformer" and I swear that they could have been talking about me - they described my personality so perfectly.

This is what the Enneagram Institute say about Type 1:

Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.

Everything else I've read about Type 1 seems to fit me just perfectly and I feel like I now have a better understanding of who I am, what my strengths and weakenesses are and what I can do to improve. My main fault is that I'm extremely critical of others. I want everyone and everything to be perfect and I get extremely nervous and uptight when things aren't done perfectly (which of course is all of the time!). I'm also really hard on myself and think that I should always do better or work harder. The seminar last night made me realise that I should relax a little bit more and not 'sweat the small stuff.'

So, now along with my spending hiatus and my 12 weekly goals I have a new set of challenges. I'm going to try to be less impatient and critical of others and of myself. I want to keep the positive side of being a type 1 but lose the negatives. The idea of the enneagram is not that it puts you in a box but that it helps you to get out of the box your behaviour has put you inside. I'm definatley on my way to getting out of my box.

Righthand (female):

free enneagram test