Three Promises to Myself

From an exercise in The Artist’s Way…

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

I’ve spent the last few months working through Julia Cameron’s classic book on creative renewal, The Artist’s Way. It’s been such a valuable process. Last week, one of the tasks was to make 3 nice promises to my inner artist.

1. I know prioritizing the creative life is new and still fluid but I promise you, we will never again go backwards into an existence where your creativity must be hidden or squelched. I will not accept a lover, or any kind of work or role in the world that will take creativity away from you again.
2. I promise you will travel. Not now because of the pandemic and because of the new business, but this will remain a priority for the new life I’m building.
3. I promise I won’t make you stay in any more relationships that leave you feeling lonely and unloved.

It was a quick little exercise but I couldn’t believe how reassured I felt after doing it. My inner artist breathed a sigh of relief, like she could let go of some deep worries that hadn’t been articulated.