2 posts tagged “julia cameron”

I've decided I need a 12 Step Program for Life. No, I don't drink, smoke, do drugs (except really good Free Trade Coffee), don't have an eating disorder or gamble (except when I drive on the Turnpike) and I don't have any "isms", at least that I am aware of. But it seems every now and then that my life and habits need a lift and a plan to keep on keeping on.

So, I have decided to make my own plan for mental/spiritual/physical health. In the past few weeks, I have undertaken to read all of Julia Cameron's books on the The Artist's Way, Anne Lamott on life and religion (because even though we differ on theology, the basic outlook is similar) and have decided to take better care of me so I can take care of everyone else. In touch with my Higher Power? check. Healthy eating? check. More water? check. Daily exercise? check. Fresh air and eco-therapy? check. Nurturing my spiritual life? check. Doing something creative each day? check. Okay, so I am up to 7 steps. I don't have time for meetings, no patience for a sponsor. This will have to be the Steps of Good-Enough-This-Is-All-I-Can-Manage-At-The-Moment.

Now all I have to do is stay consistent. Just work the "steps" of keeping with it. Getting back on the horse/or wagon when I fall off.

As with most things, scheduling is everything. Getting up early is essential. Starting the day with the dawn prayer, fajr, is so much a way of life now after so many years, that I don't always consciously appreciate it as much as I should. It really helps to begin each day giving thanks and making supplication for more progress on the day's journey. Next come Cameron's morning pages (three, handwritten each morning first thing). It really seems to help me focus. Then I do my daily Qur'an which gives me a sense that no matter what, I am not in this alone. Whatever is too heavy for me to lift will be carried for me till I am stronger. I may do some writing or some yoga to relax and revive.

Next I wake up the gremlins. No, not the ones in my head. The real, actual ones to whom I gave birth. If any of them happens to wake up too early, I send him or her back to bed with a firm, "No, I am not on duty yet." Duty may include finding the cereal, listening to a litany of book plots, or explaining how a combustion engine works. I am so not an "attached parent". This is my time and I guard it jealously.

Once the day begins and the maelstrom of motherhood gets underway there will be little time for me, so these morning minutes are crucial to my mental health and to doing my steps. They help keep me centered for the rest of the day. It's now about 8:00. *SIGH* Time for me to clock in and keep on working the steps for another day.  

Books

1 comment

My question this morning is: How do I find time to read all the books I want to read? I currently have a 35 pound totebag of a variety of things from Anne Lamott (love her), to Jhumpa Lahiri, Julia Cameron, to Rosemary Mahoney, to Mary Pipher. The books run the gamut from writing and creativity, to rowing on the Nile. I want to know everything.

As the saying goes, too many books not enough time. I suppose if I closed the laptop, that might help. If I stopped homeschooling, cleaning, exercising and sleeping that might help too. Maybe if I just take a study day like they do at university...