Sunday Mornings

Sunday morning is becoming the time of the week when I hear my creative voice the loudest. It is the one day of the week that I am not getting out of bed with a long list running through my head of all the things that have to get done that day. It is the one morning when I can stay a little longer in bed. Spend some time in that space between sleep and wakefulness. This is the place that seems to be the most fertile for me.

About five years ago I got Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. Many people have read her book. Some have even done the exercises! When I read the book, I was open to the process. Perhaps desperate for some answers! So, I got up each morning, a bit earlier, and wrote the prescribe pages. Each morning you are to get up, and first thing, before you engage in other activities of the day, sit down with notebook and pen, and write out, long hand, three pages. Are you rebelling yet? Why three? Why do I have to write it? Can't I type it? Why do I have to do this everyday? Can you hear all those resistant voices coming up? A lot of people do. It is interesting to me how often people talk about reading her book, but how often they will also confess to not doing the exercises, and especially the pages.

All I know is the pages work. There is some magic in the three pages. The first page would often be grumbling about how I would rather be in bed, and how cold it was or how tired I was. But somewhere on the second page, something else would rise to the surface. Some issue that had been carried around in the back of my mind. It finally broke through all the noise and clutter of what is usually floating around in my head, and could be heard. The next page,...or more in some cases!....would be the chance to explore that issue. The pen could not move fast enough.

Over time, what I found the pages did was connect me with my subconscious. My voice. I learned to listen to the things that would pop up. Time to write the pages was time to listen to myself. In the chaos of our lives today, that is all too infrequent. And the more I listened, the louder it become, and the more it had to say!

So on Sunday mornings, when I let myself drift in and out of sleep, it is not unusual for an idea, or two or three to pop into my head. I let myself play with them in my head, in this semi-awake state. What if? How? Before long I am out of bed, energized by what it is I want to do. Something that I have to explore.

How do you connect with your voice? Understanding how, when and why can help us listen more closely, and increase the trust in our own voice. The last two days I have been in my studio working madly on several ideas I had this Sunday. Some of them may go nowhere. Some may need more time and inspiration. But I am engaged, and ready for the next idea...whenever and wherever it pops into my head.