Envy shoots at others and wounds itself. English Proverb The last hazard of the road that Julia warns of in Chapter Eight is the danger of competition. What we consider a friendly rivalry can all too easily morph into a poisonous compare-and-contrast. Like the longing for fame or recognition, gauging our work against the success … Read more
In Spain, when a performer has done something impossible and magic — magnificent, bravo — incomprehensible, there it is – a glimpse of God – Allah! Allah! Olé! Olé! — Elizabeth Gilbert I. know that Julia’s description of the road hazard of fame doesn’t resonate with many of us. That word, I think, conjures up … Read more
From Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love – some powerful and inspiring observations about what it means to be creative and how do we nurture ourselves as creatives? I offer this Sacred Sunday blessing for all of us who are finding our Way.
An empty canvas is a living wonder — far lovelier than certain pictures. Wassily Kandinsky. (1866–1944) By now, I am sure you will have discovered one of the most irksome challenges on our Artist’s Way. I am referring to times of drought. This is when the morning pages get harder to stick to, but are … Read more
For workaholics, all the eggs of self-esteem are in the basket of work. – Dr. Judith M. Bardwick, author and psychological analyst for Fortune 500 corporations Finding a firm line which we recognize is a boundary between enthusiastic work and unhealthy behavior can be very difficult for those of us with work addictions. To get … Read more
A life spent in constant labor is a life wasted, save a man be such a fool as to regard a fulsome obituary notice as ample reward. — George Jean Nathan Wow! It’s been almost a month since we worked on our Artist’s Way path here. I hope that you’ve been using this time to … Read more
The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper (author of The Dark is Rising) And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned … Read more
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. – Freya Stark, The Journey’s Echo How did you do on the workaholism quiz from Friday? Frankly, I am busted on almost every question. Having done this work before, you would think I would have been much … Read more
There is more to life than to increase its speed. — Mahatma Gandhi So now, gentle readers, we are going to zero in on one of our most pervasive, insidious blocks. Julia gives it a full four pages or so. Deep breath. We’re going to take a closer look at workaholism and our addiction to … Read more