Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” journey transformed my creative process to be more expansive, healing, exciting, confident, and connected.
I create songs to heal and connect. My process consistently ignites fascinating emotional processing and fuller self-expression. From early sex poetry and classical piano to ukulele adventures and an upcoming feature at open mic night, my musical journey keeps expanding.
Several years ago, I playfully crafted a few songs on piano and guitar. Without a loving process or the right artistic encouragement, I stopped. Then, I synchronously stumbled onto “The Artist’s Way” book laying on the sidewalk three years ago, and several creative projects took off, including my singing and songwriting journey.
When I sit down to play with music, I listen to the feelings and stories that need to be expressed. When the right lyrics, melody, chords, and vocal tones click to really channel something real, it’s exhilarating. Letting the music be a spiritual process makes everything make way more sense. I get to be an instrument for something bigger to shine through.
This year, I began crafting new songs nearly every week, sharing them with friends at picnics and local open mic nights. That process expanded and last weekend I got to open for a large band at my partner’s party. My 15-minute set led to rich conversations and sweet connections.
If you haven’t started “The Artist’s Way” yet, I highly recommend it. Cameron recently released the 30th-anniversary edition, and people are talking about how doing her book changes lives. I talk more about Cameron’s creative recovery process in a recent post.
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1. I’ve always been creative.
I read books, wrote in my journals, created poetry, and played piano at 11 years old. I continued studying classical piano for ten years and got into a college music program. I wrote poetry about sex, heartbreak, and optimism.
I told stories with my beanie babies, like long, complex narratives with histories for each community member — all safely within my room.
Looking back, it’s easy to see how naturally artistic I am. Doing the work with “The Artist’s Way” book really helped me recover that expansive, playful inner child again.
Spoiling, pampering, and reconnecting to my inner child have been such exciting parts of the creative recovery process.
2. I’m meant to do songwriting.
I wrote my first song on piano in high school. An early romance with heavy emotions inspired me to create an instrumental song called “Nearing Dawn.” I just guessed and listened to what felt right – I still love and remember the song.
In college, I mixed my poetry with piano chords and sang quietly, not wanting anyone to hear.
A few years later, I picked up the guitar, figured out three simple chords, and wrote an enthusiastic song about moving to San Francisco. At that moment, I knew I wasn’t “good” at guitar by any technical standards. It just felt so good to make something and express myself. I got to be audacious. I made a song, and that felt pretty cool.
3. Showing up for the process makes all the difference.
Cameron’s work helped me enjoy the process for its own sake. I leaned into the book with the morning pages, artist dates, readings, and tasks. It felt like learning how to play again and how to remove pressure to be perfect. I learned to be a beginner and detach more from the results.
Being a good artist means creating a good life. Set small goals and follow through. I’m enjoying the process, even when it’s annoying sometimes.
4. Enjoying the process is everything.
I picked up the ukulele this year because it looked cute, sounded fun, and felt good. Also, it’s very portable. I tapped back into that audacious energy to tell stories, sort my feelings, communicate, connect, and heal my inner world.
I tried new things because they sounded fun — and I wanted to complete the “The Artist’s Way” tasks. I took pole dance classes for a year and bought myself the 6-inch dance heels. I purchased a fuzzy hot pink sweater because it scared me a little and excited me a lot. I do ecstatic dance every week because it challenges and heals me.
If I’m enjoying the process, I’ll keep showing up for it. If I’m writing songs that feel good, I’ll gradually improve my technical skills. That’s been my experience.
5. Singing a cat’s story gives me joy.
Though I’ve mostly written about relationships and healing, I recently explored more genres. I wrote a song about technology called “Human-Centered.” I sang about my job search in a piece called “Material World.” This week, I’m finishing “Cat Dreams,” a song describing an indoor cat’s craving to be “a king” and “ruler of the night.”
After a tough week, embracing silliness felt right. Channeling others’ stories in music and creating animal narratives just might be a new creative direction for me, or at least something I’m learning a lot from right now.
This Bengal cat named Sonu sits at the front door poking his head out the window or sniffing the air from the mailbox slot. He’s developed a habit of loudly meowing and begging to go for walks.
Beneath the silliness about litter box expectations and dreams of squirrely squirrels, there’s a relatable desire to be in your natural element and free to express your fullest self. I love that.
6. I’ll always be on a healing journey.
I still feel overwhelmed by the “not good enough” feeling sometimes. Determining which topics to write about, how much to share, and when to share it, I get stuck in my head sometimes. I know many people feel similarly.
I know I’ll always be doing inner work and my healing process, and that’s okay. Taking breaks matters. Connecting with joy and pleasure matters. Celebrating wins with others matters.
7. If you want to write songs, start writing songs.
It’s really that simple (technically anyway). There’s a TED talk about learning skills that breaks it down a little more.
First, figure out what exactly you want to be doing. For me, sharing songs around a bonfire with friends feels like an emotional north star.
Next, learn just enough to start practicing and doing the thing on your own. I took a few guitar lessons from Tomas Michaud’s YouTube channel. I engaged in a few songwriting classes on MasterClass and Udemy, including St. Vincent’s course. I also pulled on music theory from my piano training and one voice class I took in college.
Then, explore resources to make adjustments as needed and keep doing the thing.
8. I deserve to take up space with my music.
I’ve often worried that I’m taking up too much space or just want attention.
Then, when I spend 60 seconds to challenge these unhelpful thoughts, I remember how valuable my creativity is, how meaningful my messages are, how necessary the journey is, how important emotional connection is, and why every step of the process matters.
We really can inspire each other at every level of our creative journeys, and that’s amazing.
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I’m looking forward to featuring at The Center’s open mic night this Sunday, October 29th. I’ll be playing my new “Cat Dreams” song and two other favorites. Sharing with other artists keeps inspiring me and spurring new ideas for my process and projects.
For example, my partner Anas Qtiesh captured the feature photo for this post, and I got to witness his creative editing process. His skill, kindness, and thoughtfulness inspire me so much. Thank you for all you do, Anas!
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I publish inspiring, empowering content on self-actualization topics once a week (Tuesdays). I include insights from personal experience, research, expert advice, and others’ stories. I use my professional journalism and research background to keep posts concise, empathic, and trustworthy.
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