“The Artist’s Way” Book Review or “The Way to Freedom From Your Inner Critic”
Sun, Feb 8, 2009
A Passionate Career, Articles to help you Sqoosh!, Creating Success, Emotional Freedom, Helpful Resources
How this book came into my life…
I was first introduced to this book back when I was a college student getting a bachelor’s degree in engineering. One of my best friends (still is 
) bought this book and together we were the misfits of our Engineering School; completely in denial about our heart’s desire to lead a more creative path.
Well, okay. Not completely. We could admit to ourselves and each other that Engineering was our means of and not our way of life. Nonetheless, I quickly snatched up my own copy of The Artist’s Way
The first time I read through this book, I was going through subsequent exam failures and failed out of a college course (or two, okay maybe five!!). What got me through those moments of doubt, insecurity, and beating myself up was the gentle, poetic guidance of this book.
A decade after I bought this book I am now on the path I was meant to be on, that of a writer. Although it feels like I’ve come home and I am loving my new path, it’s in writing that all of my worst inner criticisms and fears bubble up. When I don’t address these criticisms and fears, I experience writer’s block—not something a person who writes for a living can afford to lounge around in!
Time and time again, reading and re-reading The Artist’s Way
Healing words from criticism are peppered throughout The Artist’s Way:
- “Progress, not perfection, is what we should be asking of ourselves.
- Remember that in order to recover as an artist, you must be willing to be a bad artist.
- You are not dumb, crazy, egomaniacal, grandiose, or silly just because you falsely believe yourself to be.
- Useless criticism…is withering and shaming in tone; ambiguous in content; personal, inaccurate, or blanket in its condemnations.
- There is nothing to be gleaned from irresponsible criticism.
- Creativity is the only cure from criticism.”
What you will gain from reading this book:
- Emotional freedom from your Inner Critic
- Self-Reliance if you are emotionally Co-Dependent (are you built up by someone’s praise one moment only to be quickly torn down by another’s criticism?)
- Unlock your creativity to attract abundance in all areas of your life: Financial Prosperity, Career Success, Emotional and Physical Wellness
- Reconnect to who you really are (your authentic self) and feel Whole again
- Align yourself with your forgotten passion and purpose in life
- Recover from the oppression of negativity and its limiting beliefs
- Learn to let go of relationships that no longer serve you (the “crazymakers” who sabotage your efforts to live honestly and create the life you desire)
The single most useful tool I’ve found in The Artist’s Way is the Morning Pages:
Three pages of stream of consciousness thoughts out on paper…
Through writing the Morning Pages I learned to be there for myself and simply listen to what my emotions had to say about things that were happening in my life. These Pages create a safe space to reflect, express fears and other uncomfortable emotions, and through them an amazing breakthrough happened: I began to strengthen my intuition and make better decisions for myself.
There are very few things I found wrong with this book, but…
Here are two areas I felt could use improvement:
- Cameron is a stickler for writing the Morning Pages in the morning. But we are all human! There are days I didn’t get to the Morning Pages until the afternoon or evening. However, I discovered great benefits to writing mid-day or evening pages when I skipped the Morning ones (though the role of these pages differed from the morning ones). The author could have suggested that if you don’t write them in the morning, there’s still opportunity to write them later on in the day.
- The author could have elaborated on the use of Anger to inspire action. In the book she gives the topic of anger barely one page—when it’s a biggie emotion. I could’ve used some tips on how to diffuse and transform it into taking creative action.
Other than that, The Artist’s Way
Whether you are new to healing your life or just shy of getting there, this book has resources and insights that will help you through each stage of your journey.
Have you read The Artist’s Way? What did you think of this book?
If you haven’t read it, do you have any questions I can help you to answer? Feel free to drop it in the comment box below.
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Tags: conquering criticism, conquering perfectionism, creative self-expression, freedom from inner critic, inner critic, personal power, reconnect to authentic self, The Artist's Way book review, unlock creativity, writing Morning Pages
These are great ideas! Recently, I have been looking back at why I neglected my creative side (spoken like an attorney and engineer
). Like the stream-of-conscious writing, I have been devoting part of my day designing and making jewelry. It is a great way to diffuse my energy and even some of my anger. I will have to take a look at the book based on this review! 
@Tammy,
Hi there! Welcome to SqooshYourCritic!
I hear you on the attorney/engineer front, these are two careers that are very left-brain analytical. It can be draining if we aren’t balancing it with some right-brain creative activities.
Making jewelry is a wonderful outlet!
Its a good point you make about diffusing anger in doing something creative. That is a perfect example!
The Artist’s Way is SO healing and soul-expanding, I do hope you get a chance to take a sneak peak at it
I adore this book, the biggest thing about it is that its not just for those who are feeling artistically blocked. You can be an engineer or a programmer or a grocery clerk. No matter what you do – you need to be open to your inner creativity if you are to excel in business and in life…. because you are learning the art of listening and caring for yourself. And who’s to say there’s not a lot of creativity required to solve problems every day? To be honest, I’ve been horrible at morning pages (and evening pages, and writing in general)… but I really loved her inspirational words and pieces of wisdom on how to get yourself out of creative (and emotional) ruts. I worked through some of the biggest fears in my life that kept me from doing what I wanted to do… and I think this book was a small piece of the puzzle that got me to where I am today.
@Aditi,
That’s another great point: The art of listening and caring for yourself is definitely what this book is about, and much needed in this busy over-worked society!
I absolutely agree: problems are solved by making use of our creativity. We are all creators and in fact, co-creators of reality…We are all born to create and it’s something we feel the urge to do–If it weren’t for that pesky Inner Critic!
Morning pages seems to be one of those things that take 21 days to become a habit. To be honest, I’ve been known to skip a few weeks here and there, LOL! But isn’t it nice to know that they are there for you when you need them
Creative ruts! Great phrase, I’ll have to use that sometime!
That’s wonderful you have moved through your fears and have created the life your heart desires!
Thank you so much for your feedback, I’m sure many people will benefit
Hello Carla…nice to see you posting again! The book sounds excellent, one that I would tend to read and re-read. Thank you for reviewing it.
Karen