Michon Jewelry Blog

I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron again. It’s a book I pick up now and then, but this time it made me realize something. I am a blocked creative person. That may sound funny considering I run a business based on selling the results of my creative endeavors, but it’s true.
Did you ever daydream about being a rock star as a child? I did. And I was painfully shy about singing or playing an instrument in front of people. I even tried to practice piano when nobody was home because I didn’t want anyone to hear me. I also wanted to be an author, and I spent countless hours writing fiction and poetry in notebooks that I would later carefully destroy, by burning them or tearing up the pages into tiny pieces. I think one of the reasons I married my husband is that his art is so raw and emotional, like he doesn’t really give a shi* if the whole world can see exactly what he’s thinking and feeling. I wanted to be that, and the next best thing is being with someone like that. It’s almost like you can become the creative person you want to be by being with them.
Well, it doesn’t work that way. To be out there and vulnerable like that is something you just have to do, you don’t get it from someone else. Making jewelry is a wonderful creative outlet, but it doesn’t quite satisfy the part of me that wants to be a musician or a writer. That part of me remains blocked, but I’m working on it.
I highly recommend reading The Artist’s Way, and actually do what it says. I’m attempting to do that, despite the fact that writing every morning probably isn’t realistic with a baby. I’ll do the writing part each day, but when I have time instead of in the morning. Maybe this time I’ll get farther along in the process before I quit….
I don’t want to wake up one day and realize I never went for it. Jewelry is a wonderful creative outlet, and I want to keep coming up with newer, more interesting designs. I’ll probably never be a rock star, but I can become a better musician. And I can work on getting over my fear of people reading my creative writing.
A note about the book: one thing that might put some people off is that she talks about God a lot. If that makes you uncomfortable, just ignore it, because the advice is really good and worth hearing, but I know for some people even the mention of something that sounds like religion brings up so many preconceived ideas that the rest of the message gets lost. So just pretend she doesn’t say God, and substitute “creative energy” or “the universe” or whatever image works for you. When she talks about God, she’s talking about creativity, and whether you believe in any kind of God or not is irrelevant. I think most creative people would agree that sometimes it seems like there’s a force outside of you that works when you are inspired - you can believe whatever you want about that feeling, it doesn’t have to be a religious thing.
Have you done The Artist’s Way? I’d love to hear about your experience with the book.