As a facilitator for Julia Cameron’s renowned book The Artist's Way, one of the most powerful tools I share with participants is the Creative Affirmations. These positive statements aim to counteract the negative self-talk and doubts that can hold back artists and creatives.

When I picked up The Artist’s Way in 2018, I didn't realise how it would impact my life. I had known about the book since around the time it was published. Over the years, I would see well-loved copies lying around friends’ houses and art studios.

How many times have we hidden our inner dreams?

Hidden them from others out of fear we'd be judged or discouraged, or be flatly dismissed with the words ‘you can’t just do what you want’.

This is the twelfth post in a series on The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, a book and a self-study program by writer Julia Cameron. I’m looking back on Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith.

Have you ever felt it was challenging to feel truly free to create and express yourself? Maybe you hesitate to spend time doing the things that you enjoy — painting, singing, drawing, writing, playing the guitar, taking photos — worried that you should be doing something more practical, concerned what you make won't be good enough?

One of my mentors once shared a way of looking at how we grow and move through life. She suggested I imagine the process of drawing a flower — like a daisy or a wildflower with a circle at the centre and petals looping around.

It's springtime in London and the season of renewal takes on an even greater resonance this year. Out in the hazy sunshine, I feel myself taking gentle and playful steps in the world.

From the moment we wake in the morning until we drift back to sleep at night, we move along the path of life making decisions and taking actions that steer our life in a nearly infinite set of directions.

This is the sixth post in a series on The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, a book and a self-study program developed by Julia Cameron in the 1990s. I’m looking back on Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance.

Over the past few months, I’ve sensed a bit of stubbornness, a general disinterest in pretending things are fine with me when they are not. As I worked my way through week 4 of The Artist's Way, I was reminded of my childhood.

I recently wrote about how I'm inspired by the calm energy of kaizen, an approach that requires making small, continuous changes over time. I’m playing with methods to develop habits and behaviours to create change in my life. For a few weeks, I experimented by trying out different habits to support my creative exploration, purpose, and well-being.

The past eight months have been an exhilarating time for me, and I feel more connected than ever to my life’s dual purpose of sharing my creativity and helping others to tap into their own potential.