''The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity'' is a 1992

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

book by American author Julia Cameron. The book was written to help people with

artistic Art is a diverse range of culture, cultural activity centered around works of art, ''works'' utilizing Creativity, creative or imagination, imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an express ...

creative recovery, which teaches techniques and exercises to assist people in gaining self-confidence in harnessing their creative talents and skills. Correlation and emphasis is used by the author to show a connection between artistic creativity and a spiritual connection with

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. The ideas in creative

personal development Personal development or self-improvement consists of activities that develops a person's capabilities and potential, enhance quality of life, and facilitate the realization of dreams and aspirations. Personal development may take place over the ...

outlined in the book, which were felt to be new at the time of the publication, are said to have become a phenomenon and spawned into many meetups and

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

s throughout the world. The group meetings are based on a 12-week creativity course designed for people to work through and gain

artistic inspiration Inspiration (from the Latin ''inspirare'', meaning "to breathe into") is a burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or visual art and other artistic endeavours without thinking. The concept has origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism. The ...

, as outlined in the book. The program is focused on supporting relationships in removing artistic blocks and fostering confidence.

History and summary

Starting as a collection of tips and hints from different artists and authors, ''The Artist's Way'' was collected into a single book and self-published by Julia Cameron for maximizing the creativity and productivity of artists. The book was originally titled ''Healing the Artist Within'', and was turned down by the

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

literary agency, before being self-published. Cameron typed the book herself and sold Xeroxed copies in a local bookstore. After the book began to sell widely, the title was then changed, when the book was published by Jeremy Tarcher (now part of

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media company, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a Mergers and acquisitions, mer ...

) in 1992. The first printing was about 9,000 copies. The book went on to reach the ''Top 10 best seller list'' and onto the list of the ''Top 100 Best Self-Help Books of All Time''. The book was eventually put into the ''Self-Publishing Hall of Fame'' after selling millions of copies worldwide. Cameron maintains throughout the book that creative inspiration is from and of a divine origin and influence, that artists seeking to enable creativity need to understand and believe in. In an interview, she states that "God is an artist. So are we. And we can cooperate with each other." And that our "creative dreams and longings do come from a divine source, not from the human ego".

References

External links

Julia Cameron's official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artists Way Self-help books Books about creativity Books about spirituality TarcherPerigee books