Author Julia Cameron: Get out From Under the wet Blankets

Pale, hungry, tired, poor, and lonely in the garrett. These are not the ingredients that feed the creative spirit according to author and artist Julia Cameron. If you want to free your creative spirit, you've got to put yourself in a state where you can. That means identifying the wet blankets who discourage you, very often before you even begin; nurturing yourself as an artist by taking the time to take in the beauty and wonder of your world; and settling into the discipline of creating.

Cameron, an author and artist who lives in Manhattan, maintains that being creative is the natural direction of life and that we should therefore create. She says she believes in the Field of Dreams approach: the mantra of that movie is build it and they will come; similarly, artists should create and let the audience come and respond. In this way, Cameron says, art is "contagious."

Reach for the best inside yourself and offer it with confidence. These are just some of the thoughts Cameron offered at her workshop the weekend of February 9 at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Connecticut. An essential theme of the workshop was that each of needs to nurture his or her creative spirit in a healthy, constructive way. Cameron's is the voice of good sense, encouragement, and joy. Click here to read excerpts from her seminal workbook The Artist's Way, a three-month personal program for reclaiming the creative spirit.

Click here to watch a segment from her workshop at Wisdom House and here for her interview with Jo-Ann Iannotti, OP, of Wisdom House. Click here for a little something else.