Treasure maps and morning pages

In between runs to Circuit City last week and loading software on the new laptop, I managed to finish my treasure map for 2006.

This has become something of a ritual for me ... gathering up piles of magazines on New Year's Day and sitting next to the fire, looking for images that represent what I want to focus on and manifest in the coming year. Between sips of a mimosa, I make a big pile of images and gradually winnow them down to the ones that feel right and can fit on a large poster board.

My theme this year is FLOW ... specifically, Creative Flow. For me, everything else flows from being in alignment with that -- including flowing health, financial flow, flow in my relationships, and a general sense of wellbeing and flowing with life. I want to experience all of that this year.

In the center, there are strands of beads that look like a colorful river. I used that as the background for the key phrase: Be in the creative flow.

Health, relationship, work, home, and leisure are all represented in the map. Around the outer edges, I placed action words and phrases that resonated with me. Some of these include:

• Be inspired every day
• Be yourself. It's a very tough act to follow.
• Unleash your creative spirit
• Explore your colorful side
• Give light
• Be wildly successful
• Make time for art
• Be the one that sparkles (Marilyn, did you notice the sparklers?)

There are also other words that have meaning for me: Walk ... sew ... fly ... love ... and, of course ... believe.

It's a very full treasure map, and I realize that. I want and expect life to be quite full this year. I want to grow Believe Street (a lot), to nurture and develop my creative potential, to be more in tune with my body, to continue to deepen my relationship with John -- and, we'd both like to move to a new home this year, perhaps even in a different state. So, knowing that all of that lies ahead, I also made sure there was an area on the map that was more spacious and that reminds me to B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Making a treasure map is not only really fun, but powerful too. If you've never done it, try it as an experiment and just see what happens. I've kept all my treasure maps over the years, and it's always fun to pull them out from time to time and notice how many things that were once just figments of my imagination have come true.

You can find out more about treasure maps and how they work their magic in Shakti Gawain's classic, Creative Visualization. If you're in the 'Blogging the Artist's Way' group, you'll also notice that making a collage is one of the tasks in a few weeks.

Speaking of Blogging the Artist's Way, yesterday was the official kickoff for the 12-week project. I'm SO excited! The list of participants is simply amazing ... more than 60 kindred spirits are on this journey together (you can see the full list at Kat's Paws, along with more info. on the program). And, there's still time to join, so come on!

If you're not familiar with Julia Cameron's groundbreaking book, The Artist's Way, here's the quick skinny: It's a program for discovering and recovering your creative self. It's not in any way limited only to artists or people who make their living from their artistic talents. It's for anyone who wants to live their life more creatively, more in tune with their authentic self. It's set up as a 12-week course. Each week includes reading, exercises and tasks to help you work through blocks. Throughout the program, there are two constants: The morning pages and the artist date.

The morning pages are three pages of long-hand writing, done first thing in the morning, every single day. Over time, if you're honest in getting your true thoughts and feelings on the page, you'll have some amazing breakthroughs as you clear out the blocks and work through the issues that keep you stuck.

The artist date is a date with yourself ... with your inner child. Ideally, it's an outing where you take yourself out to do something that inspires you and feels like play. A trip to the local dollar store to explore all its delights ... a walk in the woods with your camera ... exploring a new town ... browsing through a new bookstore.

The morning pages help you empty out all the negative gunk that accumulates in your psyche, and the artist date helps you fill the well and keep it filled.

That's the nutshell on The Artist's Way. The 'Blogging the Artist's Way' group is simply a group of people who are working through the book together and blogging about their experiences. Actually, you don't even have to have a blog to do it. You can still do it and leave comments about your experiences on Kat's blog ... or simply follow along at home without officially signing up.

So ... I started my morning pages yesterday. Actually, I started them Friday, just to get in a 'practice day,' but yesterday it was really official. I've done morning pages in the past at various times and found them very helpful. The act of slowing down and capturing your mind-stream on paper is enlightening, to say the least. If you're brutally honest with yourself, you'll uncover some powerful truths ... and, as Julia says, it's hard to uncover those truths and write about them day after day after day without being driven to action at some point.

Since you're not supposed to read or look back at your morning pages until at least week #8, I've decided to do each day's morning pages on loose sheets and seal them in an envelope. Then I date them and put them away.

Even though it's only been a couple of days, I'm already hitting paydirt. This morning's writing began with the sentence: "I'm gripped with fear," referring to the fact that I am due to go into two local companies on Wednesday and Thursday to sell my jewelry, and that I feel (and am) very unprepared. So, I used the morning pages to explore my fears and to get real with myself about why I haven't done more to get ready (holidays and laptop woes notwithstanding), and the process took me on a deep personal journey. It spanned my whole life and several important events and key relationships that have shaped my beliefs and coping mechanisms over the years. When I reached three pages, I couldn't stop. I had tapped into an 'underground stream' and I had to follow it to its destination. I wrote 7 or 8 pages in all. It was both healing and excruciating at the same time. That's the power of the morning pages. I believe that even if you do nothing else in the program, if you undertake the morning pages in earnest, they will take you on an excavation that can truly transform your life. It's not for the timid, but it is powerful.

I haven't decided yet what my artist date will be for this week. I am scheduling it for Friday, though, so I have a little time to decide. I've started a running list of ideas for this and future weeks ... a visit to a new fabric store ... a drive to the beach ... a movie matinee ... a trek to the NYC bead shops. Oh, those are going to be so much fun!

                                                                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To my fellow travelers: I'm honored to be among you ...

To the readers: I'm honored that you're keeping me company as I venture into the forest ...

To Kat: You rock -- for not only dreaming of this ... but doing it and letting us come along with you.

Comments

[daru]

great to hear that your morning pages have already proven to be a positive practice! i just finished week one's chapter and am excited to get going on the tasks. best wishes on your creative journey!

[kat]

*blush* thank you maria.

i think the treasure map is a fantastic idea. i did a mini one for the 52 figments project yesterday, but i think a larger one would be great fun too. what a fantastic ritual!!

that is truly awesome about your experience with the morning pages. they are powerful. so simple and yet such a powerful tool to get into the heart of things.

[Amy]

Hi Maria! I think it's wonderful that the morning pages are working for you already! What a wonderful boost of energy that must have given you! Glad to be on this journey with you!

[tinker]

I LOVE your treasure maps & I'm thrilled to be on this journey with you!

[ArtsyMama]

Wow, your collage work is awesome! I'm in the AW group too:) Looking forward to this journey together.

[melba]

That is such an awesome idea to create a treasure map - the title is the best! I really like your map with all the colors and life. I am curious why you want to move. You seem to be doing so well with believe street. I love your Lifestylepreneur...how is that going, it is such a great idea (and concept) oneday I would like to learn more about it. You really inspire me; I look up to you!

[Rebekah]

Your breakthrough sounds incredibly powerful. I've already had a couple of aha moments - especially today having to do with why God created me and why not. That one was very unexpected. Great to hear your voide.

[Marilyn]

"The morning pages help you empty out..and the artist date helps you fill the well..." Beautifully put, Maria...and you're right: that's it in a nutshell. Love your treasure map. I've loved the idea of them ever since I read Shakti's book...yet rarely make them (which is kind of odd since I actually like to collage). And yes, I saw the sparklers! :) This is an exciting journey to be on, and the morning pages can be such a powerful tool. Glad to hear they're working so well for you already. You've been such an inspiration to me this past year...so proud to call you friend.

[samantha]

So wonderful, Maria! I love your explanations about AW and how it works - and HOW AMAZING that the morning pages are doing such great things for you! Isn't this AW community just the coolest? I feel so much stronger, knowing I have a network of support. Can't wait to see what the journey holds for you...and your jewelry is BEAUTIFUL!

[Kerstin]

Hi Maria,

Catching up on my favourite blogs!

1) Your new computer, what a story! I am sure it was not funny at the time but I couldn't help laughing when reading it. You are indeed a very patient soul by the sounds of it. I am glad you are enjoying the Gateway laptop. I was surprised to hear they are still around because they pulled out of Europe some years ago. Funnily enough I was once offered a job with Gateway in Dublin/Ireland but decided against it because the pay was lousy and Dublin is a very expensive place to live. I remember their "cow' logos, do they still do them?

2) Treasure map. I remember you mentioning these before. I must admit that collages is something I have never gotten into, so it will be interesting when we reach that part of AW.

3) Morning pages. My purple pen has already run out of ink so I got the one that you recommended from Staples. Like it! Thanks :)

4) Good luck for tomorrow and Thursday, I bet it will be a great experience, can't wait to read about it.

Kerstin

[eliza]

thanks for reminding me about treasure maps. i've only made one, and i have kept it around for, like, 12 years now because i love it so much. yet somehow it didn't occur to me to make more. der. glad i stopped by!

[Krista- The Silent K]

I just joined the AW group today. I am going to catch up on the reading tonight. I like the way you put your pages in envelopes (maybe the book suggests that... I am reading the first 24 pages tonight...) I will probably have to do that as well so I am not tempted to read them.

[SB]

Ohh, a bead store! Yes yes yes!

On my list . . .

[Swirly]

This is a wonderful journey you are on and I love what you are creating already. Imagine what will come forward as the weeks progress...how exciting!!

[Erin]

I love your treasure maps. Also, I am incorporating your practice of putting each day's freewrite into a separate envelope. It gives it a bit of ceremony, esp. when it comes time to read them later

[Stefani]

Your map is brilliant! That must be a lot of fun to look back at previous years' collages. Good job.

I opted not to join in the AW fun this time. I have done it before; started it, I should say. I didn't think I could do the Morning Pages by hand because I'm a really fast typist and prefer that method. But I did it - and although I thought I had nothing to say, just like you said, I opened some crevices and kept writing and writing. (That's really when I wish I had been typing!)

I still think of the term Artist Date whenever I do something fun, just for me. I enjoy my friends and family a lot, but it's really nice to do these solo dates too.

Can't wait to read more!

[Paint Chip]

Love your maps and your writing too. Thanks for sharing so much with us!