HelpHole and The Artist’s Way

For the next 12 weeks I’m working through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron with the wonderful Patreons at Helphole. Helphole is a podcast my buddy has insisted for me to listen to where the 2 hosts alternate talking about what self help book they read, key take-aways, and whether it’s worth a shot for you to read. 

To learn more about Helphole and their lovely podcast, go Helphole.com

One of the hosts swears by The Artist’s Way, so much so that she started a community with the Helphole audience to work through these whopping 13-effing weeks worth of things to do. 

This will be the first community-style course I’m taking with a close friend to keep me accountable and also be someone to talk smack on with about the really weird way Cameron talks about some things. As forewarned by others who’ve read this book, you may notice as early as the introduction some uncomfortably written topics. Like most classic self-help books that have been popularized in up through the 90’s, the Artist Way is um… how can I say this… WASP-y focused. 

As I work through this book and gain all the great nuggets of wisdom of getting back in touch with my inner child, I’m also taking note of how we can transfer some of the off things she says to a new and more inclusive version of The Artist's Way. Right away I’ve noticed how she refers to people who are different as “other” or worse, “something to experience”. I’m convinced she didn’t think people with disabilities, from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, or financial means would be reading this book to discover “The Artist’s Way”

But, I’m not only here to criticize the funky quips throughout the book–which don't worry, I will be giving examples in the weeks to come. It’s famous and successful for a damn reason, because the strategies within it work. So, I am definitely going to hold accountable the outdated and marginalized thinking of the book while also working through all of the exercises and tasks I possibly can. 

So get ready to watch me navigate through my first iteration of this 13-week program to get in touch with my creativity and inner child. Hopefully you can become inspired to pick up the book knowing full well you’ll have to deal with a lot of the ick while still getting a lot of benefits. 

Ick with benefits? Ugh. But yes.