Review: Walking in This World by Julia Cameron

Image credit: Ashling Larkin

In an earlier article for Fearless Femme, I began to review The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is a personal development book to help people creatively recover from mental blocks and pressures. The book is a 12-week course to find and nurture your creative outlets. In this second instalment, I’m going to bring you on my journey through Julia Cameron’s second book Walking in this World. I endeavour to be as honest as I can. With that said, let us begin.

The course starts out with a creativity contract. This is a promise to oneself to commit to self-care, good sleep, good food and self-compassion.

WEEK ONE

This week the focus is on my origin, and pinpointing the ‘me’ I have been evading. It’s not a nice thing to come to terms with. But as the book states: baby steps. It’s better to do something you love for five minutes than nothing at all*. I’m starring that because I need you to remember it.

Here we go…

This week there were three tasks:

Task #1: Write numbers 1 to 20 on a page and list twenty small, creative actions you can take. I think this is a nice list of goals that I can come back to when I really need to find myself.

Task #2: The second task is to list positive adjectives and to make an ad for myself. It’s hard to say nice things about yourself, though I can see the good side. I might put it into my wallet, so when I need a boost I have it ready.

There’s a little sum that came to me when reading the second task based on commitment.

Does art + professionalism = love?
Or is it art + love = professionalism?

Speaks miles for me. I am not going to explain it; read it and absorb it as you will.

To commit to something you must invest energy in yourself. The intention creates power.

Task #3: The art of doing nothing. Writing this I have the greatest urge to quote Julia Cameron:

“The ego hates to rest […] we must serve our souls, not our egos.”

Something everyone is guilty of. This third task requires you to lie down and do nothing for 15 minutes but listen to music. Probably the best thing I’ve ever done.

WEEKLY CHECK-IN:

1) How many days did you do Morning Pages? (These were the three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing before the day begins.) Answer? BOOM! Everyday! Do I win anything?

2) What was your Artist Date & Walk like? (This was when you take yourself out on a date.) I had a certain picture in my head for my first artist date back on the course. I imagined me lying on the grass in Hyde Park, eating cake and chilling, listening to something relaxing, feeding a squirrel a nut and a parakeet an apple. And having time to write a poem about it all before work. How did it actually go?

My day began with an anxiety attack, so I really needed to find my joy. In this day of anxious woe, it was raining so there was no lying on the grass, chilling or eating cake. Instead I chose a wet bench in the flower garden, as I knew I’d get one squirrel. I’ve always wanted to give one a nut. I achieved my dream… but instead of one there was five. And boy, how cocky they were. Climbing up my leg, one was so bold that it climbed onto my shoulder.

I walked, and chose another wet bench to eat some cake. After that I strolled around, fed some ducks and then went to find some parakeets. Sadly, none of them were tempted by my apple. It was not the day I had planned; it was somewhat more in the moment. Also, I must have looked like a crazy person talking to squirrels and parakeets!

WEEK TWO

This week is all about the ongoing process of self-definition. This week is specifically good for artists: it has so many killer quotes to help an artist deal with the non-linear patterns of the artist’s life. I sadly cannot quote them all, I would just be writing the whole chapter out. It’s also filled with wonderful Disney metaphors.

This week’s three tasks are…

Task #1: Here I have to fill in the blanks in sentences Julia Cameron has part-written, as quickly as possible. They are largely to do with childhood.

This task is all about getting you to think, and maybe gaining a few insights into little you.

Task #2: Again, I have to rapidly fill in the blanks in sentences; this time it’s all about me and my dreams. Once you accept your dreams you can begin to take baby steps towards them.

After this, the book tells me to number a page from 1-20 and write out some wishes. Every wish brings a small action toward what you want.

Task #3: The third task is all about transformation. I’m going to use a quote here, and I think it’s just so perfect I don’t need to explain it; “If you are panicked, tell yourself ‘Ah! Good sign: I am getting unstuck.’” Change invites vulnerability — and it is scary.

Yes, and again, I must fill in the blanks as fast as I can. This one’s all about what I would do if I could go back to a situation, if I did have money etc…

After this I was instructed to write a letter to my inner artist, which was interesting and it made me want to explore the things I haven’t done. It’s never too late, right?

CHECK IN:

1) All of my morning pages are done and dusted. VICTORY!

2) For this week’s artist date, I decided to spend some money! I haven’t bought myself new clothes in a very long time. I took out €60 (I have been home in Dublin this week). I plugged in Britney Spears’ album Femme Fatale and off I went. It was tiring, and I only got one thing. But I set the goal that I would spend the rest of the money during the week, and I did.

3) This week has been full of walks as I was back in the homeland. I got to walk with my dog and witness her curiosity and excitement about the world. I envy her life, so simple and no worries — it makes me want to sing Hakuna Matata. I got to walk with a friend, my mum and my dad. It was nice and relaxing… pure soul food.

As someone whose mind goes a mile a minute, these passed two weeks have helped me accept that my mind rushes, but that it’s within my power and ability to slow it down, to take back my moments from panic, and to take baby steps towards my goals. I am excited to see where this adventure will take me.

Izzy Pilkington is an Irish actor/writer, based both in London and Dublin. She trained with the Bull Alley Training Theatre Company, and then on the MA course at East 15. Her aim is always to find her joy and help others find theirs, to give a voice to mental health, and to explore all the stories in her imagination.

Ashling is a Scotland-based comic artist, illustrator & animator. She graduated in 2016 from DJCAD with a 2:1 Bdes(Hons) in animation and has since been doing freelance work at the Dundee Comics Creative Space at Inkpot studio while also working on her current ongoing project, a fantasy-adventure webcomic called “The Enchanted Book”.