so, there you go...

last week, i talked about being honest in the pages i have to write for my creative-recovery workshop. i worried that i wasn't writing about what was really on my mind, and wondered if that might be hindering my progress... as a writer and as a person.

The Artist's Way is divided into chapters, with each chapter representing a week of work. so, at the start of each week, i read that week's chapter and, over the next six days, complete (mostly) that week's assignments.

my wonderings about honesty came during week three. at the end of that week, i opened up the chapter for week four and began reading. and this is the very first sentence of that chapter:

"Working with the morning pages, we begin to sort through the differences between our real feelings, which are often secret, and our official feelings, those on record for public display."

?!

i nearly did a spit take. here i'd been ruminating on exactly the issues on which i was (apparently) meant to ruminate. author julia cameron then went on to explain that, when it comes to feelings, this issue of real vs. "official" is a not uncommon dilemma, and that by continuing to write about real feelings, we are able to better create a sense of self -- who we are, what we feel, and so on. and, she points out, this is important because before one can celebrate self-expression, one needs a self to express. (i'm paraphrasing, but that's the gist.)

basically, as i continued to read chapter four, i was unexpectedly shown the answers to some of the questions i'd been asking myself. "keep being honest, even if it's really scary or uncomfortable or unpleasant or difficult or weird or sad! it's important and you need to do it to grow!" the book was saying to me.

so, there you go.