The Artist's Way: "It's More Than a Book"

This week, we're doing a deep dive into Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way," a popular 12-week self-help book, first published in 1992, that guides readers through a spiritual path to recover and unlock their creativity through exercises and tools like "Morning Pages" (three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing) and "Artist Dates" (solo creative outings). It helps people overcome creative blocks, self-sabotage, and limiting beliefs to foster self-confidence and artistic growth. 

If you've been feeling creatively blocked, stuck, or you're just looking to dig deeper into your artist soul, this one's for you.

Sip of the Week: Ginger tea with honey and lemon. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Recording. Recording recording recording recording recording.

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We should do a round. Okay.

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Recording. Recording. Recording. Recording. Yes, we are. Recording. Recording. Recording. Yes, we are. Recording. Yes, we are.

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How did we end up on the same thing? I don't know. It might have been me. I don't know. Hey. I'm Noelle. And I'm Marissa. But Noelle calls me Pete. And welcome back to Take It Home. Hi. Welcome back to another episode of Take It Home. Just kidding. Did you ever play that game? There was like a game that you could download to your iPhone where you put headphones on and it gives you like the slightest bit of delay. And then you have to try singing. We should like play that at the end of this episode because it's so funny. And you have to try singing, but it's very hard to stay like on pitch when your voice is echoing back to you like a delay, like a second. Yeah, we can do that. Did you never play that? No. Oh my gosh. I don't even know like what that is. It was like a trend, I feel like back in like 2020 or so. It wasn't a part of this trend, I guess. I guess you're not trendy enough. Guess not. But that's fine. I don't need to be trendy because I'm unique. Anyway. Hi y'all. Welcome to I get mine. Um, first of all, I guess we can give y'all our what we're drinking on our side. Do you remember our song? Wait, I actually don't. How did we I remember because I was editing today. Wait, what is it? Sippy of the weekie.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Sippy of the weeky.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Holy fuck! I forgot that we made that. You made that. I forgot that I made that. Okay. Sippy of the weekie. Sippy of the weekie. So weird. I'm glad that I decided to edit today because I don't know if I would have remembered that. That's so crazy. Anyway, what is our sip of the week? A very simple one today, you guys. Sometimes you gotta be, we gotta kiss. Keep it simple, stupid. I was like, what? Okay. Um, tonight we're drinking ginger tea, and then I put some honey and lemon in there as well. And also, this is the kind of tea that says little inspirational quotes at the end of the tea bag. So should we read ours? Sure. Mine says, One touch of nature makes the whole world kin by William Shakespeare. Kin? Like kin, like family. Not like Ken, like kin. It sounded like Kent. I was uh Ket. I don't know. Well, because the way you say Ken is kind of like kin with your southern accent. Wait, say the different say like the Barbie doll. Ken. Now say family. Kin. Kin. Anyway. Um in all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous Aristotle. Should a nature theme. There is a nature theme going on. I wonder if they're all nature themed or if this is just synchronicity, which we'll talk about later. Um, so yep. Cheers. It looks like it looks really hot. Should we it's yummy? Very delicious. I love a good cup of tea at night. Me too. And we are recording in the evening today. And we're recording on a Sunday evening. Yes. So a nice cup of tea is a good reset. Yes. Yes. Smile of the week, small smile of the week. That was speedy. That was. I guess I'll kiss, keep it simple, stupid, and say that Rodney, aka my boyfriend, his kitty cat named Samus. Um, she's a sweet little gray and white kitty. She loves me now. I met her like a year ago for the first time. And I remember when I met her, I was like, I want your cat to love me. And he was like, She's really standoffish. Like, don't be offended. And I was kind of like, mm-hmm. And she like didn't get near me. And it's taken a while, but last night I was pet sitting for Rodney. He's out of town. So it was just me and Samus. And she was staring at me from her cat tree. And then she just got down from her cat tree and came over to me and just sat on my lap. We won her over. I won her over. And so we were cuddling for so long. And then again this morning she came and sat in my lap. And it just like it made me so happy. Because cats really have to earn your trust. Mm-hmm. And so she trusts me now. And I gave her tuna last night, which is her favorite treat. So maybe that helped. But yes, I am now loved by a cat. And I also love that cat. So I'm very happy about that. That's my smile. Cute. Okay. What's y'all's pen? Um, mine is I had a good day yesterday. So I'm working all weekend. I usually work every other weekend. So this was my weekend on. I work both Saturday and Sunday pretty much all day. But I was very happy to have done something after work yesterday because usually I don't do that on the weekends. It's just a lot of energy to exert to like go out after work after like working for nine hours. But my coworker had a show. She put on a cabaret. Obviously, she didn't work that day, but yeah, I had it on my calendar for a long time and I had been looking forward to it. So I went to her show and it was amazing and beautiful and inspiring. And I love when people create their own opportunities. It's just like so heartwarming. And it was like she had a great turnout. It was awesome. And then three of my other coworkers were there to support her. And after we went out to this bar called Lily's Victorian Bar or something, it's they have one in on 14th Street, but we went to the one because we were uptown in in midtown, and then like 50th Street or so. And it was such a gorgeous place. Like it was all decked out um for spring. And they had like, I can't explain it, but like these cherry blossom big like flowers just like hanging everywhere from the wall. Like it looked very magical. And apparently, this bar does, it's like popular and known for doing like themed deck decor for the seasons and stuff. So they like go all out for Christmas, go all out for Halloween, which I love. Um so right now it's decorated for spring, and it was so pretty. The entire place was like filled with these like flowers. Oh. And me and three of my co-workers got a little nightcap and shared some appetizers and just like had some girly chats, and that's so sweet. It was so like fulfilling. I don't know. I just had a great night. And then I came home and I was very tired for work this morning, but that's okay. But it's worth it because you had a great night last night. It is worth it. Like, it's always worth it when you can get a little genuine social connection, you know. Also, I'm loving this nail color. Thank you. I okay. Speaking of my nail colors, so my nails are like a pale blue, and I never have like blue nails, but I have been so drawn to the color blue recently. I don't know why. I just I've been really loving blue. So my nails are blue. Back in your blue era. They're like a light blue for spring. What are we talking about today? Bam. The artist's way. The artist's way. A spiritual path to higher creativity by Julia Cameron. But it's so much more than that. Um, I'm like, how do I even explain to you guys what the artist way is? Well, we've talked about it a few times. We have. We've mentioned. If you're a loyal listener, you may remember us talking about it, but we wanted to do an entire sewed on it. Sewed on it, yeah. And if you're a good friend of mine, you just know what it is because it was my personality for a while. Um, Noelle probably will have a lot more to say about it than I do today. I've taken bits and pieces of this knowledge and applied it to my life, but I never fully finished the entire thing, which maybe I should. But Noelle has. I have. So what this book is, well, it's more than a book, it's an experience. Um, but it's this book, The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. Um, you buy it and then it leads you through a journey over 12 weeks. So it's not just like a book you sit down and whatever. It like gives you tasks to do. It's like a workbook. Is there stuff to really read or is it mostly tasks? There is stuff to read. So every single week you have to read a new chapter before the week begins, and it'll be on different things. Like, let me let me open and see like what an example of a chapter is. Like recovering a new sense of power, and then it tells you like how to deal with criticism and blah blah blah. Recovering a sense of possibility. I don't know. So it you read it, and then at the end of each chapter, there's like a task. There's like a lot of tasks. So and each chapter is for one week. Yes. So each chapter lasts one week. So when I did it, I would read a chapter every single Sunday, and then at the end of the chapter, it gives you tasks that you have to complete throughout the week before the next chapter. We're gonna rewind for a second. Before I tell you about this chapter, I'm gonna tell you a bit about the purpose of the book. So it's mainly for creatives and artists, but it could be helpful to anyone. It's pretty much helping you. I mean, this isn't an eloquent way to put it, but it helps you become more creative. It like unlocks your creativity that you didn't even know existed. And it's like a path to higher spirituality, it says each week gives you kind of a different tool to do that. It unlocks your creativity through a 12-week journey, aka three months. And so, for example, chapter one is recovering a sense of safety. And so you read a chapter about ways that maybe you've blocked yourself mentally in the past. I don't know, it's pretty much an introduction into the journey you're about to experience. And so, for example, the first few weeks are more about like getting rid of negative beliefs you have about yourself and getting rid of blocks as the artist's way calls it. So you read a chapter pretty much kind of explaining like this is how your blocks stop you from being your highest self and to achieve your goals and to be more creative and like create cool art. So you read about it and then it gives you tasks to do. And I'll read you just a couple of the tasks from week one to help explain. List three old enemies of your creative self-worth. Please be as specific as possible in doing this exercise. Your historic monsters are the building blocks of your core negative beliefs. In parentheses, yes, rotten sister Anna Rita from fifth grade does count, and the rotten thing she said to you does matter. Put her in in a parentheses. This is your monster hall of fame. More monsters will come to you as you work through recovery. It is always necessary to acknowledge creative injuries and grieve them. Otherwise, they become creative star scar tissue and block your growth. So, yeah, week one is a lot about it's it kind of causes you to think about maybe some traumatic parts of your life. It brings up a lot of negative stuff that you've experienced. So, pretty much like through the artist's way, through especially within the first few chapters, I had to really dig deep and think about like, hmm, what are some negative things that people have said about me? Who are these people? How has that impacted me today? What do you remember an example? Yes. I remember the college audition coach that I used to get into Elon, or I guess all colleges, told me that I had a lesser chance of getting into schools because of my prosthetic eye. Yeah, guys. Yeah. Um, and that really was something that I unpacked through the artist's way. Um, and like I wrote that and she was one of my monsters. She recently, I think, like reached out for me to give her a shout-out or something. Like, and I just didn't respond because I'm like, hello. Maybe she's changed whatever. I did get into Elon, so thank you for that. But yeah, writing out your monsters. Another example is select and write out one happy piece of encouragement. Write a thank you letter, mail it to yourself or to the long-lost mentor. So, oh, I like this one. Take your artist, your artist being yourself, for a walk, the two of you. A brisk 20-minute walk can dramatically alter consciousness. So, pretty much it gives you these tasks that you have to complete. Uh, chapter one has 10 tasks. Actually, I think every single chapter has 10 tasks. So you read the chapter at the beginning of the week and then you have to complete each task. It does say somewhere in the beginning, if you can't complete all 10, like it's not the end of the world, but try to. Besides that, there are a couple of tasks that you have to do every single day or every single week throughout the entirety of your journey. So each the tasks differ from week to week, but every single day for the entire 12 weeks, you have to do the morning pages. Tell us all about the morning pages, Pete. So I remember when I started doing this, throughout your journey doing the artist way, you have a daily, like a daily task that you have to do every single day. It's called the morning pages. And what that means is you journal two pages, right? I think it's two. Oh, three. Mm-hmm. Oh, I thought it was two. So I guess in the artist way, you journal three pages every single morning. From what I remember, I think it's supposed to be like the first thing you do when you wake up. Mm-hmm. That's why it's called the morning pages. And you just write, and I've talked about journaling and how I do it on this podcast, but you just write whatever comes to mind, getting all your thoughts out on the page, like first thing in the morning. And I think the concept is just to kind of clear your head of all of the mess that's in there. Um, I still journal every day. Um I do two pages, and it takes me like 20 minutes in the morning, and I think it has changed my life. Like it really helps me to realize things that I didn't even know were in my head. Yeah. Um, helps me process things that I need to process just on paper and just think things through. It kind of regulates you for the day. That's how I view it. Like, however, I'm waking up feeling that day, whether it's like grateful and happy or it's like overwhelmed, I get all that out on the page and it just creates space for me to like understand myself better and just be more clear for the day. It's what that's morning pages. The morning pages are amazing. I will also say, for when you're doing it with the artist's way, at least you're not allowed to read them after you write them. Yeah. Um, and also they say, so a lot of people are like, How am I supposed to journal for three pages? I don't have anything to say. And that's kind of the point. You're not supposed to, it's not the type of journaling where you're like, Dare diary. Good morning. Today I'm gonna write about my crush. It's like you you're literally writing what comes to your brain. Like you're supposed to just keep your the pen moving. You're not supposed to take breaks and think about anything. It is literally your stream of consciousness with the artist's way. Um, I'm not saying you always have to journal like that, but when you're doing the artist's way, that's what you gotta do. And it helps you not only get all of your thoughts and feelings out before the day, but one thing it really helped me do was discover things that were occupying my mind over time. If you don't want an artist way spoiler, maybe skip ahead like five seconds. But in one of the later chapters, they do make you go back and read all of your morning pages with a highlighter to highlight words that come up continuously. So it can either show you, yeah, and that's not until like week nine or something. Um, so that's a reason why they don't have you read them, or Julia doesn't have you read them uh in the first place. You're not really supposed to reflect on it. It's just supposed to be like getting all of the shit out of your brain and then moving on with your life. But then you go back with a highlighter weeks later and you highlight words that you repeat often. My words were anxiety and violet when I did it, um, which showed me like how much anxiety was taking over my life because I would say it like four times every single morning. I'd be like, I'm so anxious, my anxiety, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I should have gone on meds a long time ago. Um, and then also Violet, which was the role that I really wanted at the time in Violet the Musical at Elon, which I ended up getting. And I would not have gotten it if I did not do the artist's way. Um, seriously. Like, can you explain why? Yeah. Like, how do I even? Well, I think that it got rid of a lot of blocks I had. Like, I was convinced before I did The Artist's Way that my eye, my prosthetic eye, which I still need to do a full sewed on, um, but I just haven't yet, was hindering me in my career. Like, I was like, how am I ever gonna be on Broadway when I have this thing that's so different and weird and blah, blah, blah, just very insecure about it. And then Kim Shively, our acting teacher at the time, was like, you need to do the artist's way because you're like blocking yourself from a lot of stuff. And I had had teachers in the past too be like, I think your eye actually makes you unique and it's what can help you in your career. Not that, like, not that a prosthetic eye should make or break anything at all. Like, I should be able to just live my life normally, but it is something that the artist way helped me to see as my superpower because it was a huge block for me. Like, I was just like, I'm never why am I trying to do this career? Like, I look different than other people. I have this struggle. Like, what if I I don't know, just very scared that directors wouldn't want me or wouldn't know what to do with me necessarily. Or like, well, maybe I'll only be cast as like the scary girl with one eye and American horror story next season. Like, I don't know. And so one journaling about it every day helped me get my feelings out. And then also just realizing why I felt the way I did, like figuring out, like, oh, a reason why I think that is because this one lady told me that I wouldn't get to into any schools because of it. Or she didn't say it like that. I asked her because I was like about to, I was questioning whether or not to get an eye surgery before or after college auditions. And I was like, do you think like my eye could hinder it? Like, should I get the surgery before? And she was like, Yeah, I do think your eye could hinder whatever. That's crazy to me. So there was that, and then I thought about the time when I was younger in sixth grade when my eye doctor told me, you're getting to the age where you're gonna want to look cute for boys, and just remember it's what's on the inside that counts. She was another one of my monsters, according to the artist way. So I just found all these things that I had taken from other people. Nobody specifically said to me, you will not be on Broadway because of your eye. Also, TV film, the artist way is what made me want to do TV film as well. Because before that, I was always like, okay, well, I have a chance of doing theater because like the audience is far away. They can't see my eye. Like, imagine literally imagining myself as Glinda in the bubble. I have like thoughts of this, like being like, okay, like if I'm up there in the bubble, like no one's gonna see whatever. But I was like, but I can't do TV film because like no one's gonna hire me. Like it's too close to my face. Like, people are gonna be like, what's why are her eyes different? And so I didn't even take the TV film class at Elon, which is honestly crazy because acting is like my favorite thing out of singing, dancing, and acting. I was a TA for all of the acting classes for two and a half years at Elon. I was so passionate about it, and yet I didn't want to transfer my skills to this other medium simply because I thought my eye would hold me back. Anyways, I the artist way helped me to fig get to the bottom of why I felt all these things. And so, like the beginning chapters are kind of like figuring out what these monsters are, and then later on getting rid of them, and then like towards the end, it's like kind of embracing who you are. And so the artist I went into the artist way being like, I'm never gonna be successful because of this shit. Like, I'm too different, I'm weird, people aren't gonna get me, whatever. To ending it being like, I'm so cool and awesome, and I have this life experience that other people don't. And I'm gonna play Violet and Violet, the musical, because she, this is a story about a girl who has a difference on her face. I know what that's like, I can portray this role so truthfully and honestly. And just thinking about how like I can bring that into every role I play. It helped me get over that and not just my eye too, but like helped me discover all these things like, oh, I want maybe I want to be a producer. I want to create things too. I like the creative side of things. I I wanna make a movie, I wanna write a story about my life. It just made me like want to do a million trillion things. Have I done all of those things? No, but I will in my lifetime. How did I even get here in this? I was asking you how did I do that? Did this play into you think because you said I would not have gotten the role of Violet? Yeah. Um, if I hadn't on the artist way. So, like, it helped you realize these things about yourself. How do you think, like, was it just the energy of understanding that you're amazing and that give you the confidence to go into the audition room? Or do you think, like, what do you think it was? I think one, it gave me the confidence, too. I think it showed me that I need to be doing this. Because I've been hiding who I was for so long, and the artist's way was made me like, oh shit, I need to do this because I have an important story to tell. Think about all of the other people who are similar to me, who have differences, that think that they're not gonna be able to make it. Because like I felt that way. Like, and then I was like, fuck that. I can be in movies, I can be on TV. Like, and that's why I feel like I'm I wish I had been taking film classes since like high school, and I just didn't, literally, only because of my eye. I don't know. I was just like, so many other people feel this way. I need to do this. One, because I love it, and two, so I can show other people that they can do it too. And I think I have an interesting story to tell. I think I've been through a lot. I am a good person, honestly, for the most part, and like could really use my future platform to help others see that. So it was a mix of different things. It was like, it kind of felt like, oh, I need to be doing this, I need to stop hiding who I am, I need to be who I am and show people so I can help others. Yeah. So it gave you a different perspective. It did your place in the world. I always wanted to hide who I was and those things about me, and it made me want to like just tell the whole world and like put it on my website and be like, I have a fake eye, everybody. Yeah, like it just really helped me discover that. So yeah, and the morning pages were a big part of that too. Cause I was just like, I went back and read them, and some of them made me sad because I was like, damn, I really don't like myself. And also, like, my anxiety is so bad. Why am I so anxious that I'm talking about anxiety every single morning for months? And then also being like, I really want to play Violet. I would talk about that all the time in the morning pages. And yeah, so morning pages are very helpful. Honestly, like going back to what we were saying before, I know some people are like, How do you write for that many pages? You can literally spend the entire three pages writing, I don't know what to write, I don't know what to write, I don't know what to write. Well, think about the fact, okay, so if this experiment project workbook is meant to help you get rid of your blocks and help you be more creative, like for me, I feel like before I had like a creative breakthrough in my life, I just felt like I never knew what to say. You know what I mean? And felt like I couldn't find the words or like figure out who I was as an artist. You may think, how do morning pages relate to that? But I would second guess myself to the point of like what I'm writing in my journal that no one's ever gonna see is like stupid. I think some people who don't know how to journal or have never approached it might feel that way. Like, how do I write? What do I write? Like, you're you're second guessing what you're even writing in your journal that no one's ever gonna see. How are you gonna create art and not second guess it? So it's almost like a practice that directly affects your art and your creativity too. It does. Dochi did the artist's way, and she was apparently having a ton of trouble in the studio, like hated the album she was writing, couldn't do it, did the artist's way, and then came out with her most recent album that has just like popped off and is insane. It really does work, it gets rid of these blocks that you have. And also, besides the morning pages, the other task that the artist way requires you to do throughout the entire process is the artist's date. Ooh, ah Pete, what is the artist date? The artist date, you have to do this once a week when you do the artist way, and you basically have to take yourself out on a date once a week. It can be anything from like going to a museum or going to a cafe or going to sit into in a park and like look at the birds. Like it could literally be anything, but you have to be alone, right? You have to be alone. You have to be by yourself, so you can't go with another person. It's like a date with yourself. You can like be around strangers, obviously. Like if you can't place you could be in public, but you can't be like with a friend. Like you can't arrive with someone. And then is there any other rules? No, just that it has to be something fun. Like it can't be like, oh, I'm gonna go to a I'm gonna go to a coffee shop and get work done. It ha I mean, maybe that like could be a date in a way, but it has to be something fun. Like, oh, I remember some examples like of ones that I did. I um went to this really cool museum in Greensboro called Elsewhere, which I'd always wanted to go to, but just never did. It's this really cool interactive art museum. Like that's one I just like went by myself. But yeah, the point I feel like is to get you doing things that maybe you wouldn't normally do, um, especially being alone. I think it's so important to spend time with yourself and to know how to be with yourself because it's like such an intimate thing to like have an experience with yourself. So is creating art. I mean, of course, like there's collaborating and everything, but and it doesn't have to be art, like it doesn't have to be going to museum or like going to a concert or something. It could be going to going shopping, going to an arcade or something. Yes. Like it could be anything, dude. One of my artist dates was actually so I was doing the artist way during this is how committed I was. I had a lot of plans the summer I did it. I actually went to Italy for two weeks. Um, and before that, I went to Bonaroo, the music festival, and I did my artist date at Bonaroo. You're probably like, How did you do an artist date in a music festival? There was this giant ass water slide there. And there was one day where I left Kendall and Blaine, who I was there with. I was like, bye guys, I have to go on an artist date. And literally like went and I just rode this water slide like so many times just by myself. Like I was like, my artist date this week is I'm going to the water slide a little. So they were off doing some music festival shit, and I was like, Woo! Like by myself on this water slide. But I love museums. I did a few museums. Um, I'm trying, I wish I could remember more, but I remember working up the courage to go out to eat by myself. And I definitely eventually did it. I don't remember where I went, but I remember being very nervous for that. And you know what? Else I would not have done without the artist's way is gone to Costa Rica by myself this past summer. The art really, I was scared of doing things alone before the artist's way. Like I was one of those people who was like, uh, like I don't want to go. I didn't want to do things by myself. I didn't. Not that I was like dependent, like I could go to the bathroom by myself. Like, like I wasn't, but I was scared to like go to eat by myself or felt weird like being in a coffee shop by myself. And now I'm so comfortable doing things by myself. It was so refreshing too, just doing things for me. Oh, I think one of my artist states was like, I went and got a pedicure by myself, like things like that. And yeah, then after that, I kind of fell in love with doing things by myself. Like I was like, shit, this is nice because I'm a I'm a people pleaser, I'm a very extroverted girl, and it was just very like nice to just go and do things just for me. I love being alone. Yeah, I love doing things by myself. Well, now I even I remember when I went to visit Kindle in San Francisco a couple years ago. It was like during a work week for her. So she was like, uh, just so you know, like I'll be working. I can't be with you like the whole time. And I was like, I don't care. It was after I had done the artist's way. So I had I explored San Francisco for a few days just like by myself. That was fun. And then I finally did my solo trip this past summer. I went to Costa Rica by myself for an entire week. And that's just something ever since the artist way, I think, is when I was like, I need to do a solo trip. That's gonna be something I do in my lifetime. And I did it and I would do it again. But it really helped me to work up the courage to just like live life and be by myself. And I think, especially as artists, you have to take risks and not be like literally, you can't have things hold you back. And I think just doing things by yourself is a great not test or it's just good practice for that. Like going, doing a fun activity alone, it's somewhere where around you everybody's having a date night and whatever, and you're just like by yourself. But yeah, like going somewhere with a book, going to a bar with a book, it's really nice. And yeah, the artist way requires you to do that, which is another fun part of it. It's like, okay, once a week you have to go do something fun. And honestly, now that we're adults and have jobs and are in busy, busy, busy, that's kind of hard to do. Yeah, yeah. I think it's a way for you to kind of force yourself to be intentional about spending time with yourself or like, yeah, just like having quality time um and doing something intentional. Cause like I feel like when we get stuck in our routines, um, day-to-day work, gotta do this, gotta go home, make dinner, gotta sleep so I can go and do it all over again. Like, we don't make time to like live our lives, and then it's like, well, what's the point? And like all this time passes by, and it's like, what am I even doing? I'm just going to work and coming home. So I think that's important. And I have been trying recently to not have like a scarcity mindset around time. In the past, I've felt that way. Like, there's not enough hours in the day. But I think you can make the time if there's things that you really want to do. Um, you just have to make the time. Get up earlier. Yeah. I saw this TikTok last night that actually inspired me. I'm not saying y'all should scroll more. Um, but I saw one and it was this girl who was like putting into practice, like whatever, trying to remind herself daily that not everything is urgent or an emergency. And it's her it's like a clip of her, like, she's washing the dishes really fast, and then she has a moment of thinking, like, oh, this is not urgent. And then she just calms down and just like does them. And then her, like, I don't know, doing other mundane activities. And I took that like really resonated with me because I feel like I'm someone who's like, I can be frantic sometimes, and there's no need to be frantic. Yeah, we're all on autopilot sometimes, you know, just trying to get things done, go through. I've actually been thinking about this lately too. Because I feel like even in moments where I'm trying to like get home so that I can rest, I'm always like power walking so I can catch the train, so I can. And literally, like the other week, I was like, why don't I just like chill out and walk at a normal pace? Literally. Just know that I'm going to get where I'm going. I feel like that has helped my nervous system a lot. But it's like I have to like always remind myself to like just chill out. Like you're gonna get where you're going, you're gonna get your things done that you want to get done. Because it's just kind of like ingrained in my muscle memory to like rust. And then imagine like the tension that builds up in your body because of that. A lot and your mind. Do you remember? Oh my god, what's his name that came to Elon? Yeah, Quentin. I will never forget. What is his name? I don't remember. And he said, he said, I never rush. And we were like, what do you mean? What do you mean you never rush? She was like the most gentle, calm, beautiful soul. And that is Quentin Darrington. Maybe one of the yeah, the the key thing that's that stuck with me when he did a master class. He was like, I don't ever rush. Or like when I was lean. I love that. I like, and then he was just saying he's like he prepares his day so that he doesn't have to rush. Yep. Rushing is not good for your mental health. I I rush a lot. I do, and I I have to work on that.

unknown 34:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

I should work on that. Well, I will say I could work on that. I overdo it. I get up with so much time before I have to work. I don't. But like when I know I need more sleep, I won't. This morning was an example. I literally said out loud, I was as I was walking myself to the train, I was like, this is like so chaotic. And I was like, I this is why I've like built my routine and around not rushing, because on the days when I do need a little extra sleep, I let myself do it, but I haven't prepared what I'm eating for lunch at work, and I don't know what I'm wearing, and I'm I don't have time to get ready, and I'm like trying to make my coffee, and then I have like all my dishes, and I just left them there, and then I had to come home, and that was the first thing I came home to were like five dishes to clean, and I hated that and left out my curling iron on the counter and like just like things that I don't usually do, but I did today because I was rushing and I'm like I can't, yeah. This is why I don't do this. Yeah, dude. The other day I needed to do laundry so bad that I had to wear bathing suit bottoms as underwear. I wore bathing suit bottoms the other day. Why under my jeans? Because I wasn't I wanted to wear jeans and I was like, I oh, I just can't wear jeans without underwear. No, no, no, no. Leggings are one for mind. Yeah. That would be like really weird, first of all, and also so uncomfortable. Ew, jeans without underwear? Talk about a yeast infection waiting to happen. Anyways, back on topic. The artist's way. Yeah, I wear bathing suit bottoms. Yep. That's crazy. The artist's way, like, there are so many incredible like reviews on it, too. Actually, let me read you one quote. I was like, this kind of encapsulates it well. It's by Elizabeth Gilbert, who is Oh my god, I love Elizabeth Gilbert. Wait, why am I like who is that? She wrote Eat Pray Love. Holy fuck! Yeah. Okay, which I read last year. And then another book, or was it another book that I read of hers? I don't know. Oh, this quote makes a lot more sense now that I know that it's Elizabeth Gilbert. She's great. Okay. I love her writing. Well, she wrote Eat Pray Love. Crazy. And if y'all know in Eat Pray Love, she goes to Italy, India, and Indonesia, right?

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Right?

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Okay. Um, so this is what she had to say about the artist's way. This book has been around for a long time, and I hope it sticks around forever. It guides the reader through a fascinating and fun 12-week-long program of exercises and explorations that help loosen up one's artistic self. It takes you on a journey that will cost you nothing aside from the guidebook, and it brings much insight, gently helping you see what is holding you back and showing you how to move forward. Three times in the last decade, I've committed to doing the Artist's Way program. And each time I've learned something important and surprising about myself and my work, just to show how influential it's been to me. The first time I did the program, I had decided by the end of it that I wanted to one, travel to Italy and learn Italian, two, go to Ashram, Ashram in India, and three, return to Indonesia to study with the old medicine man I'd met there. I'd once met there. We all know what that decision led to, aka eat prey love. Without the artist's way, there would have been no eat prey love. Wow. Wow. So the artist's way inspired eat prey love. That's insane. Because the artist way is very eat prey love. Yeah. Like, you know, it is in a way. It's not drop your life and travel for a year, but it's it could be. But it could be. I mean, it's the same essence, you know. It really like helps you kind of um pinpoint your goals a bit more too. Just like it helps you to understand who you are, what you want, how to get there, how to get rid of the things that are holding you back. A big thing I've actually been thinking about recently, because I've been feeling a little bit of jealousy recently, which I hate and I don't normally feel towards just like certain actors and Broadway performers. Um, and I hate the feeling of jealousy. And one chapter of The Artist Way talks about jealousy, and it's like jealousy just means that you want to be doing something that you're not or you want to be someone that you're not. So go do that thing, essentially. Obviously, there's a like you can't always just do what other people are doing, but it talks about like putting that into action instead of feeling like well, they're doing that and I'm not. Okay, well, let's come up with steps for how I can do that. Like, if you think, like, well, why am I not on that stage? Why aren't you? Put in the work. And I mean, obviously, like Pete and I talk about this a lot. We're being an actor is harder, it's easier said than done. Yes. And a lot of it's out of your control. Yeah. So, yeah, but I remember that chapter did help me a lot. And I was like, oh, like, and even if I'm not doing exactly what somebody else is doing, like putting that energy back into myself and being like, okay, well, like I recently felt inspired. You guys, get ready. Um, a night of new works, night four. It'll be here sometime this year. I literally have done zero work on it yet, but I texted Pete the other day and I said, Okay, the time has come. I've started thinking about it again. Because for the past few months I've been like, I don't even want to think about it. And the other day I was like, I'm ready to start thinking about it. So I'm gonna start making moves soon. Um, but yeah, that's I think maybe that's because I've been experiencing some jealousy and stuff and feeling like, well, I want to be performing, so I'm like, okay, then I guess I need to like do this again. Yeah, I think like your life can't always be like the exact thing that you're feeling jealous of in that moment because it's not like you can snap your fingers and be on Broadway, but like there are ways to find it's about finding fulfillment through what you do have, I feel. Yeah. Like, yeah, that's not something that anyone else can create for you or hand to you on a silver platter. It's like you have to figure out what that is and do it. And you can feel equally as fulfilled, just on a like a different scale, maybe. And jealousy is a very big block too. So that's another big thing the artist way tries to help you. It's just a bad energy. It is. It really is. It really is. It's a really bad feeling. It makes me feel icky when I feel jealous. And I I don't feel jealous often. I think it's more of a recent thing, which actually I feel like the past couple of weeks I've come out of more because I just kind of had this. I had a really great therapy session last week where I was pretty much shitting on theater and being like, this career is fucking hard. What am I doing? Like, I feel terrible. I started feeling very jaded, which I don't like. And I was always like, I'm not gonna be one to be jaded. I never was at Elon all four years. I feel like I was never that senior who's like, ugh, fuck this place, and like these stupid whatever. Like, I was still very passionate about what I was doing every day. And I feel like I didn't become jaded until maybe like a year ago. And I'm not fully jaded because I'm still pursuing it, but I've been a little more like this industry is hard and it's unfair and blah, blah, blah in my head. And so I was talking about that in therapy the other day. I ironically, for like the first time, because I've been talking about other stuff in therapy, but I was like, I should probably talk about my career. My therapist just asked me, she was like, Okay, well, why do you want to be an actor? Like, why are you here in the first place? And I answered, and I was like, Well, my selfish answer is I love it and I'm good at it. But then also besides that, like, which isn't even necessarily selfish because like it's okay to love something and to also be good at it low-key. Um, but I was like, I also like I don't know how to explain it. I feel like this is what I need to be doing. Like, and I also think that I have things that I want to do to help others within my art. Like, of course, like I wanna Glinda is a good ex- I feel like I talk about Glinda a lot on the podcast, just because it's an example of like, I don't know, a big dream that I have. But like, do I want to play Glinda just to show other people that a person with a prosthetic eye can do it? No. I mean, that's one of the reasons. Um, but of course, I also just like love the show. And like I really just think like I love that role. I love her character arc, whatever, I love the music. Um, but also I do think that I want to, you know, have some kind of platform to make a difference and show people that they can do it and to believe in themselves and they can get to where they dream to be and to help people pursue their dreams and to also help with social justice, like with my platform that I will have. And I don't know, I'm like, I I feel like I have good intentions. It's not like I'm like, I wanna I wanna be famous so I can win a Tony Award, even though like winning a Tony would be really cool. And like I do hope for that one day, but like that's not really my why. I was like, I'm I'm really passionate about it. I think arts, the arts can really help people, it can make a difference, it can make a change, and that is like genuinely one of my answers, along with the selfishness of also just like loving acting and singing. But that even just like saying that in therapy, I was like, oh, that's like a a real good answer. Because sometimes I get lost in the like, why am I even doing this? And my therapist was like, Okay, so you've been feeling very jaded and frustrated. After auditions recently, why don't you start thinking about this again? And honestly, I have been the past week since my last therapy session. I felt pretty good. And I'm trying to just go back to like why I'm here in the first place. And it's been really helpful. And videos of people that I'm like I've been recently feeling jealous of have popped up on my TikTok. And you know what? I haven't felt jealous since that therapy session. I watch them and I'm like, she's really good. Like I'm like, she deserves to be up there. And you know what? I also deserve good things. And I also deserve to be up there. And it'll happen for me when my timing is right. And will I think this way every single day for the rest of my life? Maybe not. But point is, I feel like I'm really working on remembering the passion and why I'm here in the first place. Because this industry, it can crush your soul for a second, but I've decided I'm not gonna let it crush my soul. And I want to continue on as an artist. Yay! And the artist's way would honestly probably be really helpful for me right now. It is so much it is very time consuming, I will say. Like, I don't know if I could do the artist's way at this very moment. I could. I can do anything. I could do it if I really wanted to. I might do it soon, but I need to figure out my job situation first. Priorities. Priorities. But it but I think like once you do it or once you understand the concepts, like you carry them with you anyway. That's true. And there are times when I'll like bring journaling back and you journal every morning. Yeah, pretty much. And like yeah, take little like yeah, I guess even me talking about my jealousy thing is a good example of because I when I'm feeling that I remember what I learned in the artist's way, and I'm like, I'm feeling jealous, but like maybe I should instead of feeling jealous, I should practice singing and acting and think of how because I haven't really been practicing singing enough. Comparison is a very, very hard thing. When if I see someone that I, for whatever reason, am comparing myself to, I will literally like block them or look away. Like I just I because I hate the feeling, and because deep down within me, I know that someone else's win is not my loss. Yeah. And there's no, there's like enough to go around. There's enough of everything, you know? Getting rid of that scarcity mindset of like, oh, she's doing this, so I can't. Like that doesn't exist, right? Like, yeah, you have to like, it's just also just a bad energy to carry around with you. It is bad, it's so negative. It's just like, ugh, like it just feels like a mental block. Cause it's like you're stewing in your feelings rather than like putting your wants and goals and dreams into action, it's like sitting and stewing, thinking, like, well, they're doing why are they doing this and I'm not? And it's like, rather than thinking that, why don't I just like tell myself something nice about myself? And then Yep. Another thing the artist way does is you have affirmations and blurts. Um, and so um, they'll have you like they um will have you. So your blurts are like bad things you think about yourself, like insecurities. So, like, for example, the first week when I did the artist way, I think I had to come up with five blurts, just like bad things I thought about myself and write them down every single day. But then you have to write affirmations after. And my blurts were like, my eye is gonna hold me back forever and I'll never be successful. Like, I'm not talented enough. I hate my body. Like, I don't just things like that. But then under it, you have to write your affirmations. So then you like cross out. If I said like my eye is gonna hinder me from being successful, I'll change that to like my eye makes me unique and special. And like, no, I hate my body, whatever. Like, my body is beautiful, my body is a temple, whatever, you know, or like I'm untalented, I am talented. My background on my phone and my laptop right now has a quote that says the words you speak become the home you live in or become the house you live in. And that is very true. Yep, it is the words you speak to yourself and out into the universe and to others, I think just it creates your world. And if you continue to talk badly or think bad things about yourself or about others or about your job or the world, then that's what you're going to experience because that's what you're putting your attention on. Yeah. And it's not to say that like things can't be hard or there can't be negative things or you can't have issues, but you know, if you flip it around, the words you speak become the house you live in. If you're saying nice things to yourself, lifting others up and like being grateful for what you do have what's going well, that's what you notice. And that becomes your world, and that becomes your life. And it sounds so cliche, but like it's so true. I mean, yeah, it is true. Because if you're thinking like, I'm not talented enough, I'm not talented enough, then like you're actually believing that and saying that, then like how are you ever supposed to Then how is someone else gonna believe that you're talented enough? Yeah, like you have to be your number one like fan, especially in the cre well, no, I guess in every world and in every job, like you can't you have to believe in yourself if you want to do certain things. But I mean, like, I think in the acting world, like if I don't it is so hard and like it sometimes takes years before a casting director to be like, oh, this person's talented, maybe we should cast them in something, you know. So if you don't believe in yourself, then I don't know. That's that's gonna be very hard for you. A very hard journey, and like, yeah. I mean everyone has like bad days. Like, yeah. So don't yeah, don't uh don't get down on yourself for having a bad day because we all have days where we feel like we're not good enough. But like, I think the difference is realizing when a thought is just a thought, you know what I mean? Like, we're all gonna have thoughts that we can't control and we have to detach from them and realize, okay, I'm having a negative thought about myself. But what is that? It's just a thought, and that's not the truth. So I think the difference, um, or if you are having like I think something you could do to like if you're having bad thoughts and don't know how to change them, first just practice realizing when you're having a bad thought. I think maybe some people don't even can't even separate their thoughts from their reality. Yeah. So I think just being like, okay, you know what? My brain is being very mean to myself today. And I realize that. And that's not, you know, my reality. That's just a thought I'm having. That's not what I actually believe. That's a good way to like start. And then yeah, turn it, flip it into a positive. Say something kind to yourself, do something kind to yourself. I think the the way you treat yourself too, and just like the things that you do, take yourself out on a date. Mm-hmm. Give your like cook yourself or go get a nourishing meal. Um, move your body, like do something kind for yourself. You clean yourself. Do it for yourself. Yeah. Like just anything that's going to be kind and helpful for your body, mind, soul. Just love yourself. It's really hard. Love yourself. It gets easier though. That's the thing. Like it can be really hard, but when you're on your self-love journey, you're like clearing out all of those negative, you know, things one by one. And it gets easier because then you genuinely genuinely do start to have more love for yourself. And that's not gonna go away once you gain it, you know. And loving yourself does not mean literally being like, I'm amazing and I'm so in love with me. It's an action. So, like, even on loving yourself is on a day when you think that you aren't good enough, like looking in the mirror, telling yourself you are good enough, and maybe buying yourself ice cream later to like as a treat. It's about taking care of yourself, telling yourself nice things, exactly as you would a loved one, a friend that you love. Like, sometimes they annoy you, sometimes they aren't perfect, but if you love them, like you want to tell your friend nice things, you want to do nice things for them, I hope. Um, I don't know you, I guess. Um, but or I mean maybe I do. Something that I like to think about is if you are having like a bad thought about yourself, how would you feel if you had to say that to like your best friend or like your mom or your sister? Like you would never say those things to the people that you love, so why are you saying it to yourself? Like, ew, you're so ugly and dumb. Like, that's insane. I mean, you would never like that, you would never even think that about someone else, you know? No. So if you do, um, maybe you need to go to therapy or you should go to therapy and really like especially if you've said these things to people, you need to reevaluate. And like, but most people probably don't have those thoughts. If you do, it's probably more something deep within you that you need to exactly figure out. But anyway, we'll just be kind. I feel like I do want to do the artist's way at some point. It's interesting because I don't feel like creatively blocked. I actually feel very creatively, I just feel good right now, I guess, in life. But I feel like it could still be a tool and it pushed me even more forward. I will say it's just very good for your mental health in general, too. Yeah. I remember my therapist at the time while I was doing it, she would ask me about it like every week, and I would tell her things, and she's like, This book is awesome. Like it sounds, it's not like a culty thing. It's not, it might sound like that from the outside, but it's it's really not. It's just literally you figuring out who in your life is mean to you, and maybe you should like cut out what are the negative thoughts you have about yourself you can cut out. Like what how do you stop your jealousy pattern? It's just literally like creating good habits for yourself and kind of re-evalu, re-evaluating your current life and um reflecting. It's like so good for you. It all it can do is improve your life if you do it. It is very time consuming and like, but the thing is it's fun time consuming. It's not like, ugh, I'm I mean, of course there were days when I'd wake up and my pay morning pages would literally be like, I am so fucking overriding these morning pages. Oh my God. Especially like I think like week six and seven are the ones where a lot of people like are really like, okay, I don't know if I can fucking do this anymore. It's a lot because that's like halfway through. But then once you push through those times, then you get back to a place. I remember my last day of the artist way, I was so sad. I was like, wait, I want this to last forever. Like, I don't want it to be over because it was so fun. It wasn't like the thing is you can continue certain things. Exactly. Like you can still journal, you can still take yourself on artist dates. Exactly. You can like live, live by the rules of it. Mm-hmm. Point is, I guess the take home, if we're done. Yeah, the take home. I mean, there's like so much else I could say about the artist way. I mean, I didn't even go to into every single chapter, but like take home is the artist way is life-changing, genuinely, if you do it and like, you know, really embrace it. If you're feeling very stuck in anything, I mean, I guess mainly like if you're an artist and you're feeling creatively blocked, stuck, or feeling just insecure, doubtful. I highly recommend doing the artist's way. I mean, it's not like uh you read one book for a day and then you're like, oh, I learned all these tools. Yay! It's like you have to put the tools into action with it. It really works. Four or three months. Three months. Wow. I mean, it's three months of going on a date with yourself once a week, journaling every single day, doing all these tasks about like that teach you how to love yourself, how to like writing letters to mentors that you haven't talked to in years, writing letters to yourself, writing letters that don't get sent to people who like were mean to you. It's just it's very cathartic and yeah, it's just like incredible. Thank you, Julia Cameron, for your book. Maybe I'll do it this summer. Summer's a good time to do it because that's three months. It's not every season is, but like, is it yeah, because there's four seasons in the year, and I think each is three months. I've never thought about it that way. At least I think. Wait, but for some reason summer feels different. I know, because it's just so like June, July, August. June, July, August. And then what fall is September, October, November? Kind of, but then December middle of the month. December, January, February, March, April, May. I mean, yeah, yeah. But yeah, the something about summer. Yeah, and I feel like it's easier to like get out, take yourself on a date in the summer when the weather's nice. Yeah, I feel like it would be harder to do the artist's way in the winter. Yeah. But like maybe a good time to do it, because maybe that's when you need it most. But like talk about having to motivate yourself, or you can do it in the summer or the fall, or like summer going into fall, and then you're like prepared to embrace winter with everything you've learned. And that's also true. Yeah. But yeah, it's like it's a commitment, but it's a commitment that's like so worth it. And um, if you can't afford therapy right now, honestly, like it's kind of a good substitute in a way. I mean, I don't think that there's really any substitute for therapy, especially if you have a good therapist, but like it is really good for your mental health, and it it changed my life, and I would not be the artist I am today. I don't think I would have done a solo show. I don't think I would have started a night of new works. Like, I don't know. It just like really did something to me and like made me want to create things and be brave and stuff, and yeah, love you, artist way. Oh, yay! And also shout out to Paige Enix because she's the one who requested us to do the so I should have said that literally in the beginning. Thanks, Paige. Thank you for requesting this, giving us the idea. And Paige is just the cutest ever, and she's so good at hosting parties. And thanks for being such a good friend to my mom. My mom loves you so much, and you're just so sweet. Aww. And thanks for listening. And thanks for listening. All right, y'all. That's the artist way. I feel inspired to do it. I feel like I might do it this summer, but you should, and you can do a check-in every sode. Oh my god, yeah, I could. I'm like, should I do it again this summer too? I mean, if you want to, I feel like I would be able to make the time. I feel like I would just have to like look at the tasks and then look at my week and schedule them in. Because like I was talking about last week. You have to plan to give yourself more free time. Some of the tasks are like harder than others. Like some of them take like five minutes, and then some of them like take like an hour. And then you have to do the the morning pages would not be a problem for me because I already do that. But then the artist date, I feel like that's harder than you'd think. Because thinking about the time that I have in my week, I'm like, when would I even do that? But like, that's a problem. It's like there should there should be more not that there's a problem, not that there isn't time because there's always a time that you can find, but it's like struggling to find time to do something fun with yourself. Like, why is that a struggle? You know, every week is different in our lives. Um, yeah, for real. It's always something different happening, whether we're going to auditions or not, or whatever's going on in life. But what's going on? Yeah, some weeks are busier than others. But anyway, I feel inspired. Maybe you're inspired too to go do this. If you decide to do it, please let us know. Let us know. And if you have any questions about it, ask Noel. Ask me. Um, or if you need motivation too. Like if you for like if you get stuck on a week, like if you're on week four or five or something and you're like, oh my god, I don't want to fucking do this anymore. I'm quitting. Don't quit. Message me first, and then I will tell you not to quit and I will inspire you. I had to do that when I I texted Kim Shively after like week six, and I was like, I really don't want to do this anymore. And she was like, You got it, you have to keep going. And I was like, Okay. And then I did. Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:27

Oh yeah. All right, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:30

You can you can follow us at take oh my god. You can follow us at take it home pod. You can follow us at take it home pod. On Instagram and TikTok or anywhere. On Instagram or TikTok or anywhere. Anywhere that there's social media, we're probably there at Take It Home Pod. You can watch this episode on YouTube if you're not already. You can if you want to give us a five-star review, do feel free to do so. And if you want to give us a five-star review, feel free to do so. Don't know why. Anyway, um, we come out with a new episode every Thursday. And that's all. Oh, and she's not gonna copy me. Okay. So, yeah. We love you guys. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next week. Love y'all. Bye.