“Without The Artist's Way, there would have been no Eat, Pray, Love.” -Elizabeth Gilbert "The Artist's Way 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 "This is a book that addresses a delicate and complex subject. For those who will use it, it is a valuable tool to get in touch with their own creativity." -Martin Scorsese

Chapter Page Foreword by Natalie Goldberg vii Introduction to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition of The Artist's Way ix Introduction xv Spiritual Electricity: The Basic Principles 1 The Basic Tools 9 Week 1 Recovering a Sense of Safety 25 Shadow Artists 28 Your Enemy Within: Core Negative Beliefs 30 Your Ally Within: Affirmative Weapons 33 Creative Affirmations 36 Tasks 37 Check-In 40 Week 2 Recovering a Sense of Identity 41 Going Sane 41 Poisonous Playmates 42 Crazymakers 44 Skepticism 49 Attention 52 Rules of the Road 55 Tasks 56 Check-In 58 Week 3 Recovering a Sense of Power 61 Anger 61 Synchronicity 62 Shame 67 Dealing with Criticism 72 Detective Work, an Exercise 73 Growth 74 Tasks 75 Check-In 77 Week 4 Recovering a Sense of Integrity 79 Honest Changes 79 Buried Dreams, an Exercise 86 Reading Deprivation 87 Tasks 89 Check-In 90 Week 5 Recovering a Sense of Possibility 91 Limits 91 Finding the River 94 The Virtue Trap 96 The Virtue-Trap Quiz 101 Forbidden Joys, an Exercise 101 Wish List, an Exercise 102 Tasks 103 Check-In 104 Week 6 Recovering a Sense of Abundance 105 The Great Creator 105 Luxury 108 Counting, an Exercise 112 Money Madness, an Exercise 113 Tasks 113 Check-In 115 Week 7 Recovering a Sense of Connection 117 Listening 117 Perfectionism 119 Risk 121 Jealousy 123 The Jealousy Map, an Exercise 124 Archeology, an Exercise 125 Tasks 126 Check-In 127 Week 8 Recovering a Sense of Strength 129 Survival 129 The Ivory Power 131 Gain Disguised as Loss 134 Age and Time: Product and Process 138 Filling the Form 140 Early Pattemings, an Exercise 144 Affirmations 145 Tasks 146 Check-In 148 Week 9 Recovering a Sense of Compassion 151 Fear 151 Enthusiasm 153 Creative U-Tums 154 Blasting through Blocks 158 Tasks 160 Check-In 162 Week 10 Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection 163 Dangers of the Trail 163 Workaholism 166 Drought 169 Fame 171 Competition 172 Tasks 175 Check-In 178 Week 11 Recovering a Sense of Autonomy 179 Acceptance 179 Success 182 The Zen of Sports 184 Building Your Artist's Altar 189 Tasks 190 Check-In 191 Week 12 Recovering a Sense of Faith 193 Trusting 193 Mystery 194 The Imagination at Play 195 Escape Velocity 198 Tasks 200 Check-In 201 Creativity Contract 202 Epilogue 203 The Artist's Way 203 Words for It 204 The Artist's Way Questions and Answers 205 Creative Clusters Guide 211 Appendix 1 Trail Mix 217 Forming a Sacred Circle 217 An Artist's Prayer 223 Appendix 2 Trail Markers 225 Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition of The Artist's Way Reading List 233 Resources 237 Index 239

FOREWARD This is the grand twenty-fifth anniversary edition of The Artist’s Way. How deeply it has ef­fected so many people. Back in the early ’90s Julia dared to claim that each and every person has within them a source of creativity, that it can be watered and it can bloom. How demo­cratic! How American! That art is not just for the elite, the special few struck by lightning. What she says is liberating and true. There is a hunger out there―it continues to sell at a fast pace and be absorbed into our conscience. I’ve seen it on display in the obvious places―bookstores, art museums―but I’ve also seen it for sale on the shelf of a hardware store, a grocery counter, in a pharmacy, and at a map store. This secret of creativity has seeped over into odd nooks and crannies, out of closets, into bare sight. Julia Cameron is my friend. We share the love of place―one of a writer’s primary tools. We knew each other in Taos, New Mexico, where a deep source of our creativity sprung. I know her now also in Santa Fe walking her dog through the chamisa. One day when we were together and I was complaining about my life’s trajectory, she turned to me with her blue eyes and soft smile and said, “I want to never stop opening up people’s lives.” And she practices what she preaches, writing plays, musicals, novels―and little known to many, bakes a terrific peach pie. She is also a deep and dedicated listener to a friend’s woes. Julia continues to grow her inner life. People feel this in the book’s integrity. May The Artist’s Way continue to enlighten, march on through the transience of politics, the zigzag shifts in our human life. May it continue to be available for a long, long time. --NATALIE GOLDBERG INTRODUCTION TO THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE ARTIST’S WAY I am seated alone in a cafe, dining solo. A woman approaches my table. “Pardon me,” she says, “has anyone ever told you you re­semble Julia Cameron?” Startled, I reply, “I am Julia Cameron.” Now it is the woman’s turn to be surprised. “Oh my God,” she exclaims, “your book changed my life. It made me a novelist.” “That’s wonderful,” I tell her, genuinely pleased. “I bet you hear stories like mine all the time,” the woman says. “In fact, I do, but it doesn’t take away the thrill.” Twenty-five years ago, I published The Artist’s Way, a book that I think of as a support kit for artists. Its popularity caught me by surprise. I thought I was writing a book for myself and a handful of friends. Instead, I wrote a book that spoke to millions. It had a central premise―we are all creative― and with the use of a few simple tools, we can all become more creative. Creativity, I believed, was a spiritual practice. We had only to open ourselves up to the Great Creator working through us. We became channels for spiritual energy to enter the world. Writing, painting, dancing, acting―no matter what form our creativity took, the Great Creator caused us to flourish. And so, encounters like mine in the cafe became commonplace. The sentence is always the same: “Your book changed my life.” “No,” I often reply. “You changed your life. You used the tools I laid out for you.” I think it is important for people to own their own spiri­tual practice. My toolkit is simple, and it invites practitioners to embrace simplicity. A recent review of my latest book noted that the tools were “simple and repetitive.” I think of this as a good thing. The tools do not change book to book. The same simple tools that worked in The Artist’s Way work still, a dozen books later. In my travels, I encounter practitioners who have used the tools for years. “I’ve done Morning Pages for fifteen years,” a man recently told me. His Morning Pages―three pages of longhand, morning writing, have filled journal after journal. He doesn’t give them up, because they “work.” A woman tells me the second primary tool, Artist Dates, a once a week, festive, solo expedition, have given her a life of adventure. Used together, Morning Pages and Artist Dates do trans­form lives. “I’ve given your book to my mother and my sister,” a woman tells me at a book signing. “It worked for all of us,” she says. “Now I want you to sign a book for my boyfriend.” I ask his name, and write the simple phrase, “May our words be friends.” I trust that the book will “work” for him, too. I have come to rely on the book. I trust that it is indeed life- hanging. “Julia, don’t you get tired of hearing our stories?” I am asked. The answer is no. Creativity is never tiresome. It is al­ways an adventure, one I have been privileged to share. “I was a very unhappy lawyer,” a Broadway actor tells me. “Then I used your tools. Now I am an actor―and a happy one.” “I was what you called a ‘shadow artist,’” a thriving di­rector tells me. “I was a producer until I used your toolkit, and emerged as a director. I’ve worked with your book three times, and each time has led to a breakthrough. Thank you.” “Your tools felt natural to me,” a fine arts photographer tells me. “I used to create in spurts, but your tools have given me consistent productivity. “Before using The Artist’s Way, my life was very dra­matic,” a poet tells me. “I was always waiting for inspiration to strike like lightening. Now I know that my creativity is a steady flow. I write poems regularly, and without high drama. The poems I write are just as good as any I wrote before.” Sentiments like these make my years of teaching worth­while. I am delighted to have been of service. I receive heart­felt letters thanking me for my work and telling me of the changes it has wrought. Occasionally, the thank-yous are more public. Novelist Patricia Cornwell thanked me in the dedication of her thriller Trace. Musician Pete Townsend cited The Artist’s Way in his autobiography Who Am I. While it is thrilling to have celeb­rity endorsements, the book is perhaps at its best helping the lesser-knowns―and the help isn’t restricted to creativity is­sues. “Julia, I was drunk in the outback. Now I’m sober, and a Hollywood screenwriter,” one practitioner wrote me. It is not uncommon for users of the pages to face down difficult issues such as sobriety, childhood trauma, and obesity. The pages urge honesty in facing down demons. Last fall I taught in Sedona a class of ninety people. On the second night, a meeting was convened for all who felt the impact of The Artist’s Way on their well-being. Person after person cited breakthroughs to clarity and health. When it was my turn to share, I told the group that their recovery gave me great pride. I was grateful for their acknowledge­ment; grateful, too, for the many and varied strides they had taken toward mental, physical, and spiritual health. “Julia,” I am sometimes asked, “aren’t you afraid you are unblocking a lot of bad art?” “No,” I reply. The opposite seems to be the case. The unblocked art is often very fine, and I find myself thinking, “how could they have not known they were an artist?” And yet, many people do not know until they encounter my book. Many artists have never received critical early encourage­ment. As a result, they may not know they are artists at all. Artists love other artists. Shadow artists are gravitating to their rightful tribe, but cannot yet claim their birthright. I urge them to step forward out of the shadows and into the sunlight of creativity. Most of the time, when we are blocked in an area of our life, it is because we feel safer that way. The toolkit lends practitioners a sense of safety. As they learn to take small risks in their Morning Pages, they are led to larger risks. A step at a time, they emerge as artists. It has been a quarter of a century since the tools were first published. It gives me great satisfaction that the book continues to sell, and sell well. It reinforces my belief that we are all creative and have a hunger for further creativity. INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTIST'S WAY When people ask