The Artist Date
Last summer and fall, I felt alive and full of ideas, words, and inspiration to share. My creative well seemed to be filled to overflowing. I started this blog and a Midlife Creative Facebook group. I also put together a gathering for women called The Artists Way for moms. Today, after 5 months of quarantine with my family if 6, no school, no normal activities, and very little alone time; my creative well feels empty. I’ve found myself less motivated, bored, lonely, and lacking new ideas.
As I pondered how to get some creative energy back, I remembered a practice called The Artist Date that meant a lot to me a year ago. An Artist Date, according to Julia Cameron in The Artists Way, is:
“A block of time, perhaps 2 hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your inner artist (a.k.a. your inner child). The artist date is an excursion, a play date that you pre-plan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist.”
This week I was walking a new trail with my kids and we came to a waterfall that we weren’t expecting. I found my inner child giddy with excitement. We continued along the trail and arrived at the most amazing overlook view of the Mississippi River. The first thought I had was of coming back to the spot by myself on an artist date along with a picnic (something fun like sushi), my journal, and uninterrupted time to stay awhile.
Here are some examples of artist dates.
Hiking, gardening, taking photos, cooking, kayaking, bird watching, rock collecting, trying out a new cuisine, going on a long drive down a country road, rearranging a room in your house, sitting in a candlelit room, listening to a symphony, browsing for hidden treasures at an antique store or estate sale, walking through a farmers market and taking in the colors and smells, riding a horse, arranging flowers, picking berries, looking at art.
From my experience, the artist date itself may not hold any magic cures for creative burn-out, but it IS helpful in coaxing the hiding inner artist out into the light. We are all born with a creative nature. There just may be times and places in our lives that we are operating in that creativity more than others. The more you give yourself permission to play, the better your inner artist will feel.
I challenge you to schedule an artist date for yourself. If you have kids, get a babysitter. Don’t talk yourself out of it like I did at first by thinking it’s not important. Another temptation will be to cut the 2 hour time short and sneak in a few errands or some grocery shopping. Keep the time sacred. Just as your date wouldn’t want you to cancel or cut out early to get more work done, your inner creative craves undivided attention from you and doesn’t want to be sold short.
As a mom of 4, working from home during quarantine, I’ve had very little alone time. With fall looking like more of the same, it’s more important than ever to get back to scheduling artist dates as a way of being kind to myself.
How do you take time for yourself? Do you see a difference when you do? I’d love to hear what your idea of the perfect artist date would be?
