We're at the end of our Artist's Way journey together. How was it for you?
Here is what Sue Nun has to say (www.careerinspiration.co.uk) Again, I resonated so strongly with so much of what Sue is saying here:
The email
from Suzy asking me to write the week 12 blog took me
by complete surprise. I bought a new
laptop part way through the 12 weeks (gorgeous and shiny and bright red) lost
all my favourites and (sorry to admit this) haven’t
been following all the blogs and somehow not only did
I not realize I was writing this one but somehow I did week 12 two weeks ago
(how did that happen? I’m always ahead of myself somehow). When I finished week
12 I was so happy with the small steps I’d taken that I have gone back to week 1
and started again….so on getting Suzy’s email I’ve gone back to Chapter 12 to
remember what I did at that stage.
Task 1
‘write down any resistance fears etc’, well my biggest fear is writing and here
I am having to write a blog. Last week I
also went to a Nick Williams Inspired Entrepreneur’s club where he was talking
about becoming an expert. I went as I am setting up a company to run workshops
for women returners to make inspiring career choices
and gain confidence in returning to work.
Nick said that if you want to be seen as an expert you have to ‘be seen’;
this is definitely another big resistance of mine, we had to go round the room
and say to everyone in the room “I’m here to be seen” and the other person said
“I see you”. It was incredibly powerful,
but also incredibly difficult for me.
Although I’ve always harboured a crazy desire
to be a weather girl or be on breakfast telly or
something similar, exposure seems very scary to me. So thanks Suzy for giving
me the opportunity to conquer my two biggest areas of fear….well apart from sky
diving and anything that involves heights.
In the
same download of emails as Suzy’s I received one from my local newspaper asking
for a press release and a deadline of 10th May for a local magazine
that I have decided I need to write a publicity article for. So not only have I got to do this but then
I’ve got two more things to write; if anyone has tips on how to write a press
release all advice is very welcome. I
guess that’s more than enough synchronicity for this week forcing me to confront
my fears. Week 12 also talks about tests
coming up when we are just about to ‘blast off’ and this week I’ve been
inundated with work, the non-creative type that pays the bills but that also
stops me developing my new business and saps all my energy and joy. It really feels like its pulling me back –
and so far I’ve failed the test and haven’t said ‘no’ I don’t want that type of
work anymore. What that means is no time
to write my publicity material or to have fun.
But maybe I haven’t completely failed the test as I’ve chosen to write
this tonight, instead of doing my bread and butter work and hopefully this small
step will lead to more progress.
I find it
interesting where our fear comes from, I’m sure my fear of writing was getting
bad feedback at school and being inhibited about my spelling and grammar – the
fear even now of someone taking a red pen to this piece of writing. I definitely don’t think I can write – and so
those messages really get in the way.
The messages we tell ourselves are so powerful aren’t they, I’m great at
helping other people tackle their inner chatter to become more confident, but I
have to admit my chatter still needs a lot of taming. It’s also interesting that my first response
on getting Suzy’s email was to log on and read everyone else’s
contributions. I stopped myself though,
I realized that it might turn up my inner chatter – as I’m really great at
negative comparisons ‘I don’t write as well as them /I’m not as interesting/
blah, blah’ and thought that if I had
read everyone else’s I would have just bottled out. So when this gets posted, I might take a
peep.
I guess in
week 12, as it was the last week, I also reflected on the journey the book has
taken me on. It’s been all small steps, but cumulatively they have made a huge
difference. I have been doing my pages and I’ve definitely started having more
fun. However I’ve got to own up to failing to have artist dates on my own,
having a 4 year old and working makes it trickey, but
I have painted watercolours while my son has also
painted and I’ve had a Mum’s only date to do some pottery and we’ve got another
one in a few weeks time. I’ve made pastry for the first time in years and
planted a load of seeds for an allotment that I’ve just got. I’ve also dusted off and re-hung a beautiful
watercolour that I watched an amazing painter, Adrian
Hemming, paint on Skyros back in 1998 (those of you
who join Suzy there this year will have an amazing time) and I’ve bought a fab necklace of crocheted flowers made by Jenny Stacey,
contacted her through her web-site and then met her for an artist’s coffee. All these things I wouldn’t have done without
the book and I definitely feel more spontaneous, creative and centred, as well as more spiritually alive. It’s been a
great journey, which is why I’ve returned to the beginning again, I hope you
will too.
Leo Babauta is the author of The Power of Less and the creator and blogger at 
