Reading and support group hosted by Beckie Upton
Monday’s 10:00am-11:00am GMT (ONLINE). March 18th - July 15th 2024.
Sliding scale pricing: £120/£140/£160 for the full 14 week block. Places are limited, book by 11th March to secure your place!
Reawaken your creativity and unlock what is keeping you stuck by joining a supportive group of mother-artists each following and sharing in our journey as we go. We will follow the path set out by the book and use the weekly sessions to reflect and share our thoughts, challenges, and successes in a supportive and non-judgemental environment. The course will include: weekly reading, daily writing practice (morning pages), writing exercises, a weekly self-directed 'Artist Date'.
Please note: You will also need to purchase or borrow the book “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron in advance of the first week. There may also be additional costs associated with your chosen writing/art materials and your choice of Artist’s Date each week but as this is self-directed you can set your own budget.
The group will meet weekly on a Monday morning (online) between 10am - 11am GMT.
(March 18th) Pre-Course: Info Session - An introduction to The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and what to expect from the 14-week book club. We will talk about who The Artist’s Way is for, what are the benefits, what we will cover in the weekly meetings and what to expect as the weekly time commitment, (including any homework.)
As we all have varying levels of responsibilities and time constraints, we will take the approach of doing what you can that feels positive and helpful for you. This course should inspire and open up new thinking and not make you feel you are adding another thing to your to do list. However, there is a recommended time commitment of around 4-6 hrs per week, this is spread across the week in small chunks of time, if you miss an exercise, you are unable to complete your daily writing or your weekly artist date, we can reflect on those challenges in our weekly session.
(March 25th) Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety – New ways to approach your creative practice, acknowledging and working around any fears.
(April 1st, & 8th) Easter Break
(April 15th) Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity – Time for some self-reflection, with a focus on your personal needs, desires, interests, and boundaries.
(April 22nd) Week 3: Recovering a Sense of Power - Opening up your ideas, experimentation and inspiration. Letting go of old ideas and stuck emotions and taking back control by trusting that you have the answers and power to influence change.
(April 29th) Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity - Checking in with your progress so far, noticing what's changing and what you feel. Becoming more aware of your personal beliefs outside of any external influences.
(May 6th) Week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility – Thinking about your potential. What if it was unrestricted by limits you or others place on yourself? Examining where you are putting limits and why.
(May 13th) Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance – Having hope and belief that you are always looked after. How certain attitudes can limit you, learning how expressing your creativity, trusting in your gifts and money are related.
(May 20th) Week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection – Connecting with your dreams and desires. Rediscovering your interests by learning to be more open and receptive to your intuition.
(May 27th) Half Term Break
(June 3rd) Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength – Rejections, criticism, failure - all of these take their toll and can bruise our sense of value as an artist. Thinking about ways to turn these into positives and see how they could offer guidance and help. Understanding your network and those who respect and support you most.
(June 10th) Week 9: Recovering a Sense of Compassion – what are your emotional blocks when it comes to your creativity. Where do they come from, what happens when we feel fear, shame and lack of enthusiasm? How do we relearn to be kind to ourselves?
(June 17th) Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self Protection – Examining creative flow, allowing vulnerability and the unknown to emerge, looking at all the ways we find to procrastinate and avoid feeling vulnerable.
(June 24th) Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy – Learning how to accept your unique strengths as an artist, nurturing yourself and knowing growth is ongoing. Pride in your work and autonomy and ownership of what you do.
(July 1st) Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith – Knowing this is a long journey and a process, taking action towards your own ideas and desires. Being ready for the adventure of taking first steps and being comfortable (even excited!) in the unknown.
(July 8th) End of course reflections - This final session will allow time for reflections and sharing between the group members and Becky.