A Chill Vibes Guide To The Artists Way ✨

A cozy, no-pressure way to do TAW, from someone who actually finished the dang thing 🫶🏼

Hi hii my loves! This cozy corner of the internet has grown since last week and I’ve been floored by the response to last week’s post about The Artists Way. Hello to new friends here! I’ve been completely overwhelmed, in the best way, and I’m so happy you’re here 🥹

There were so many thoughts shared, a few questions asked, and LOTS of synchronicity happeningggg in the comments on last week's post, and I’m inspired to do a little follow-up post this week! I’m hoping I can answer some questions that popped up, and dive a little deeper into how I actually finished The Artists Way, especially since it’s common to abandon the mission half way through. And as someone who has also started and not finished, I am equally surprised that I managed to get through all 12 weeks 🤣

I’m thinking of this as a chill vibes, low-pressure guide to getting through it all, and also like a group chat since you’ve inspired me to keep the convo going. I’m realizing this also may be a guide for…any sort of creative project. These lessons can definitely be applied to just about anything, and I’m officially taping them to my forehead so I don’t forget them 😂 I hope it’s helpful as you dive into your own Artists Way journey or consider starting one! LFG 🤭

Where morning pages sometimes happened at 11am

Embrace Imperfection

As a perfectionist girlie myself, I love following the rules. If there’s a “right” way to do something, you better believe I will be doing it that way. But trying to manage all of the Artists Way tasks, pages and dates that are laid out before you can be very intimidating. 

I gave myself permission right away to not do all the tasks week to week, and to pick the ones that spoke to me. Julia even mentions this at the beginning, it’s ok to not do it all! There were days when I missed morning pages. There were many days I did my pages, at like, 11am after jam-packed mornings. I missed dates. But I kept going. Doing it imperfectly is the only way imo. 12 weeks is a long time, and life definitely happens, you can count on it! So consider this your permission slip to do it imperfectly, and to expect road blocks. In my experience, it was all part of the process. 

An artist date

Keep It Simple 

It’s easy to anticipate that The Artists Way will take up large chunks of your time. Sometimes my morning pages took up about 30-45 minutes of my routine, while other times it took maybe 15 minutes. To be honest, like any creative journey you decide to head out on, it will require time and energy. But I think there’s a chill vibes way to do The Artists Way where it doesn’t take over your life in a way that feels unmanageable. For me, that came in the form of artist dates. 

Maybe it’s a little silly, but it initially felt daunting to have artist dates week after week. Thinking of getting my butt out of the house to go to concerts, plays, or museums felt like a lot. But Julia swooped in to remind me that artists' dates are for your inner creative self, they’re supposed to make the little version of you happy! There are definitely ways to have artist dates that are super simple, and you don’t have to go far to do them. Most of mine happened at home actually—I watched a favorite movie from my childhood, I read a favorite childhood book, I painted at my dining room table, I baked cookies in my kitchen. My artist dates didn’t need to be grand gestures or big events—that actually overwhelmed my inner creative self. She was more than happy to toil away at home. In fact, she preferred it. Keeping things simple made it easy to keep going. 

Another date 🎨

Timing Is Everything

The first time I tried The Artists Way my schedule was packed. There was a lot going on and I ended up, like so many others, quitting after a month. I just didn’t have the time or energy to keep up with the tasks. I was also personally entrenched in creative abundance at the time, and looking back now it’s so clear the timing just wasn’t right. It’s no wonder I let it go, I didn’t really need it. 

This time around, my schedule wasn’t packed at all. I was in a regular work flow, and tbh feeling kind of stuck. This may not be true for everyone, in fact it might be the opposite for some! But I think I did all 12 weeks of The Artists Way because I had the time and the brain space for it. Since I was feeling a little bored with my day to day, the Artists Way gave me an opportunity to spice things up. My mind wasn’t filled to the brim with work responsibilities or projects, so there was room to daydream. My mind had space to wander. In short, I think I got the timing right. I stuck with it because I simply had the time to. 

If you end up starting and stopping because life gets in the way, please don’t be too hard on yourself. This seems like a completely common occurrence because life happens! There was a (gulp) 15 year gap between this time and the last time I tried The Artists Way and it landed completely differently this time around. I felt the nudge in my early 20s, and it came back in my mid/late 30s. Who knew it would stick 15 years later?

Listen > Read

If I had to sit and read each Artists Way chapter, I definitely wouldn’t have. But there’s an audio book! I have a Spotify premium account and listened to each chapter week-to-week while I was driving or out on a walk. It changed the game. I have the book and referred back to it when I did tasks or needed to re-read affirmations, but listening to the chapters definitely made it way easier for me to stick with it. I actually looked forward to a new chapter each week because I didn’t know what was coming! If you’re someone who has a hard time sitting and reading, I definitely recommend listening. The woman who narrates has a really lovely, calm tone too!

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In a nut shell: I think you can reap the benefits of The Artists Way by going about it imperfectly, not overcomplicating things and trusting in the timing of it all. If you’re feeling a nudge, I say go for it. If you think this is a sign, it probably is! 🤍

As always, I love chit chatting in the comments, so let me know if you have any other questions or thoughts. As a side note: I quietly celebrated this Substack’s first anniversary earlier this month (I can’t believe it’s been a year of Older, Wiser, Hotter!) and was reflecting on how wonderful the Substack community is. Having a bunch of new eyeballs on something is very exciting, but also a little scary too, and I’m just completely delighted that every.single.comment on the last post is so lovely and encouraging, and just proves that my year-long reflection is right on the money: Substack is full of kind-hearted creatives. It’s just the best. Thank you so much for being here! 😭

We’ll be back with regularly scheduled programming next week—I’m planning a Coastal Grandma dinner party (eee!) and I just had my biggest batch of pre-orders yet for my at-home bakery, The Cozy Crumb! Learning so many things every time I do a pre-order drop, let me know if you’d like a peek into bakery life as someone who impulsively dove in about a month ago (Thank you Artists Way, lol!) Have the best week, and I’ll see you next Sunday! 😚

xx, Kristen

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