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The Artist's Way for Parents: Raising Creative Children, by Julia Cameron, Emma Lively
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“For decades, people have been asking me to write this book. The Artist’s Way focuses on a creative recovery. We re-cover the ground we have traveled in our past. The Artist’s Way for Parents focuses on creative cultivation, where we consciously—and playfully—put our children on a healthy creative path toward the future.” —Julia Cameron
Winner of the 2014 Nautilus Award represents “Better Books for a Better World”—the Gold Award (Best Book of the Year) in the category of Parenting/Family.
From the bestselling author of The Artist’s Way comes the most highly requested addition to Julia Cameron’s canon of work on the creative process. The Artist’s Way for Parents provides an ongoing spiritual toolkit that parents can enter—and re-enter—at any pace and at any point in their child’s early years.
According to Cameron: “Every child is creative—and every parent is creative. Your child requires joy, and exercising creativity, both independently and together, makes for a happy and fulfilling family life.” Focusing on parents and their children from birth to age twelve, The Artist’s Way for Parents builds on the foundation of The Artist’s Way and shares it with the next generation. Using spiritual concepts and practical tools, this book will assist parents as they guide their children to greater creativity.
- Sales Rank: #582747 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Tarcher
- Published on: 2013-08-15
- Released on: 2013-08-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.49" h x 1.01" w x 7.65" l, 1.30 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 288 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
"Using checklists and personal exercises, the book focuses on empowering parents to be creative under the premise that children will model their behavior on that of their parents. The reminders to look for joy and wonder may be revelatory for Cameron's readers and their kids."
—Publishers Weekly
"While Cameron's methods have plenty of applications for children, her experience lies in the effects of childhood on creativity, which applies to adults too. The book is as much about examining what sort of parent you are (and how creativity was – or wasn't – encouraged in your own childhood) as it is about providing ideas. I'm not sure this book is so much for parents as for anyone who has been a child."
—Vic Groskop, The Guardian (UK)
"Use this great guide to increase creativity for your children–and for you, too."
—Kristen Kemp, Parents.com
"This book spoke to me as if its author was an old friend—one who saw me through obsessive, self-neglecting new parenthood, and now knows me as a more well-rounded person with happy children. And that distinction is just the point. As parents, we care for our children as best as we know how, but we must also take time (even tiny moments) to care for ourselves and nurture our own creative needs and desires. In doing so, we cultivate joy in our lives, which we can then share with—and model for—our children. The chapters are chock-full of practical advice, delightful activities, and playful exercises that get your and your child's creative juices flowing."
—Redbook
"In The Artist’s Way for Parents, Cameron helps parents unleash their children’s creativity and sense of wonder. he beauty of Cameron’s advice is that she offers very specific, undaunting exercises for the, shall we say, less artistically inclined among us. There is definitely a spiritual bent to Cameron’s work—readers of her memoirs know she is a Christian. But hers is a gentle, ecumenical approach, and she is never off-putting. Rather, her interest is in supporting calm, loving environments where children are free to explore and express themselves."
—Book Page
Praise for THE ARTIST'S WAY.....
“THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron is not exclusively about writing—it is about discovering and developing the artist within whether a painter, poet, screenwriter or musician—but it is a lot about writing. If you have always wanted to pursue a creative dream, have always wanted to play and create with words or paints, this book will gently get you started and help you learn all kinds of paying-attention techniques; and that, after all, is what being an artist is all about. It’s about learning to pay attention.”
--Anne Lamott, Mademoiselle
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“The premise of the book is that creativity and spirituality are the same thing, they come from the same place. And we were created to use this life to express our individuality, and that over the course of a lifetime that gets beaten out of us. [THE ARTIST’S WAY] helped me put aside my fear and not worry about whether the record would be commercial.”
--Grammy award-winning singer Kathy Mattea
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“Julia Cameron brings creativity and spirituality together with the same kind of step-by-step wisdom that Edgar Cayce encouraged. The result is spiritual creativity as a consistent and nourishing part of daily life.”
--Venture Inward
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“I never knew I was a visual artist until I read Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY.”
--Jannene Behl in Artist’s Magazine
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“Julia Cameron’s landmark book THE ARTIST’S WAY helped me figure out who I really was as an adult, not so much as an artist but as a person. And award-winning journalist and poet, Cameron’s genius is that she doesn’t tell readers what they should do to achieve or who they should be—instead she creates a map for readers to start exploring these questions themselves.”
--Michael F. Melcher, Law Practice magazine
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“This is not a self-help book in the normative sense. It is simply a powerful book that can challenge one to move into an entirely different state of personal expression and growth.”
--Nick Maddox, Deland Beacon
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“THE ARTIST’S WAY (with its companion volume THE ARTIST’S WAY MORNING PAGES JOURNAL) becomes a friend over time, not just a journal. Like a journal, it provokes spontaneous insights and solutions; beyond journaling, it establishes a process that is interactive and dynamic.”
--Theresa L. Crenshaw, M.D., San Diego Union-Tribune
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�“If you really want to supercharge your writing, I recommend that you get a copy of Julia Cameron’s book THE ARTIST’S WAY. I’m not a big fan of self-help books, but this book has changed my life for the better and restored my previously lagging creativity.”
--Jeffrey Bairstow, Laser Focus World
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“Working with the principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Cameron developed a three month program to recover creativity. THE ARTIST’S WAY shows how to tap into the higher power that connects human creativity and the creative energies of the universe.”
--Mike Gossie, Scottsdale Tribune
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“THE ARTIST’S WAY is the seminal book on the subject of creativity and an invaluable guide to living the artistic life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published in 1992, it is a provocative and inspiring work. Updated and expanded, it reframes THE ARTIST’S WAY for a new century.”
--Branches of Light
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“THE ARTIST’S WAY has sold over 3 million copies since its publication in 1992. Cameron still teaches it because there is sustained demand for its thoughtful, spiritual approach to unblocking and nurturing creativity. It is, dare we say, timeless.”
--Nancy Colasurdo, FOXBusiness
Praise for VEIN OF GOLD, the second volume in the ARTIST’S WAY trilogy
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“For those seeking the wellspring of creativity, this book, like its predecessor, is a solid gold diving rod.”
--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
About the Author
Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than three decades. She is the author of more than thirty books, including bestselling works on the creative process: The Artist’s Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. Also a novelist, playwright, songwriter, and poet, she has multiple credits in theater, film, and television.
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Emma Lively is a classical violist turned musical theater writer, composer, and lyricist. She is the president of LivelyWorks, a production company, and owner of Bunny’s Bakery, a custom catering business. She has served as Julia Cameron’s business manager for a decade, and has contributed music and lyrics to Cameron’s musical works.
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Excerpt. � Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
Twenty years ago, I published a book called The Artist’s Way. Its premise, that creativity is a spiritual matter and that we are all creative, struck a chord with the reading audience. Nearly four million people bought The Artist’s Way and worked with its toolkit. When I would go out to teach, people would approach me with gifts.
“I used your tools and this is what I made,” they would say, handing me a book, a CD, or a DVD. But with the gifts often came a request: “I’m a parent. Could you write a book about creativity in children?”
“No,” I always laughed. “If you want your children to be creative, practice creativity yourself. Children learn from what we do.” I would face down the disappointment in my petitioners. I truly believed that if they worked their Artist’s Way program, they would come upon imaginative and innovative ways to parent.
But perhaps my answer was too thin. Year after year, request after request, I resisted because I thought that children were already creative, and that their parents could always use the basic Artist’s Way text to free themselves creatively and set an example for their children. But what of the parents who were not already familiar with The Artist’s Way? The early years of parenting were an un-likely time for busy parents to launch into an intensive creative recovery of their own. What assumptions was I making about creative parenting based on my own immersion in a creative life? What assumptions was I making based on my own parents’ parenting—which had been colorful and encouraging? Perhaps there were lessons that could—and should—be taught.
For two decades, people have asked me to write this book.
And so, why now? As my own daughter embarks upon her new journey as a wife and mother, I find myself rethinking my position, wanting to give my daughter a practical toolkit that she can use in her mothering. I want to pass on the tools I myself used as well as the tools my own very creative mother employed.
I come from a family of seven children. Every single one of us makes our living by our wits. My older sister, Connie, is a writer, my brother Jaimie is a musician, my sister Libby is a painter, my brother Christopher is a musician, and my sister Lorrie is another writer, as is my youngest sister, Pegi.
As for my mother, she was a poet who loved mothering. She kept a large bulletin board where she posted our latest artwork. Each holiday was marked by thematically related art projects. We made ghosts and goblins for Halloween, we made snowflakes for Christmas, we made Valentine’s Day cards, and we made Easter eggs. All of us worked on our projects at the big oak dining room table. Boys and girls alike tried their hand at crafts. Our mother displayed our efforts along the wall of our spiral staircase. She taught us the art of making snowflake cutouts, and our flakes were posted on every available window.
Between holidays, our mother still made sure we had art sup-plies. I remember drawing a rearing palomino horse, which my father framed and hung in the family room. There was no sense of competition among the siblings. We were encouraged to delight in one another’s gifts. In this regard, our parents set a good example, always thrilled by what we had wrought.
Somehow, my parents never conveyed to us the message of our culture: that it was difficult to make money as an artist, or that being an artist wasn’t a “real” job. Exercising our creativity was always regarded as a worthwhile endeavor. When we told them of our dreams, they never said, “Oh, sweetheart, don’t you think you need something to fall back on?” Instead, they supported our belief that we could do—and even make a living doing—what we loved.
Looking back, I see my parents as unusual, even radical, in their stubborn support of our creativity. Regardless of cultural norms, they unapologetically placed deep value on creating a culture of healthy creativity in the home. Is it a coincidence—or any wonder—that we all grew up to make our living using our creative gifts? Did this upbringing set the stage for the concepts I would articulate and develop in The Artist’s Way and in thirty more books beyond it?
I’m not a parenting expert. I’m a creativity expert. I am a parent, however, and I used creativity tools in mothering my own child. As she grew up, she reflected back to me my belief that there are few things more inherent—or precious—in children than their creativity. Creativity is a spiritual undertaking. Parenting is also a spiritual undertaking. We are entrusted with the care of our children’s souls as well as their bodies. There are—and will always be—myriad books on the science of child development. The Artist’s Way for Parents is not one of them. It is a spiritual tool-kit, a support, a guide.
In a culture of “more,” the “more” applies to parenting as well. We are perfectionists and we want our children to be perfect. We obsess about the outcome of our actions as we hover above our children, trying to provide every opportunity, every bit of knowledge and exposure. We worry about our toddler’s college education. We think, as parents, that we must be very serious. But we are serious enough. It is a healthy dose of joy that our children require. Let us loosen our grip on the obsession with perfection, with the “mastery” of parenting, and allow ourselves to explore and delight in the mystery instead.
And so, a toolkit: For children, healthy guidance and encouragement of their creative gifts. For parents, companionship, structure, support. Every child—and every parent—is creative. For some of us, it may be easier to see our children’s creativity than our own. As we take in their openness and sense of possibility, we may find that they remind us of our own potential, as well. Exercising our creativity is an act of faith, which connects us to a higher power. When we are willing to explore our creative gifts, we allow both ourselves and our children to connect to something greater—and to each other.
I will use the word “God” in this book. Please do not let semantics stop you from experimenting with the concepts within. No matter what you call it—the source, the force, the universe, the Tao—there is a benevolent Something greater than ourselves to which we can connect. We can find a spiritual path regardless of our religious upbringing, which, for many of us, may have lapsed. Fostering our children’s creativity, we are fostering our children’s spirituality as well. Parents and children have independent and direct relationships to a higher power, and so both al-ways have an unlimited supply of spiritual support available to them. This book will help parents and children alike tap into that source.
Every child has different needs at different times. And yet the same spiritual tools provide answers over and over. This source-book focuses on universal concepts that parents can return to again and again as their children evolve. It functions as a gentle reminder that we are all spiritual beings with creativity stamped into our DNA. The smallest bit of spiritual encouragement yields large results. Divided into twelve chapters, each with a spiritual theme and accompanying exercises, The Artist’s Way for Parents is aimed at parents with children newborn through age twelve. It is never too early—or too late—to nurture children’s creativity. Working with this book, parents replenish their own creative stores as well as nurture those of their children, giving them valu-able tools for the journey toward adulthood.
Parenting is a great adventure. The early years of parenting can be one of the most inspiring chapters of your life, opening you to love and growth you may not have yet experienced. Using these years to tap into your own creativity as well as your child’s, you will love and grow together. Awakening your child’s sense of curiosity and wonder helps you reawaken your own. Reawakening your own sense of curiosity and wonder helps you awaken your child’s. Exercising creativity, alone and together, strengthens the bond between parent and child. Funded by optimism, your child is guided to an expansive and adventurous life.
THE THREE BASIC TOOLS
The Artist’s Way for Parents utilizes three basic tools: Morning Pages, Creative Expeditions, and Highlights. These tools, when used in conjunction with one another, will help you to develop a sense of guidance, energy, and clarity as you explore the many healthy creative impulses that will arise for you and for your children. Used consistently, these tools will give you a spiritual foundation and an ongoing sense of structure and safety.
1. Morning Pages—three pages of longhand daily writing that the parent does alone
The bedrock tool of a creative recovery—or discovery—is some-thing I call Morning Pages. Done first thing, they siphon off negativity as they provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize, and synchronize the day at hand. Sometimes parents feel that they have lost their right to privacy, but this does not have to be the case. Morning Pages are for your eyes only. They are a safe place to vent, muse, strategize, and dream. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages. Just write longhand—yes, longhand—for three pages, about anything, and then stop. Do not share your Morning Pages with anyone. I have had students shred, burn, hide, or lock up their Morning Pages. I myself have often joked that in my will, it should state, “First, cremate the Morning Pages. Then take care of the body.” Morning Pages are a portable, private support kit for the parent. Parenting is an emotional experience, and you are al-lowed to have all of the feelings you are experiencing. Morning Pages are a safe place for you to process these feelings, ultimately making you able to be more present in your day—and with your child.
“But Julia!” my students sometimes exclaim. “I don’t have time to get up and do Morning Pages before my child wakes up.” I tell them to do as many Pages as they can before their child wakes, and then to go about their family duties, finishing the Pages as they can. In a perfect world, we would all have time to get Morning Pages done in their entirety. But it is better to get them done piecemeal than not at all. What is important here is that you have a place to safely process turbulent emotions. Virginia Woolf said that a writer needed “a room of her own,” by which I take it that she meant all writers need privacy and solitude. I would extend this advice to include everybody, not just writers, and most especially parents. Viewed this way, the Morning Pages can be seen as a private, portable “room of your own.” At first, it may be tempting to share them, but within weeks of having started the process, the importance of their privacy will be revealed.
I invented Morning Pages when my daughter was a toddler and I was feeling overwhelmed by her demands for my attention. I began getting up earlier than my daughter and taking myself quickly to the page. I was having a feeling common to many new mothers: I don’t know who I am anymore. The Pages helped me make contact with myself.
Morning Pages are not intended to be “art.” Rather, they are “artless.” The simple act of moving the hand across the page puts us into contact with our authentic self. It is important that they are written longhand. Most of us are able to go faster by computer. But faster is not better. In this case, velocity is the enemy.
Picture yourself driving a car, speeding along at seventy-five miles an hour. “Oops! Was that my exit? Was that a gas station or a convenience store?” This is what it is like to write Morning Pages on the computer.
Now picture yourself driving more temperately, at fifty-five: “Here comes a gas station,” and “It’s my exit—there’s a convenience store, too.” In other words, Morning Pages allow you to place yourself precisely in the landscape of your life.
I often think of Morning Pages as a form of meditation uniquely suited to hyperactive Westerners. It is very difficult for most of us to sit for twenty minutes and do nothing. Pages allow you to sit and do something. With Pages we are saying, “This is what I like, this is what I don’t like. . . . This is what I want more of, this is what I want less of.” It is as if we are sending a telegram to the Universe.
“But Julia! I’m already shy on sleep,” I can hear you protesting. I need to tell you that I sympathize, and promise you that the Morning Pages will bring you time and energy.
When I began writing Morning Pages, I was a single mother. Domenica and I were living in Taos, New Mexico, in an adobe house at the end of a winding dirt road. The house had windows looking north to Taos Mountain. I would get up early and take myself to a long pine table where I faced north. I don’t know where the idea came from for me to write three pages daily, but that is what I did, rising as the sun cleared the mountains. At first my Pages were grumpy and griping. I was asking them what direction I should take next. At the time, I was a Hollywood screen-writer, and my scripts kept being bought but not made. I was discouraged. And then, one morning as I was finishing my Morning Pages, a character strolled into my consciousness along with the idea, “You could write a novel, not a movie.” And so I did. Every day I would write my Morning Pages and then turn my hand to writing a novel. The Pages had seen my creative dilemma and offered me a solution. As time went on, I found my Pages offering me solutions for problems of many stripes. Finishing my novel, my Pages made it clear to me that I didn’t really want to live down a dirt road in an adobe house. Maybe someday, just not now. Instead, the Pages suggested I should go back to New York. When I did that, I received the marching orders that told me I was to teach.
I remember it all so clearly: I was walking in Greenwich Village, and I was praying for another writing idea. What I heard clearly was the directive, “Teach.” I was horrified. I didn’t want to teach. I thought that teaching would squelch my own inner artist. Heading home from my walk, I called a girlfriend.
“Regina,” I said. “I’ve been called to teach.”
“Ahh,” said Regina. “I’ll call you right back.”
True to her word, she phoned me fifteen minutes later.
“Congratulations,” she said. “You’re now on the faculty of the New York Feminist Art Institute, and your first class gathers on Thursday.”
And so it was that I started teaching, assigning my students three pages of morning writing and discovering, for them as for me, that the Pages led to breakthroughs.
I noticed that this phenomenon seemed particularly true for parents. Although they protested that they “couldn’t” do them, they in fact did do them, and excitedly reported insights and ideas that came tumbling onto the page. The loneliness of parenting made the Pages an all-the-more-valuable companion. At last, someone to talk to.
I urge you to try Morning Pages, and discover the results for yourself.
2. Creative Expedition—a once-weekly dual adventure that the parent and child plan, look forward to, and take together
A Creative Expedition doesn’t need to be large, but it does need to be festive. The point is to refill our spiritual coffers. When looking for ideas for Creative Expeditions, think whimsy, frivolity, fun. Depending on the age of your children, they may be actively involved in choosing the destination.
Natasha, a stay-at-home mom, started taking Creative Expeditions when her child was still an infant. “I knew I needed to get out of the house. The fresh air was good for me and for my daughter. I would put her in her carrier and venture out to a place that I would enjoy. Sometimes it was a museum, sometimes it was a shoe store. I could tell that even though my child was too young to experience the places herself, she was alert and taking in the images. I could tell the change of scenery interested her and made her happy, as it did me. As my daughter got older, she helped me choose the adventures. I took her to zoos and toy stores, aquariums and concerts. Even though I might have done this anyway, the act of making a point of it, planning the outing and looking forward to it, made all the difference. It forced me to come up with a new adventure every week. It’s been one of the favorite things my daughter and I do together.”
For parents of older or multiple children, the act of organizing Creative Expeditions can bring a sense of magic into the home. Minette, a mother of four, rotates which son gets to choose the adventure of the week.
“My oldest, Cormic, is twelve and loves planning the Creative Expedition,” Minette says. “He’s very protective of his three younger brothers, and he takes pride in choosing something that everyone will enjoy. I feel like he’s getting some good experience with parenting, really. Having multiple children is a balancing act. But there are adventures that everyone can participate in. It is always a bonding experience for our family. The older my kids get, the more responsibility they take—and the more interested they are in taking responsibility in the first place.”
For parent and child, the commitment to planned “fun” can be a highlight of the week—and one of the most important parts of developing consistency and wonder in the lives of our children. It is important that Creative Expeditions do not evolve into shopping trips. A visit to the zoo or an aquarium is preferable to visiting a toy store.
3. Highlights—a daily bedtime ritual in which the parent and child each share their favorite moment from the day
Many mothers and fathers reach day’s end tired—and even crabby. Tucking their child into bed, they are ready for the day to be over. But bedtime can be a time of restorative ritual. The third tool, Highlights, helps to end the day on a positive note. “Here was my very favorite part of the day,” the parent says. “It was when we went to the dog park and watched the dogs play. What was your favorite part of the day?”
“I liked swinging,” their child may reply, or even, “Me too,” also picking the dog park.
“Yes. It was fun to push you on the swing,” or “Yes—I thought you were enjoying those puppies.” The habit of looking for the positive is something that makes each day’s march into a game.
Domenica and I practiced this nightly ritual. Now, living in separate cities, we still maintain the routine of a daily check-in. Our conversations need not be long for us to connect and feel up to date with each other’s lives as we quickly review the most memorable parts of our day.
A habit of reviewing the day’s highlights is a habit of forging happy memories.
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
A Way for Parents and Children to Connect
By Story Circle Book Reviews
Having been involved in women's writing circles for almost ten years, I had heard a lot about Julia Cameron before I ever set eyes on The Artist's Way for Parents: Raising Creative Children. Many of my friends are avid proponents of her morning pages, and quotes from her previous books are always showing up in my Facebook newsfeed. Personally, though, this book for parents was my first real exposure to Cameron's ideas and methods. First, yes. Last, no. I plan on reading more from her in the future.
I am a homeschooling mother of eight, and creativity has always been a big part of my life and the way I raise my children. Cameron's book helped me take a closer look at the hows and whys of this process and gave me new ideas to use with my children. I started doing the morning pages, though admittedly sometimes I revert back to my old habit of journaling at night. I have found that writing them in the morning helps me to organize my thoughts and priorities and see my day more clearly. Cameron presents parents with ways to connect with their children and see what they want to do, and invites them to spend time together in creative, exciting ways. I enjoyed doing many of the exercises with my children and seeing what they came up with for things to do at home and places they want to see outside of the house. I learned a little more about each one, which made the whole process valuable without a doubt.
One way that I think the book falls a bit short is that Cameron seems to be targeting new parents, or parents of very small children, rather than the wider audience of parents and children in general. Reading the book, one can get the idea that if you didn't do it when the children were babies, you're out of luck now that they are older. I wish she had broadened her scope and addressed parents at all stages and children of all ages.
That said, I found the book to be incredibly useful with all of my children, who range in age from three to eighteen (my oldest is no longer at home). The Artist's Way for Parents is an excellent resource for parents of children of all ages. I think that there is as much here for the parents to learn and experience as there is for the children. I don't always agree with everything she says, but the book is an entertaining and valuable resource that we will be using often.
by Khadijah A.
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Parents' Hands-On Creativity Book
By Conny
Title: The Artist's Way for Parents
Author: Julia Cameron with Emma Lively
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 978-0-399-16372-2
"When we are willing to explore our creative gifts, we allow both ourselves and our children to connect to something greater - and to each other," Julia Cameron states in the introduction to her book, "The Artist's Way for Parenting - Raising Creative Children."
This hardback book is two hundred and seventy pages, targeted mainly toward parents of young children. With a foreword by Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Emma Lively also contributes to the book. There are acknowledgements and an index at the end.
Within twelve chapters, Cameron discusses ways to cultivate creativity in both parents and children. Topics include safety, curiosity, connection, limits, self-expression, inventiveness, conscious inflow, focus, discovery, humility, independence and faith. Each chapter has an eclectic blend of ideas to promote the topic along with "exercise" boxes of tasks to complete, write about or discuss.
To use the book effectively, the author suggests three tools: writing three hand-written "Morning Pages" daily about anything that comes to mind, taking a creative expedition weekly and ending each day by reviewing the day's highlights with the child.
Because children mimic their parents, if they see us be creative, they will copy our actions and words. Using the three tools, parents move away from isolation toward connection among their children, family, and friends, producing healthy relationships.
Within the chapters' exercises, parents are encouraged to have artist's dates, safety circles, downtime and new experiences so they can become more playful and promote interests in their children. The best toys are the most open-ended ones of being simple as less is better to prompt imagination.
Since there is such a mix of ideas in each chapter, emotional and spiritual ramifications are also presented. As an example, the chapter on cultivating humility mentions how to focus on our wishes, overcome competition when with sibling rivalry by gift giving, and not constantly pressure our children.
With many personal scenarios told by the writer who was a single parent during her daughter's upbringing, the book ends on an uplifting note that God is in control of both parent and child as they live, love and create together.
As one reads through the book, he or she concludes that creativity and imagination in children begins by example of those around them, especially in the home. This book hones mostly from the pro-active parental aspect of promoting creativity.
This book was furnished by Finn Partners in lieu of an unbiased review.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
First Julia Cameron experience and loving it!
By melissam36
I am only 1/3 of the way through, but I am very happy that I bought the book. If you're a busy parent who has questioned if you have the time to read for pleasure, let alone explore your creative yearnings, this is a must-read. As Cameron states, "taking pleasure in our true interests teaches [your children] to do the same"(p. 35).
Structure
The book is nicely organized into 12 chapters with brief exercises parsed out through the chapters. For example, as Cameron explores the importance of unstructured play, she asks the reader to list the playtime activities s/he most enjoyed as a kid. The second part of the exercise challenges the reader to find a way to share those same treasured play activities with her/his child. Cameron shares stories of her clients throughout the years to demonstrate the validity of these exercises as well as the other advice she offers. As someone who loves to take notes in a book like this, I appreciate the wide outer margins of each page, as well as the blank page used to divide the chapters, as it's here that I can jot down the ideas I develop to use with my own kids.
My Experience in Reading
For me personally, the book has brought a delving-into-the-past component that bears a strong resemblance to therapy. I actually appreciate this, even though at times it's been emotionally challenging. I get these sense that Cameron would make a very good coach - she pushes just to the point that her readers can handle! I find her tone authentic and loving, and I appreciate that her sense of "God" (as she brings God up at several points in the book) is conveyed in a way that meets others where they are in their journey with God. That said, the book is not religious, in case anyone was wondering.
My Recommendations
I have not read the original she wrote, so if you have "The Artists Way," you may not need this book. I had been hearing from people for years that I should read the former, so now I feel like I am killing two birds with one stone --- exploring my own creative nature, while learning practical ways to instill that in my children, i.e. making a doll, going on nature walks, bringing flowers into the house so that color and texture can be explored, etc. Reading this book will prove to be an easy 15 minutes of time to yourself each day!
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