The BASIC TOOLS

There are 2 Pivotal tools in creative recovery:

#1.  the Morning Pages
#2.  the Artist Date

A lasting creative awakening requires the consistent use of both.

The MORNING PAGES

In order to retrieve your creativity, you need to find it.  Julia Cameron (author) Tells you to do this by an apparently pointless process I call "the Morning Pages"  You will do the pages daily through all the weeks of the course and hope longer.

What are Morning Pages ??  Put Simply, the Morning Pages are 3 Pages of longhand /typed writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness: "Another morning, I have nothing to say, I need to wash some clothes, oh yeah I'm going to see what's her name tomorrow!! I almost forgot !!...  etc. etc. etc...."  the Morning Pages is also called Brain Drain, since that is one of their main functions.

• There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages.
• These daily morning brain drain misc. journal, gossip, what's going on writing are not meant to be art or even writing.  Just Whatever !!!  Just write !!!  or Type Whatever you want, journal, diary type writing... 3 PAGES !!!!!  
• Nothing is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included.
• Nobody is allowed to read your morning pages except you and do not even read them yourself for the first 8 Weeks or So ...
• Bottom Line, It Doesn't what or how you write, Just WRITE 3 PAGES !!!!!!  EVERY DAY !!!!
• 7 DAYS A WEEK !!!!  this is NON-NEGOTIABLE !!!  NO MATTER WHAT !!!  SICK, TRAVELING, VACATION, NO EXCUSES WHATSOEVER !!!!!!!  SOMEONE IN FAMILY IS DYING OR IF YOU YOURSELF IS DYING !!!  3 PAGES !!!  TO HAVE THIS 3 PAGES EVERY DAY CLEAR ENOUGH ????  (I'm putting my spin on this) Julia didn't actual write what I just wrote.... fyi... Oz..
• All that angry, whiny, petty stuff that your write down in the morning stands between you and your creativity.
• Worrying about the job, the laundry, the funny noise coming from the car, drama from your ex or from the baby momma !!!
• (oops-yikes!!!)  I, ya, Um, Ahhhh didn't finish my 3 Pages this morning yet !!! ahhhhhhhh..let me ahhh uhhh take care of that Real Quick !!!! brb..
• ok I'm back !!  10:09am !!!  what I noticed about the 3 pages is that I believe it may take a lil bit longer than writing 3 pages long hand on a regular piece of 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper, just to let you know, just thought I'd give a heads up just in case you're actually dying and trying to finish up your 3 pages by typing on Microsoft Word !!!!  .... You know what though it's all good !!!! , it's all worth it !!! Very very Worth it !!!! you'll become a better typer, more speed, accurate and with much more flow and fluidity !!!  I do it !!!  and I'm definitley noticed that I can type quite fast !!! Which means that I definitely feel an Infinite Divine Inspired Book Coming !!!!  we'll see let's focus on my Metamorphosis and my Artist's Way 12 Week Course !!!  
• Oooops, my baaad, I actually was writing how I write in my Morning Pages !!!  just conversing with yourself and your Divine Self !!!  ok back to BASICS !!!!!  Oz
• Morning Pages Cont.
• The Morning Pages are the primary tool of creative recover.
• MAKE This Rule !!!!  
• Always remember that your Censor's negative opinions are not the truth.
• Even if we look like functioning artists to the world, we feel we never do enough and what we do isn't right.
• We are victims of our own internalized perfectionist, a nasty internal and eternal critic, better known as "the Censor" who resides in our left brain and keeps up a constant stream of subversive remarks (remarks that keep you down, create doubt, and ultimately impedes your success, your life and your future)that are often disguised as the truth.
• the Censor says, "You call that a painting, you can't paint shit !!!, who do you think you are a "Masterpiece Artist", you can't even sell a painting !!! ", you lost your artist studio loft you're a failure, you're a nobody, how can you paint now ???  You don't have MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago University!!""  
• Always Remember the Rule, Re-Read the Rule !!!!  
• This takes practice, by getting out of bed and straight onto the page every morning, you learn to evade the Censor.  
• Because there is no wrong way to write the Morning Pages, the Censor's opinion doesn't count.  Let your Censor rattle on (And It Will) Just keep your hand moving across the page.  Write down the Censor's thoughts if you want to.  Note how it loves to aim for your Creative Jugular.
• Make no mistake:  the Censor is out to get you.  Every time you get smarter, so does it.
• The point is to stop taking the Censor as the voice of reason and learn to hear it for the blocking device that it is.  Morning Pages will help you to do this.
• Morning Pages are Non-Negotiable
• Your mood doesn't matter.
• The rotten thing your Censor says doesn't matter. We have this idea that we need to be in the mood to write. We Don't !!!
• Morning Pages will teach you that your mood doesn't really matter.  Some of best creative work gets done on the days when you feel that everything you're doing is just plain junk.
• The Morning Pages will teach you to stop judging and just let yourself write.  So what if you're tired, cabby, distracted, stressed?  Your artist is a child and it needs to be fed.
• Morning pages feed your artist child. So Write Your Morning Pages !!!!  
• 3 Pages of whatever crosses your mind--that's all there is to it.  If you can't think of anything to write, then write, "I can't think of anything to write, I can't think of anything to write... etc... etc..."  Do this until you have filled 3 Pages !!!  Do anything until you have filled three pages. 
• (That's why I had to brb, to finish up my three whole pages while I was writing in this blog, and came back after I was done)
•  Ok, I'm just writing down the bullet points for me, and by all means this is not the cliff Notes for the Actual Whole Book of "the Artist's Way", you best have the book and read the whole book just as a get to know greeting", and to really dig deep by yourself.
• It is impossible to write Morning Pages for any exended period of time without coming into contact with an unexpected inner power.
• The pages are a pathway to a strong and clear sense of self.  They are a trail that we follow into our own interior, where we meet both our own creativity and our Creator.
• Morning pages map our own interior.
• Anyone who faithfully writes Morning Pages will be led to a connection with a source of wisdom within.  When I am stuck with a painful situation or problem that I don't think I know how to handle, I will go tothe pages and ask for guidance.
• To do this, I write "LJ" as a shorthand for Little Julie, and then I ask my question.
• LJ:  What should I tell them about this inner wisdom?  (the I listen for the reply and wirte that down, too.)
• Answer:  You should tell them everyone has a direct dial to Infinite Divine Universe.  No one needs to go through an operator.  Tell them to try this technique with a  problem of their own.  they will. (excerpt from book).
• The answer may seem to freakin simple or elementary.  I have come to believe tht seem is the operative word.
• Very often, when I act on the advice I have been given, it is exactly right--fora more right than something more complicated would have been.  And so, for the record, I want to say: Pages are my way of meditation;  I do them because they work.
• Morning Pages will work for painters, sculptors, poets, actors, lawyers, housewives, ANYONE & EVERYONE !!!!!