Chapter 10: Self-Protection

10 months into Living The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and a major change has begun to unfold in my life. Major! I didn’t see it coming, but I should have because when we answer our soul’s higher call, change is inevitable.

I don’t want to spoil the surprise so you’ll have to watch my latest YouTube video to learn what the major change is.

What I will share is I’m learning that no one else can make us happy. We each have to take responsibility for our own happiness. While it is not always easy, it is undeniably necessary. If we are going to live, truly live, we have to live the life that is calling to us. Not the life that is calling to our sister, our neighbor, or old Aunt Mary. The life that is calling to us. For me, it was not the life I was living…

Did I mention it’s a major change? Yeah Baby!

I recently met up with my art mentor Laurie Maves. Witnessing her professional growth and creative achievements serve as tremendous mental equivalents for me. She shows me it can be done, that one can have a successful art career, even in these interesting financial times. But she can’t provide me with a road map. It’s tricky, and often scary, but we must blaze our own creative trails. We’re on our own creative journeys, creating lives and careers that are uniquely our own.

What have you been clinging to? Is your self-protection blocking your creativity?