For years I’ve heard writers mention “morning pages.” I knew the idea was attributed to author Julia Cameron. I understood the practice as a way to clear some of the mental junk out of your head before getting down to your “real” writing. I’ve even recommended similar activities to clients as part of their pre-writing routines. What I didn’t realize until recently is that the morning pages are one piece of a structured creativity journey developed and shared widely by Cameron in her 2002 book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
Despite suggesting morning pages to other people, I’d resisted the practice myself, probably because of my antipathy toward journaling (more on that later). When The Artist’s Way showed up in my public library’s e-book collection, however, I figured I should read more and really learn what the big deal was with these pages, anyways.
For context, the book lays out a twelve-week “path” with a variety of themes and activities that Cameron has designed to help anyone get back in touch with their creativity, whatever form that takes. Most of us have buried or sidelined our creativity, or had it torn to shreds by others, but there’s a way to bring it out again, claims Cameron. The “spiritual” part refers to the idea that god, or any other kind of powerful force you imagine operating in the universe, is being expressed through our creative acts, wants us to be creative, and will open doors to our creative path, if we’re willing to look for them.
I was immediately struck by Cameron’s confident voice. She is here to tell you that this process works and you can either believe her and try it, or go back to your life of stagnating creativity (my words, not hers). I appreciate that she isn’t writing defensively or couching her suggestions with qualifiers about what may or may not work. She’s very direct. She doesn’t much care whether you believe in god in the same way she does, but either way she insists that there’s something out there in the world directing creative energy.
As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to have an allergic reaction to self help that veers on the spiritual side or tries to insert god into the process, especially a Christian god. I wanted to understand more about the practices Cameron recommends, though, so I decided to keep reading and not get distracted by god. It helps that Cameron is a strong writer, and, as I say, her confident tone drew me in.
Morning Pages are Cameron’s first recommendation/requirement for the process and she is straightforward in saying that they work and you should do them every day. The task is to write three pages of anything—stream of consciousness, rambling ideas, random thoughts, deep thoughts, “I hate morning pages” a hundred times—every morning. Once complete, you should never look at them again; indeed, she says you can rip them up and throw them out immediately.
This last directive appealed to me. Journal writing can feel burdensome to me because I feel pressure to make the words matter. Moreover, I’ve had people read my journals without permission in the past, so I have no desire to keep them around. Okay, so under Cameron’s conditions, maybe I can give it a shot.
As I write this, I’ve completed two weeks of daily morning pages. I don’t hate them! I don’t think I love them (yet) but while writing them, I did come up with a firecracker of a way to start a writing project I’ve been contemplating. Tackling the particular topic I had in mind was going to be tough. How would I work it into the book? Why not put it out there in the very first sentence, suggested the morning pages.
I’m not sure if this will actually be the path I take (when and if I ever do this writing project!) but it felt like a breakthrough. It certainly opened up new possibilities I hadn’t even considered before. It made the project feel a little more real.
Is it the magic of morning pages? This is the thing: the answer to that question doesn’t actually matter. What matters is what happened, not how or why. Or whether I believe in a certain how or why. Still, all of this is enough for me to keep my inner skeptic on a tight leash.
I don’t want to muzzle her. The skeptic is there to keep me (you, anyone) safe. The world is full of scammers and grifters and bullshit. We should never hand over the keys to our judgement or intuition to others. At the same time, letting the skeptic free to chomp on and destroy every idea you encounter is never going to be good. You can’t learn, or try new things, or push past inner limitations if you can’t trust a process (whether it’s therapy, a training program, or morning pages) if you’ve already decided it’s crap.
Two weeks in, I can’t say I’ve had a life changing experience. But hey, if it’s out there, I’m open to it! Bring it on, Cameron.
What I’m reading:
’s We All Want Impossible Things. I first encountered Newman’s writing when I was pregnant (25 years ago!) and she had a blog on BabyCenter. Her writing meant a lot to me in those frightening times. I finally decided to google her name and found her books and her Substack. Her writing is just SO GOOD.What I’m watching: The second season of Tour de France Unchained. WHY AM I SO INTO THIS SHOW?? I do not care about professional cycling. I do not even own a bike. AND YET.