Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Creative process guru Cameron continues to guide readers on the "spiral path" of their artistic journeys in this eloquent third book (after Walking in This Water) in the series that began with her influential, bestselling creativity manual, The Artist's Way. For those who missed earlier installments, Cameron—an author, teacher and aspiring musical theater lyricist/librettist—rehashes basic tools to get creative juices flowing while also delving into her ongoing personal creative struggle. Structured as a 12-week course in regaining one's relationship with one's own work, whether it be writing, painting or music, the volume grapples with the symbiotic relationship between art and spirituality. Cameron posits a benevolent universe waiting to support the artist in his or her endeavors; the artist simply has to get out of the way and become a channel for the work to speak through them. Toward this end, she instructs readers in exercises for uncovering a sense optimism, balance, resilience, perspective and discipline, among other strengths. Woven through with confessional anecdotes from her life as a writing teacher and oft-blocked artist wrestling with self-esteem and faith in her work, this guidebook's combination of action-oriented steps and heartfelt revelations will speak to legions of struggling artists. (Jan.)
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Product Description

This third book in Julia Cameron's bestselling trilogy on the creative process-beginning with The Artist's Way and Walking in This World-offers guidance on weathering the periods in an artist's life when inspiration appears to have run dry.

Julia Cameron presents a new twelve-week program for addressing those periods in an artist's life when inspiration is lacking. Finding Water offers advice and wisdom about tackling the most challenging issues an artist faces, such as:

- making the decision to begin a new project; - persevering when a new approach to your art does not bear immediate fruit; - staying focused when other parts of your life threaten to distract you from your art; and - spotting possibilities for artistic inspiration in the most unlikely places.

This powerful new installment in Cameron's groundbreaking body of work on the creative process will guide readers to discover enduring inspiration-it will lead them to water.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (December 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585424633
• ISBN-13: 978-1585424634
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #197,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It, January 9, 2007

By	J. "book lover" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

I received a copy of FINDING WATER as a gift almost two weeks ago, and already I can feel it working in my life. I've loved THE ARTIST'S WAY and have done it twice. A couple of years ago I did the sequel, WALKING IN THIS WORLD, which I actually thought was even better than the first book, and really helped me to bring my creativity into the world. Now, with the third book of the trilogy, I can say that it came into my life just when I needed it. It does use the same basic tools that the other two books use, but it deals specifically with finding the strength within to keep going forward, to keep finding inspiration, to keep growing artistically and spiritually. The writing is beautiful, the exercises are challenging (in a good way), and the result for me so far has been a sense of renewal, and of re-connecting to my creative life. I'm doing it with my original Artist's Way group -- we've traveled together for a long time now -- and all of us feel the same way about FINDING WATER: it's great.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Julian Cameron Perseveres, February 6, 2007

By	Dede Ryan (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

The third in Ms. Cameron's trilogy continues her writing legacy. I'll get my bias right out front -- I purchased dozens of "The Artist's Way" more than a decade ago, and continue to gift friends with "The Vein of Gold" and "Walking in the World." Hers are about the only books I buy in hardback because I know I'll return to them again and again. It's not just the guidance that makes her books so compelling. Her phrasing, syntax, ability to draw the reader into her environment and circumstances, makes me keep coming back for more. She is a great story teller, as well as generous with her insights.

That said, her third volume is a bit like watching a train wreck. Especially Chapter 5, as we enter the abyss with her, I began to feel some cracks in the foundation of daily pages and artist's dates. It appears that Ms. Cameron is struggling with her own advice -- "keep the drama on the page." And some of us may feel our own resolve begin to crumble. But as the book progresses, the theme of perseverance certainly proves its value.

Those of us who feel we know Ms. Cameron recognize instantly why she would be walking on mental eggshells. Not only is she not going back to Taos this summer, but she also has chosen to close out her artist's series with this third book. Readers will miss both, and in that knowledge share a small bit of the grief that Ms. Cameron must be experiencing.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More brilliant support from Julia, January 11, 2007

By	cj in Seattle (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This new book is GREAT, and it's a logical topic for artists in general and fans of the AW process in particular. (I don't know HOW the previous reviewer could glance at this book in a store and then patently put it down so quickly!) I'm only 66 pages into it, and it's full of wisdom, tips, quotes and exercises, all geared at helping you keep discouragement at bay. Making art is most often lonely and isolating, and its so easy to fall into negative mind-traps... This book is also interesting because it seems more personal and revelatory--it reads almost like her personal diary, so we learn that Julia herself still struggles with her "inner critic" on what seems like a daily basis; and this is after 40 years as an artist and creativity teacher! I find this pretty comforting as I enter my 5th year of practicing my artform and SO wanting to take it to the next level. I can't put this book down, and I plan on reading the 2nd book (Walking in this World) as soon as I'm done with this one. So I may be a little out of logical sequence, but it's all part of the Big Picture as far as I'm concerned. If you have trouble persevering when the going gets tough, I urge you to order this immediately--you really won't be sorry--I think this woman's greatest gift is her ability to nurture the creative spirit in others, with practical, real-world advice.