The Artist's Way: 25th Anniversary Edition

Our focused attention is critical to filling the well. We need to encounter our life experiences, not ignore them. Many of us read compulsively to screen our awareness. On a crowded (interesting) train, we train our attention on a newspaper, losing the sights and sounds around us—all images for the well.

Nobody sees a flower—really—it is so small it takes time—we haven’t time—and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent. C. G. JUNG

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. JOSEPH CHILTON PEARCE

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. OSCAR WILDE

In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do—spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery. A mystery draws us in, leads us on, lures us. (A duty may numb us out, turn us off, tune us ou

A mystery can be simpler even than that: if I light this stick of incense, what will I feel? Scent is an often-overlooked pathway to powerful associations and healing. The scent of Christmas at any time of year—or the scent of fresh bread or homemade soup—can nourish the hungry artist within. Some sounds lull us. Others stimulate us. Ten minutes of

It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for living. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

Just remember, in choosing, that we often resist what we most need.