Takeaways From My First 6 Weeks of "The Artist's Way"

Everything that expands must contract

Alongside many of you, I’m halfway through completing The Artist’s Way. My experience during the first 6 weeks can best be described as expansion, followed by an inevitable contraction, followed by another experience of expansion. Two steps forward, one step back. And then over again. The constant reality of life.

I’ve grown accustomed to this pattern through traveling and hosting my retreats. After a week of creative rejuvenation, pampering, community, and adventure abroad, coming home can feel like the collapse of a beautiful new world. It overwhelms people if they are unprepared. I am always aware of and prepared for this shift, yet it doesn’t get easier. I don’t believe it’s supposed to get easier: We live our lives in ebbs and flows. The two polarities support each other’s existence, each unequivocally necessary.

The first few weeks of The Artist’s Way expanded my capacity for gratitude, my mindset, my habits, and my creative opportunities. The world felt bright and full of poss…