Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength

This chapter is about acknowledging and healing our artistic losses.

Survival

This section has two core ideas:

1. We must acknowledge, mourn and thereby heal our artistic losses. The critiques that come from the loss can be reframed as learning to make our art better.

2. The learning environment, specifically academia and higher education, can damage us in that it doesn't encourage the artist - rather academia focuses on criticism and taking art apart.

We are told that we must mourn/acknowledge the loss/pain of our younger artist selves.

Gain Disguised as Loss

Approach loss with a learning and curious intention:

"How can this loss serve me?" "Where does it point in my work?"

We are given the idea from John Cassavetes of "You have to want to catch the ball." Which means a mindset of problem solving, continually moving to reach a solution - not getting stuck in the reasons why it's not working.

We are told about Shirley Clarke, the filmographer. Who didn't give up, and we are told to support our artist self when we hit moments of loss.

Age and Time: Product and Process

This section investigates the use of "I'm too old, or I'm too young" as ways to avoid failure, and thus creative blocks.

We are advised to attach ourselves to the artistic process as fuel and a guide, rather than the artistic product that results from the process.

And to not be afraid to be the beginner, that being the beginner unlocks creative blocks.

Filling the Form:

This section describes how the actual work of being an artist is the daily small task - over time that becomes the product or finishing thing.

Julia Cameron describes how many artists flee from that process by focussing on fantasties and dreams of things around their art - rather than actually working on the art itself.

So we just need to "fill the form", do the next small thing on the art - be there with the actually crafting, not in the lofty grandiouse ideas of what it could be or will be.

The chapter ends with a fill in the blanks to have ourselves reflect on this negative views of ourselves as an artist. And we are told to choose five affirmations from a long list of affirmations and focus on those this week.