This lesson references the Spiritual Electricity: The Basic Principles in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Spiritual Electricity
We live in an interactive universe. Julia Cameron refers to spiritual electricity as the “sense of presence of something transcendent.” We are all connected through an unseen force or current and we can choose to just bob around aimlessly or tap into that current, that electricity. It will power us, inspire us, grow as we grow. It’s not so much that we take and use up the electricity, but more at we transform it through our art and creativity. Putting our art back out into the universe then allows someone else to transform the electricity we’ve produced. The good news: the spiritual electricity never runs out!
Basic Principles
Julia Cameron considers the following ten principles to be the “bedrock on which creative recover and discovery can be built.” She suggests reading them through once a day, paying attention to any personal shifts in your attitude.
- Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.
- There is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life – including ourselves.
- When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator’s creativity within us and our lives.
- We are, ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves.
- Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.
- The refusal to be creative is self-will and is counter to our true nature.
- When we open ourselves to exploring our creativity, we open ourselves to God: good orderly direction.
- As we open our creative channel to the creator, many gentle but powerful changes are to be expected.
- It is safe to open ourselves up to greater and greater creativity.
- Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source. As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity.
What This Workshop Covers
In the next 24 weeks we’ll be traveling the path of creative recovery and discovery. Take the time to thumb through the book to get a sense of the areas we’ll be tackling. Don’t be frightened or overwhelmed by the chapter titles and subtitles. There is a lot there. The beauty of this workshop is that you can pick and choose which activities and exercises you do each week. Julia offers so many ideas and suggestions at the end of each chapter, and she does not expect anyone to do them all. She recommends aiming to complete half: at least one that resonates with you and at least one that you strongly resist: “we often resist what we most need.”
If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can purchase here [Amazon referral link] or check a local new or used bookstore.
What to Expect
In a nutshell: emotional tumult. Your emotions will likely range from giddiness, excitement, and hope to resistance, defiance, and anger to resilience and determination. At some point you will probably feel like giving up. Don’t. Hang in there. This is a recovery and discovery process. It will be messy in parts. It will be cathartic in others. Ultimately it will be freeing as you unlock that creative potential that is inside you.
It’s not too late. Your dreams matter. Buckle up – it’s going to be a bumpy ride that is so worth it!
Creativity Exercise
Take the Basic Principles list and make a little poster you can hang in your creative space. You can copy and paste the list from the website, or write out the principles (they can be found in the Spiritual Electricity: The Basic Principles chapter of the book. I’ve also provided a PDF with big margins that you can download from the resources here. Decorate the page any way you wish!
I printed my PDF at 90% to have even more margins to decorate. I started doodling flowers in the margins and didn’t love how it was going. I was about to print another when I stopped myself. So what if I didn’t love every little flower I drew. This exercise isn’t about perfection. This exercise is about playing and having fun and maybe going just a teeny-weeny bit out of your comfort zone. So I persisted. I continued my flower doodles. In the coming days I will color it in with colored pencils a little each day as I read over the principles. It will grow and bloom as I do.
Zoom Recap
Looking Ahead
- Recovering a Sense of Safety: Addressing Core Negative Beliefs
- Check in on how Morning Pages and Artist Dates are going
- Read ahead if you wish. “Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety” in The Artist’s Way.
