Filling the Well

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Julia Cameron Filed as Uncategorized and tagged

Art is an image-using system. In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We’ve got big fish, little fish, fat fish, skinny fish– an abundance of artistic fish to fry. As artists, we must realize that we have to maintain this artistic ecosystem.

If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked. Any extended period of piece of work draws heavily on our artistic well.

As artists we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them– to restock the trout pond, so to speak. I call this process filling the well.From Julia Cameron’s blog. http://juliacameronlive.com/2012/08/17/filling-the-well/

Here is a list of some of my favorite ways to fill the well:

1.Go for a walk, preferably in a place filled with beautiful sites. I love walking around town in the summer and admiring the yards.

2. Which brings to mind another favorite way–visit botanical gardens.

3. Go to a library or bookstore. Sigh.

4. Visit a museum or art gallery.

5. Go to quilt or yarn store. All those fabrics and yarns arranged in bins of color. And the samples of finished work stir the senses.

6. Music–almost any kind. It’s especially nice to listen to music while sitting on a patio enjoying the scent of flowers.

7. People watching. The perfect place is at a little Paris cafe. Just saying.

8. Garden/farmer’s markets which combine people watching, colors and scents and food.

9. Coffee shops in general. The atmosphere seems to work for many people. A number of authors I know go to the nearest coffee shop to work. There is even an app to reproduce the sound of a coffee shop while at home.

10. Sitting at the lake.