Customer Reviews

Walking in this World: The Practical Art of Creativity

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a professional writer and workshop leader who has lived by her words and her wit for twenty-five years, I approached this book with some degree of skepticism. (In the past, I found Cameron's books interesting, but not relevant to my concerns.)

Walking in this World, not only touched my spirit, it sparked my desire to write again after winning a book award left me termporarily burned out and off kilter.

Cameron's sections on how to overcome the internal and outside perils of success are sensitive and practical. I especially liked how she drew on examples from her own life and the lives of professional writers, musicians and artists to illustrate her points.

The most important thing I carried away from this book was the confirmation that there's nothing wrong with being versatile and multi-talented. Building a career, making a name in one genre or art form isn't the only option. If I'm called to write a novel or take up visual art, I can choose to do it and I'm not a quitter or crazy no matter what my upbringing or my agent say. I needed to hear that.

Art, music and writing schools don't teach this material. They should.

Get this book if you are STUCK. Or even if you just need something new to inspire you in the wee hours... For me, it was like a tonic after a long period of not feeling very creative. After reading only the first few chapters, I realized that I WAS feeling creative, but I had definitely stifled my impulses. I read The Artist's Way years ago and loved it, but "poo-poohed" the morning pages (oh no! more work! who needs that! yuk...). Then, after reading the first chapter of Cameron's sequel, I got up one morning and sat, practically pouting in my pajamas with pen in hand. "Ha!" I thought, "I still won't have anything to say!" And then the stuff started pouring out in my scrawls. Then, toward the end of my three pages, I was using ALL CAPS to express repressed wishes and hopes. That same day I began to take action out of the energy and innate confidence, and believe it or not, things began to "happen." I continue to find the book very motivating in this very way...it makes me want to get on with things and stop hesitating. There is a bit of magic in doing what she proposes that is something that you won't be able to explain. And, this book is not only for artists--it is for anyone who wants to move forward. She emphasizes what we all know but may have forgotten...that the big begins with the small.

For those who are new to the creative life or who need to get unblocked pronto, The Artist's Way is still the ultimate companion and guide. For those entrenched in the creative life, this mature sequel is excellent. Even those of us who seem to have creative careers can easily start spinning our wheels, getting stale, etc. That's where I was at when I started this book. I did the Artist's Way a couple of times and it was very helpful. The first sequel, The Vein of Gold, was fun to read but I didn't resonate with the exercises and examples. In Walking in this World, I feel that every chapter is a refreshing wake-up call of a different sort. Julia Cameron truly understands every nuance of the creative life. The tasks are simple, fun, but very revealing. I am mid-way through the course and already have found a renewed sense of energy and optimism, a very welcome respite during this horrible war with Iraq. The arts are and always will be important, for they define a culture. Without the arts and creative expression, we have no civilization. Thank you, Julia, for helping so many of us make this a more positive world through the creative arts.

I am loving this book. I've "done" the Artist's Way several times, and each time I feel like I want to continue the journey. Finally, along comes the sequel, and so far so good. It has the same general feel as The Artist's Way, but with the benefit of more years teaching the principles. This is my favorite Julia Cameron title since The Right to Write. She has added many new exercises, and another basic task in addition to the Morning Pages and the Artist's Date. Overall, I'm finding this book is having a profound impact on my creative life, and I'm so glad to have another 12 weeks of Artist's Way experience. Highly recommended for everyone who loved The Artist's Way, and wants to continue the journey.

Once again Julia Cameron has written a book that will inspire and comfort anyone in pursuit of a dream, creative or not.

I say that because I know that her books are often targetted to artists, however, I find them just as useful for anyone undertaking a new endeavor, for instance, an entreprenuer would greatly appreciate what she has to say about perserverance and moving forward despite fear or obstacles.

The book is broken into weekly 'sessions' which each have a focus or theme. In each section are guided excercises meant to help you explore the idea and used in conjunction with her famous 'Morning Pages' the book can be a great service to helping one focus and get to work on accomplishing a goal.

Highly recommended.

I read and completed the exercises in THE ARTIST WAY about ten years ago--and it changed my life. I'm an admitted self-help junkie, but Julia Cameron goes way, way beyond the typical self-help hype. Her words resonate like a tuning fork against my sternum.
I read WALKING IN THIS WORLD curled up in a hotel room on a business trip and each night I would read her words and know that this was exactly what I needed, and at the time in my life when I was ready for the next leg of my journey. As a woman, an artist, and a writer, continuing to find my creativity is vital and Julia Cameron delivers yet again.

One in the Artist's Way franchise, Cameron continues bolstering artists and their recovery through her frank descriptions of creative phases and her prescriptions of activity to work one's way through. these are the pages that bolstered me through the artescape year. it took me 12 months or more to wade through the 12 weeks of her walk, but to take one's time with this material is allowed. i continue to hold julia cameron in high regard--grateful for her work, her confessional nature, her experience with recovery, her commitment to allowing a great creator to work though her. i particularly like the words of other great creatives, celebrated in the margins of her own work through the decorative use of quotes. i found the chapter on dignity, the last chapter, to be particularly poignant--learning that all artists share a glass mountain phase of their creativity. learning i am not alone in my weird ways of hiding and fearing the "real" world when i come down off my creative highs. cameron's books are like candy to me--constant companions who keep me connected to a legacy of creativity. i am grateful for her anecdotes, her name dropping, her truth-telling. i receive tremendous benefit from my 10 year old morning pages habit--and have added artist dates and walks without adhering to them with any religiosity. i recognize, if taken as prescribed, these antidotes to depression would bolster me more equally throughout my days. i am honored to be a loyal reader of cameron's work--admiring the voice i hear on the page, claiming kinship with the author through how she echoes (or is it i who echoes her?) my own inspirational sentiment. i think it's hard to be an artist--and even harder not to be one. i am grateful for the accompaniment of cameron's artists' ways and walks.

First a caveat: I did not finish the book. So anyone who did and dismisses this critique may well be right to for that reason alone. Still, I have read several other Cameron books to the end, and I feel confident stating that most of her points in this book are simply reworked albeit very poetic descriptions of the ones in her books on living the writing life.

Those who have already incorporated such techniques as the Morning Pages, Artists' Dates, etc. into their life and found them to be beneficial, do not really need to read this new book, unless it is simply to enjoy Cameron's writing style, (though it's not for everybody). Those who are die hard atheists or agnostics may find her ideas about God hard to bypass in order to consider the others. Those who believe that the craft of writing is like any other craft, requiring serious effort AND innate talent in order to consistently do it well, may be insulted by Cameron's belief that virtually everyone can write well given time alone.

Anyway. Read the first chapter, and if it sounds familiar, put the book back on the shelf. If it sounds intriguing, by all means give it a try.

This is an excellent, matured addition to the path of the Artist's Way. I'm using it extensively and have started a Yahoo group for people who are on this path. Come join us ...It really is a nice book, and is available for a good price , even though it's still hardcover! Grab it and get started, you won't regret it. Even if you haven't done The Artis't Way yet, you can start this one.

-d

This is a nice continuation of the Artists Way program, but will not be as effective without having done the Artists Way first. There are a lot more references to "God" and "The Creator" than the first book, and a bit of repeated information in an identical format. That said, I think this book is a perfect continuation for both artistic recovery and artistic expansion, and is very useful.