A-Muse-Ing Inspirations --- Jeanette M. Pintar
Lesson 3
OK, so far in the past two weeks we’ve
collected The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, a Day Planner, a Scratch Pad (or
writing / drawing pad of paper to go in your day planner), a Journal, some nice
Pens and mechanical Pencils, and possibly some Index Cards. We’ve made a Master Plan to include our
dream(s) and/or goals(s) as well as the benefits of making them a reality. We’ve figured out the steps necessary to make
our dreams come true and have broken the
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re off to
a great start and well on your way to transforming your dreams into
reality! Congratulations!!!!
If you meant to get this far, but some
how got distracted, it’s OK. You can
still get yourself up to speed. Once
you’ve got your Master Plan set up and have gotten yourself organized with your
day planner, you’re ready to roll!
Week 3 Assignment
Start using your day planner if you haven’t already! Begin by scheduling the following:
Read The Artist’s Way: Pages xi – xv: The
Introduction
pages 1 – 7: Spiritual Electricity – the Basic
Principles
pages 9 – 24: The Basic Tools
As you read, look for
the main points and underline anything
that speaks to you or sounds like it would make a good quote. (If you’re afraid to mess up your book, use
pencil, you can erase it later.)
The above reading
will give you a basic guideline for the rest of the course with The Artist’s Way,
which is an integral part of the A-Muse-Ing Inspirations plan. If you’re uncomfortable when the author
refers to “art” replace it with “dreams.”
Stick with it. The more you put
into doing this, the more of yourself – and your dreams -- you will get out of
it.
Make and sign your own Contract as suggested in the book. If you don’t like the word creativity, call
it your Dreams-Come-True Contract or your Goals Contract. They’re synonymous. All the tools Ms. Cameron teaches for
uncovering / recovering your creative or “artist” self, are the very same tools
that will allow you to follow the calling of your dreams. YOU are the artist who creates your dreams!
Write 3 pages of long-hand in your journal daily. Just sit
down and let the pen flow across the page.
Don’t edit. Don’t fix it. Just write and write and write until you have
3 full pages. It’s best to write in the
mornings, but if you can’t do it then, do it whenever you can. The importance of doing
these “Morning Pages” are explained in the book.
Pick a task from your Master Plan and do it! Ah-ha! I bet that was the one you were waiting
for! Whether it’s a big task or a little
task is up to you. Just pick one thing
and get started. If what you pick ends
up requiring several different actions, break it down into smaller tasks. Anything you think you won’t be able to do
this week, add to your Master Plan so you can get to it next week. (And yes, it’s OK if you decide to do more
than one task per week!)
Example: If your goal was to go back to school to get
a college degree, step one might be to figure out what kind of degree. That may sound overly simple but when you
start looking into it and how you’d apply it to your life, you suddenly realize
there’s more than one appropriate or specialized degree to choose from.
At this point, you
might need to add the tasks of researching each type of degree, as well as the
schools that provide them and their respective programs to help you make an
informed decision. That could require
doing a search on the internet or in the local newspaper, talking to
acquaintances who’ve gone to those schools, calling
people in the field(s) you are considering for advice, calling each of the
schools, ordering brochures, information and requirement packets, and setting
up interviews.
Choosing the right
degree might come easy, or it might be a little more involved than you
expected. Give yourself some leeway and
don’t get disappointed if you find you need to add tasks to your Master Plan. It will still work! Remember to choose and carry out at least one
task this week!
* * *
The beauty of the
Master Plan is that it is adjustable and it doesn’t really matter how long or
short it takes you to do something, as long as you keep doing one thing per
week. Your list of steps and tasks are
always there for you. Even if you get
distracted or have to take a break from it, you can always come back and pick
up where you left off so you never really stray off track. You simply continue to advance toward your
dreams.
I hope you’re as excited
about this as I am. I’ve applied this
technique to my life for several years now and know it really works! I also know it can seem like a lot in the beginning
but the ground work you’re laying will help you through the pursuit and
realization of your dreams, as well as provide helpful insights that will
improve your life.
Like the sign on my flight
school’s door says, “Stop dreaming and start flying!” It’s time to let your Spirit soar and turn
your dreams into reality, one little task at a time.
--- © Jeanette M. Pintar
http://www.sfpnn.com/a-muse-ing_inspirations.htm