Recovering a Sense of Identity

The Artist Way Creative Workshop – Recovering a Sense of Identity - June 15th, 2023.

We discussed key concepts from Chapter 2 our Identity. She describes how this process can generate positive experiences and trigger self-doubt and negative feedback from poisonous friends, family, co-workers, etc. These people who are also creatively blocked work

as very toxic forces disrupting our progress. Sometimes, we may use these people as a crutch to self-sabotage our efforts because of our fears. Some fears are based on the fears of what it means to change, to take risks and acknowledge our creativity, our need to connect with the part of us and those experiences and express our emotions or needs, or our identity.

The world, society, family, friends, and ourselves will conform to what others tell us, what we should or ought to behave or do to be loved, accepted, rewarded with success, or rejected. In many ways we believe that these expectations placed on us and we have accepted are how we are to live. The activities we are working on throughout this creative workshop are aimed at re-setting our priorities from focusing on our responsibilities to others at the expense of our responsibilities to ourselves. To value and protect the time we are doing these creative activities because these are nurturing ourselves and our relationship with the Great Creator, Higher Power, whatever source name you prefer in your life.

Remember to not reread your morning pages or show them to anyone, they are meant as a meditative morning practice to help us work out our emotions and thoughts and redefine the negative beliefs by putting them into a positive framework. Using positive language in our affirmations we write in our journals to reconnect with our inner artist or child.

We worked on exploring different collage portraits in our art journals. Discussed some art composition principles and rules to help those wanting to work on more designs for their art journals. However, the use of specific rules is unnecessary for our journal projects because the important thing is to express ourselves and have fun. Collage Portraits allowed us time to consider how we view ourselves, and how other’s expectations of us change that image of who we are and how others view us as well. What talked about our inner artist and how it looks and what it wants. We also explored our enemy within, the critic, or parasite that represents the self-doubts, fears of the unknown, or rejection that holds us back from our joy and creativity. Spending time giving our parasite an image, recognizing its voice of criticism in our lives, allows us to take back our power where we are in control not it. The final image is our manifestation portrait, what we are striving to become or attract into our lives.

The next meeting is Thursday, June 22, 2023, we are going to discuss Ch. 3 and work on our found items collage based on our assignment this week. Everyone is to make time to have fun this week and go on a 20-minute sensory walk, to take time to notice the work around us. Collect items on your walk that you are drawn to, brings a smile, and represent joy for you on your walk.

Suggested supplies for the found items collage:

Your found items

glue

paint

brushes

scrap paper

scissors

pens

markers

misc. elements