Julia Cameron's 'Seeking Wisdom' goes deeper than 'The Artist's Way'

Julia Cameron's 'Seeking Wisdom' goes deeper than 'The Artist's Way'

Transcript¹

When author Julia Cameron first got sober, she was told to pray. In her new book, Seeking Wisdom, Cameron writes about the connection of spirituality and creativity, and her own creative recovery.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Sitting in meditation², repeating a mantra or talking out loud to a higher power - writer Julia Cameron says it all counts as prayer and it's the key to unlocking creativity. In 1992, Cameron published her bestselling book "The Artist's Way." Her new book goes deeper. It's called "Seeking Wisdom." Cameron herself set out on that path decades ago after a friend told her flat-out that she was an alcoholic³ and she needed help.

JULIA CAMERON: Well, what happened to me the day that I got sober was that they said, now, if you want to stay sober, you have to pray. And I was offended. And I said, you don't understand. I have 16 years of Catholic education. That's the greased slide to agnosticism.

MARTIN: In other words, prayer wasn't going to be the antidote⁴ for you, or so you thought.

CAMERON: Right. So they said, well, you must believe in something. And I thought about it. And then I said, yes, I do believe in something. I believe in a line of poetry from the poet Dylan Thomas - the force that through the green fuse drives the flower. I said, I could pray to that creative energy. It wasn't an anthropomorphic God. It was a God that captured my imagination. They said, now, when you get up in the morning, say, please keep me sober. And when you go to bed at night, say, thank you for keeping me sober. I felt like I was being cornered into praying. But I was so worried about drinking again that I decided⁵ to do what they told me to do.

MARTIN: And when did it start to feel like you were getting something out of it?

CAMERON: I wanted to remain a writer. And so they said to me, let your higher power, your creative energy, your line of poetry - let that write through you. Before that, I had always tried to be brilliant, to write the very best thing that could be written. Once I started letting the higher power write through me, I put up a little sign near my writing station. And it said, OK, God, you take care of the quality; I'll take care of the quantity. That was when prayer began to feel effective to me.

MARTIN: You also talk about prayer in the form of praise - and gratitude⁶, in particular. How does gratitude play into your daily prayer practice?

CAMERON: When we talk about prayers of gratitude, we're talking about something very personal. It might be, I'm grateful for my curly hair. I'm grateful for my dog. You start out with a small list, and as you write, more things come to you. And prayers of gratitude move you from pessimism⁷ into optimism.

MARTIN: And do you need optimism to be creative?

CAMERON: I think it's a big help.

MARTIN: I mean, this is what your bestselling book "The Artist's Way" was all about. I remember a friend giving me my copy when I was in my mid-twenties. And it was very practical. It had very - laid out very practical steps on how to live with more intention and how that could show up in creative ways. And a lot of it was about setting very specific routines for yourself. You recommend that in this book as well - developing daily practices. And central to that is the idea of morning pages. Can you explain what that means?

CAMERON: I'd love to explain morning pages. They are sort of the bedrock tool of what I call a creative recovery. And what they are are three pages of longhand morning writing that you do first thing on awakening⁸, and they can be about anything or everything. They often feel scattered⁹. You find yourself saying, I forgot to call my sister back. I didn't remember to buy kitty litter.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: What does that do for you as you move through your day?

CAMERON: Well, it keeps you from being sidetracked by other people's agendas. You're writing down, this is what I like. This is what I don't like. This is what I want more of. This is what I want less of. You want to be authentic¹⁰. You want to tell people precisely¹¹ how it is you are feeling. And what I find with morning pages is that they puncture¹² denial. Whereas we might have said previously¹³, I feel fine, with morning pages, you define fine. You say this is what I mean by fine.

MARTIN: Why do you believe spirituality and creativity are so intrinsically linked?

CAMERON: I have found that if I teach people to work on their creativity, their spirituality wakes up. And if I try teaching about spirituality, their creativity wakes up. So the two seem to me to go hand in glove. And I think we have a lot of negative mythology¹⁴ about creativity. We tend to believe in the image of a suffering artist and that creativity is born out of pain. What I have found is that creativity is born out of happiness, which is a radical¹⁵ step to take.

MARTIN: Julia Cameron - her new book is called "Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path To Creative Connection." Julia, what a pleasure it's been to talk to you. Thank you.

CAMERON: You're welcome. It's been a pleasure talking with you as well.

(SOUNDBITE OF NATHAN HUI-YI'S "SEE YOU AT THE SUMMIT")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

7 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

8 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

11 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

12 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

15 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。