Why an Artist Date?

Here at Tweetspeak Poetry, it’s our delight to help people live richly and think deeply, by creating possibilities for them to…

1. take themselves less seriously
2. take themselves more seriously
3. connect their everyday lives to creative purposes
4. find the best resources to teach, surprise, and assist them

The Artist Date, a dream-child of Julia Cameron, is the perfect tool to help people live more richly (without breaking the bank). Try it, and you will find you might take yourself less seriously, take yourself more seriously, and tap into your creativity in an organic way that could flow into your everyday life. You might even find unexpected assistance and inspiration for dreams you didn’t know you had.

How to Take an Artist Date

1. Set aside a block of time each week. Cameron suggests two hours. We say, start with a half an hour, if you must, just to be sure it happens. Then build up.

2. The artist date is a play date you plan with yourself, by yourself.

3. Understand you might resist your weekly dates. No problem. This is normal. You are doing something that can be hard to do: take yourself both less and more seriously. Less seriously? Yes. You are agreeing to play. Maybe stand in the freezing rain or run your fingers through folds of exotic papers. More seriously? Yes. You are deciding that you are worth making a date with—worthy of being taken out, listened to, tickled and tumbled, and maybe cradled.

4. You might not know what to do. You haven’t played for a long time. Or if you have played, perhaps it has been on other people’s terms. We have ideas. We can show you how others have taken Artist Dates. But, ultimately, you will need to follow your instincts. Do you love the sensual shape of an orchid? Maybe you’ll visit a flower shop. No need to buy anything. Just let the sights and fragrances intoxicate. Do you love water? An hour sitting by the river might waken your soul.

Why not start today? Commit to just a month of weekly dates. See how it goes. And we’d love to hear about your excursions. Feel free to tell us in an Artist Date comment box. Or blog about your experience and drop us the link.

Photo by Jenny Downing, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by L.L. Barkat, author of Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing

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L.L. Barkat

L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing. She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Latest posts by L.L. Barkat (see all)

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