The Artist's Way with Hells and Rua
Two artistic creatives based in London take on The Artists Way, the renowned 12 week program created by Julia Cameron. Rua and Hells share the highs and lows of their Artists Way journey via weekly podcast episodes released every Sunday
The Artist's Way with Hells and Rua
Introduction: Awakening Creativity, a 12-Week Journey with The Artist's Way
Have you heard of the much acclaimed book, The Artists Way? Join us on a 12-week adventure inspired by Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way."
We (Rua and Hells, hi!) are two artistic creatives based in London, and we're inviting you to embark with us on a journey to confront our artistic blocks and rediscover our creative passions.
From music and DJing to painting, our artistic expressions are as diverse as our approaches to this process, with one of us diving in with an open mind and the other seeking more structure. Despite our initial skepticism, especially regarding the book's spiritual elements, we're excited to see where this path might lead.
In this introductory episode we take a humorous yet thoughtful look at unconventional spiritual ceremonies, like cacao rituals and quirky "symbol" ceremonies (was someone winding Hells up?), which reveal our differing views on how such experiences influence creativity. Our discussions take us back to our childhood selves, prompting a heartwarming and unexpectedly tearful reflection on the creative spirit we left behind, and our determination to reconnect with it.
This episode also introduces the practical tools of morning pages and artist dates, integral elements of Cameron's teachings. We candidly discuss our struggles with consistency, affirmations, and confronting negative thoughts, while sharing the joy of artist dates that spark inspiration, like sound baths and creative studio detours. As we plan our weekly tasks, including "time travel" exercises and imagining alternative lives, we encourage our listeners to join us in this transformative journey. Connect with us on Instagram, share your thoughts, and let's embrace the creative awakening together.
We would love to hear about your own Artist's Way journey! Stay in touch on Instagram @did_by_rua and @hellsgibson
Hello, hi, welcome to the Artist's Way with Helz and Ruma. Hi, you are very welcome to join myself and Helz on a journey doing the Artist's Way. We have agreed and committed to each other that we are going to follow the 12-week programme on the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. This is a book. It's a 12-week course that's covered in a book and it promises a spiritual path to a higher creativity, and I guess we should start at the beginning, helz. Yeah, why are we doing this?
Speaker 2:Why are we doing it? That's what I'm questioning now. Why am I doing this? Why am I here? Who am I? Well, I'm doing it because you're forcing me to. That is very fair. Maybe I should give a little bit of background context first of all.
Speaker 1:That is very fair. Maybe I should give a little bit of background context first of all. So myself and Helz are both artists. I am also a DJ and radio host and podcast host and I've had an extremely busy 2024 so far.
Speaker 1:By the time June came, I'd been to 10 countries already and I just had zero time to sit down and be creative. However, even when I did have time to sit down and be creative, I just didn't have the motivation to do it at all and I couldn't. I just felt really artistically blocked and I was complaining about this and somebody recommended that I try the artist way, which I had never heard of before, and I looked into it and people rave about the program like rave about it. The first few pages are just testimonials from people like Elizabeth Gilbert, kerry Washington, emma Gannon, reese Witherspoon, martin Scorsese Loads of these really famous creatives rave about it and I was recommended it personally by somebody that had really benefited from it and I tried, I gave it a go and I did week one for the past eight weeks or so, I haven't managed to get past week one, and I roped Hells into it to make me accountable and to do it with me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she didn't have much interest in the beginning, and then I bought her the book and told her she is doing it with me yeah, I've, yeah, I've never heard of the Artist's Way.
Speaker 2:So when you told me about it, I was like no, you're. Like it's really cool. It's this 12-week program. I was like, okay, this is like AA or something like I'm okay, thanks. And then I don't think I said no, I was just like yeah, maybe, which was like my way of saying no. And then you just bought me the book. I was like so we're doing this and also, by the way, we're going to do it publicly on a podcast and we're going to be really honest about it and we're going to tell everyone's our struggles and trials and tribulations. That's what's happening. Meet me in the studio next weekend. And I was like, okay, and here we are, about to embark on this journey together till death.
Speaker 1:Do us part this is going to be really fun. Well, actually, it might not be fun. It does talk a lot in the book about how it's going to be quite a tumultuous emotional process and we're going to share that with the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's quite it's the only way we know how we're both over talkers, yeah, we're both over sharers, yeah, uh, on mysterious girlies, on mysterious girlies in every sense. And so why not put our heart, soul, mind, everything but our body, to the public?
Speaker 1:yeah. So this worth mentioning is that hells and I are good friends and from the very first day that we met, we sat down with each other and just were so open and vulnerable and honest and told each other very deep things oh my god, I think I told you more things.
Speaker 2:I think in the first like 10 minutes of meeting you I told you things I've like never even told my partner. Love ya.
Speaker 1:So we have this very open relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We really share, and it's quite a scary thing to me to say that we will do that with people that we don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, See, that's not scary to me. I mean, I will literally talk to strangers on a bus and be like hi, you don't know me, but let me tell you my innermost thoughts.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to contradict myself a wee bit. I am very open and honest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are.
Speaker 1:When I know somebody Otherwise, I'm actually very, very private. So if I, until I can sense that I can trust you, until you get that vibe from someone, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm very I'd say not guarded exactly, but I'm very private, yeah that's probably a smarter way to be.
Speaker 2:I'm the opposite. I'm completely opposite. I'm like I'm getting a really bad vibe from you, but let me tell you my everyone can hear everything I've ever thought ever let me tell you all my secrets, all my secrets, all other people's secrets.
Speaker 2:No, my secrets, all other people's secrets. No, I don't share other people's secrets. No, I'm quite. I'm an oversharer massively. And so this, the artist way, when I sort of, when you first told me about it, I was like no, I'm not sure, I kind of you got me the book, I started reading the introduction and it very much kind of goes into. You know, you're going to really delve into your feelings and your past and your thoughts and your memories and all this. And I was like juicy, love, love, love, love, love, love.
Speaker 1:Let's go. Well, how's? Why don't you tell everyone a wee bit about your journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I went freelance about a year ago, hopefully to put all my energy into my artwork. So I'm a print artist, a muralist and a photographer and I've always worked really creative jobs for big companies and I've always really enjoyed my jobs and I've really enjoyed the companies I've worked for. But I felt like I was being creative for someone else's dream and over about just over a year ago, I decided to go freelance and kind of work and be creative for my own dream, which is really interesting because when I opened this book, the first thing, the one of the first things I read was the author wrote about her own journey and one thing that I kind of highlighted and stuck out to me was that she was creative on behalf of others and that was the quote that really stood out to me, because I was like I've been creative on the behalf of others and that was the quote that really stood out to me, because I was like I've been creative on the behalf of others for 15 years and I'm ready to be creative for me, on the behalf of me, and me only. So that's kind of what hooked me. The first thing that hooked me about this was the idea that actually, I want to be creative just for me. I want to push my creativity.
Speaker 2:I have a slightly different I guess I'm coming from a slightly different you. I know you've you're, I mean, you're so busy I don't know how you do everything but you're where, you're so busy that you can't, don't have time to be creative. I'm the opposite. I have so much time to be creative at the moment and I have so much headspace to be creative. I also have a new studio, which I've never had a studio before, so I have the physical space to be creative. And what I'm hope, what I'm kind of hoping, this journey and book will do, is make me really delve into some of those parts of my brain that I haven't even looked.
Speaker 1:it looked at creatively so I wasn't just being selfish when I was bringing hells into this. I was slightly selfish that I needed somebody to be. I wanted it. I wanted it to be fun and I wanted to do it with somebody else.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I spent eight weeks doing week one and never getting past the morning pages, and I also did think it would be really good for you because when we'd been speaking recently, you were talking about this, about all you have so many different areas you want to explore in your artwork and I did think this would be really good for you so it wasn't just totally selfish that I got you the book and forced you to do this with me.
Speaker 2:Well, I thank you. Thank you, it's gonna be good.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be interesting. It's gonna be interesting. I'm gonna mention that actually. So something I've highlighted from the book is that it says working with this book, you will experience an intensive, guided encounter with your own creativity, your private villains, champions, wishes, fears, dreams, hopes and triumphs. The experience will make you excited, depressed, angry, afraid, joyous, hopeful and, ultimately, more free. And we are going to do all of that publicly. Yeah, we're gonna do it on this podcast. I can't wait, but it sounds promising that it's hopefully going to give us guidance. I have no idea what to expect. I should probably go into it with a bit more of a goal.
Speaker 2:See, I'm going into it with absolutely no goal whatsoever, like purposefully. Yeah, because I want to see what comes out of it. Yeah, but maybe that's. But maybe who's to say I guess you go into it however you feel. So if you feel like having a goal is going to kind of guide you through this a bit easier, that might be your way of doing it.
Speaker 1:I just want to be creative and. I'm juggling so many different things yeah, I'm fine, I and I have so many ideas across so many different areas of creativity, whether it's music or podcasting, or DJing or whatever it is, or doing art, creating art, painting, whatever. Because I do all those things. I would really like to sort my head out a bit and focus in on the things that I really love yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I guess also it's interesting to say, like the music side. I mean this is gonna sound so naive of me when I think art, I think visual art, I think paintings, photography, you know, and actually that's completely wrong because there's theater, music, all of that performance. So it'll be interesting, because of how much DJing you do and how into your music you are, be interesting to see how much of that comes out through this process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm really interested in that too, and when I because I interview for my other podcast this is disruption. When I interview people, it's, and I interview musicians. Musicians are called artists. Yeah, yeah, they're totally yeah, and it's a total. It's exactly the same creativity wherever it comes from. I don't know, but it's the same tapping into something, making something yeah, that, yeah yeah, you should express yeah, so it's gonna be. I really don't know. Maybe I'll end up focusing more on painting. Maybe I'll end up focusing more on DJing.
Speaker 2:I don't know, but I'm excited to see what's gonna happen yeah, I'm excited for well, I mean my kind of expectations from it. My honest expectations are low, if I'm if I'm honest, because I'm not, I am a very creative person all the time and some of the things that are talked about I'm like, yeah, I already do that, so my expectations are low, but I'm hopeful. That does like break out something in me that's been lying dormant for years.
Speaker 1:I feel the exact same right, okay. I feel I'm skeptical. I don't know how, in 12 weeks, I can be a better person. I'll try. I don't know how it's going to change. People say it's life changing. One of the first quotes is this book has been revolutionary in my creative life. It's a must read for every artist and I look forward to it being revolutionary for me. But I have a healthy dose of scepticism. But I am hopeful that it does? Yeah, Because it's been really highly recommended.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think one thing we need to touch on which is a big, big issue for me is the amount of mention of God and religion in this book and spirituality and all of this. I really struggle with that. I'm not a believer, I'm a complete atheist. I don't, I struggle with that, I'm not a believer, I'm complete atheist, I don't. I struggle with kind of the talk of spirituality, definitely struggle with the how much God is mentioned, and so that's something that I really have to overcome in terms of I just ignore. I just ignore that bit of the book. So for anyone who's listening, who's interested in trying it, just be aware that there is quite a bit God is mentioned a lot yes, I actually made notes on that.
Speaker 1:I highlighted on pages two and three that God or Christ is mentioned 12 times yeah, that's very off-putting for me yeah so I, if you can't already tell, I'm Irish and I was raised Catholic in Ireland, and I'm not a practicing Catholic. I'd say I'm culturally Catholic in that I have Christmas and Easter and all the nice things that you get to do with family and stuff. I think I'm probably quite spiritual in that I believe in something, but I don't.
Speaker 1:I really was put off by the mention of God, god, god everywhere as well she talks about how she is sober and I am also sober five and a half years now and I never felt like AA was something, an option for me. I didn't need it. Thankfully, I just decided to stop and didn't need the support grip. But one of the reasons I was quite against that for myself obviously fair play to everyone that wants to use it was that you have to really believe in God and that or like a higher power and you have to kind of make that higher power responsible. I was never into that the God side of things. So I agree. The first two and three pages have God or Christ mentioned 12 times. It's very off-putting. If I hadn't been recommended stick with it, because it is actually really good, I wouldn't have made it past page three. Could I pick this up in a shop?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you actually, when you you told me about it you did also mention that to me you were like just ignore the whole god thing. Because I was a bit like, is she? Is this a cult? Is she getting me involved in a cult? And I'm just like falling for her like Irish charm. What the hell is going on here? Um, maybe it is. Is this a cult, guys? If this is a cult, can someone dm one of us and be like warning, I don't have time to be in a cult I actually don't have time to be in a cult, I don't have the financials for a cult, I don't know.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, hopefully this isn't a cult, but it is, I think, the god thing. We, just all we, I'm I'm choosing to ignore, yes, I'm choosing to know. I'm also choosing to use this as, yeah, a little bit of a kind of tasks. So I'm going to say how I think this works, and I guess you've kind of done week one several times, eight times. So from my understanding it's 12 weeks and each week there are a set number of tasks you do, correct? So the throughout the whole 12 weeks, there's two things you must do every day. Right, there's a thing called the morning pages, where you have to write three pages of just writing, scribble, just get all your thoughts out. As soon as you wake up, you write three pages of just whatever you want Text and just verbal diary onto a page. So you have to do that every day. And then there's a thing called an artist date.
Speaker 1:Is that right? Exactly so. You do your morning pages and that's as far as I've got, and even then I haven't been consistent. And you do the morning pages every day. I should.
Speaker 2:As soon as you wake up. I should and we will, we will, I will, I love, can we just discuss.
Speaker 1:I love rules and regulations.
Speaker 2:You're not good with authority and rules. I'm not. No, I love give me a law and I will abide by it give me a lot, I will find a way to break you will break it. I will kind of break it secretly or like break rules secretly, but very much within the confines of what's right and wrong and like. So you give me a task, I'm doing the task. You tell me I have to write three pages every morning.
Speaker 1:I'm writing three pages every morning that is why it's so good that we're doing this together, because I actually feel like I'd be letting you down if I didn't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you will, yeah, yeah, you will I commit, I, I commit, so the morning pages will come quite easily to me. I think I won't struggle with the morning pages. The artist date Now tell me how many. Do we do that? Every day, an artist date? Or once a week?
Speaker 1:We do that once a week Once a week.
Speaker 1:So your artist date, I would love to get some ideas from you. Actually it says that you don't need to spend money on it some ideas from you. Actually it says that you don't need to spend money on it. It's just something that you do that's nice for yourself. You must do it alone. That's key. You can't bring anybody else. You have to be alone. Okay, but I don't really have any ideas. One that I did do already is I went to a sound bath. Have you ever done one of those?
Speaker 2:I can't see that I struggle with. It's a no from me for sound bath. Sorry I just I okay, I have done so many things like this where friends have like taken me to all sorts of things and been like, oh it's this, I don't know, ylang ylang, incense infused thing, and I'm like well, and I can't bear them.
Speaker 1:I can't bear them.
Speaker 2:But if that's your thing, respect.
Speaker 1:I went. This is a whole other story. I went to my first sound bath in December last year and I had the most incredible. If I had known what I was going in for, I probably wouldn't have had the same experience. Basically, I went into a sound bath this is back in Ireland. My best friend was taking me. I'd never been to one before. She loves them and she's all. She's very. She's into meditation, she loves yoga, she's really into all of that relaxing stuff. I never relax, I never sit down, I never stop, never. I went to this with her and I had the maddest experience. If I had ingested anything going into the ceremony it wasn't like a cacao ceremony or nothing like that.
Speaker 2:What's a cacao ceremony?
Speaker 1:It's where you drink like basically hot chocolate. It's like Hot chocolate.
Speaker 2:Hot chocolate you all.
Speaker 1:drink hot chocolate, you all drink hot chocolate kind of, but then I do that every night. I haven't I have never actually been to a cacao ceremony, so I can't say exactly what it is, but this is my understanding. You like meditate, or you maybe it's part of a sound bath where they like play all different, like singing bowls and gongs, and stuff.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I did not ingest anything going into this experience, otherwise I would have believed that she had drugged me. But the lady, as soon as we all lay down, the lady started like playing with the balls and the gongs and stuff and everybody around me was drifting off to sleep like people were snoring and hells. I closed my eyes. She hit that first gong and I started tripping balls, like what do you mean? I could see the most insane colorful visions, like it was. I can't describe it. It was literally visions Like it was. I can't describe it. It was like I'd taken acid. It was like I was in another dimension.
Speaker 2:Honestly, that's what I thought that's a no from me, babe. I just can't fucking bear stuff like that. I have to tell you about this time. It's not normal, it's not. I just I can't. I remember I had this. I went on a press trip once. I can't, I remember I had this. I went on a press trip once. My I took my best friend and she still takes a piss at me because on these pressures I'd have to go and like do all the experiment, like experiments, all the experiences.
Speaker 2:And it was a symbol ceremony and I thought they meant like clanging symbols. So I was like I said to my friend I was like, oh, she was lying by the pool enjoying the free cocktails and I was like I need to go to symbol ceremony, was like, oh, she was lying by the pool enjoying the free cocktails and I was like I need to go to symbol ceremony, I'll be back. And she was like, yeah, like good luck, and I walk in. It's just this room, this empty room, this woman, and it's like all dark and she gets and I'm not joking post-it notes and starts drawing symbols on the post-it notes and sticking them all over my body like spirals and stuff, and she was just like kind of walking around me and like sticking like one on my shoulder, one of my literally on my boobs, one on my mouth, one on my head, and I was the fuck is this?
Speaker 2:And she was like, oh, you know, this energy like is coming from here and this energy is coming from there. And I was like what a load of shit. She wrote the biggest symbol it was like this mad, crazy symbol and stuck it right on my bum hole, like we're not in my, but like right where my bum hole was. And I was like what she was?
Speaker 2:like there's really negative energy coming from here and I'm like that's my arsehole, like and then, and then. She was like and then she left me in this room and I had to stand in this dark room with all these like post-it notes stuck on me for 45 minutes in silence. I was like this is ridiculous. She came back in. She took all the post-it notes off. I forgot about the one on my arse. She forgot about the one on my arse. I walk out to the pool to see my friend. She's like why have you got a spiral on your arse Because of my negative energy? This is bonkers. It's bonkers. It doesn't make any sense anyway.
Speaker 1:Okay, I will say now I love that kind of stuff Do you?
Speaker 2:I can't bear it.
Speaker 1:I love a bit of Reiki. I'm all about.
Speaker 2:Oh, hatred, hate, hate, hate.
Speaker 1:But that's what's going to make this so interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I believe in something, something, yeah, and the universe, whatever it is. I love that kind of stuff. Now, the symbols I don't too far, yeah, too far. I have never heard of this. I feel like one of your colleagues is winding you up to be honest, I was a little bit.
Speaker 2:I've asked like I've spoken to loads of people about it and they were like I don't know what you're talking about and I'm like symbol.
Speaker 1:It was a symbol have you ever googled it? What country was this in?
Speaker 2:where was it, where were gran can I've never heard of. Anyway, yeah, I just I don't believe in anything. To be honest, I don't believe in a higher power I don't believe in. So that's why I do struggle with the kind of Even on, like the front of the book, the artist's way, a spiritual path to higher creativity. That put me off. If you just wrote a path to creativity, fine, take out the spiritual, take out the higher. I'm all yours. But I'm going to do it, I'll try it.
Speaker 1:That's what's going to make this super interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because we have different perspectives on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Again, I'm very. I was so put off by all the God stuff. But she does also kind of talk about creative energy of the universe and I'm very interested in what creativity is and where does it come from and what inspires me versus inspires you. And have you ever read elizabeth gilbert's, who the first quote in this book, the first person raving about it? Have you ever read her big magic? No, what's that?
Speaker 1:it's about creativity and okay about the magic of creativity okay I read it a very long time ago, like maybe 2020 or something, I remember. I thought it was quite good, but I don't remember details of it.
Speaker 1:What she says, uh, is that creativity is kind of like a collective unconscious okay probably totally misrepresenting that, but that ideas are around for the taking and if I have a good idea and I'm like no, I don't have time for that, it can make its way to you and maybe you'll be the one to bring it to fruition. Like, have you ever? Okay? Have you ever seen something that somebody else has made and you're like I swear I had that exact idea yeah, all the time so it's that kind of all the time okay, it's like the universe, I guess, not to be too university spiritual with you, but that there's all these ideas for the taking and it's our responsibility.
Speaker 1:If it hits right, we take it basically okay, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's also that I mean I'm for me, it's like there's no idea that's not been done before. Yeah, so it's kind of like I suppose that's also what I struggle with creatively. I have so many ideas and I'm scrolling through Instagram and I see someone who's done it, and done it really fucking well, and I'm like, for fuck's sake, I want it. I was thinking about something like that, and so there is that sense of we all have the same sort of ideas swirling around, or I mean, we all live in the same world, so we're seeing the same things, and I guess we're so saturated with so much creativity. I mean I've spent hours, too many hours on Instagram seeing and I follow so many amazing artists and I'm like god, they're amazing or I'm not. I don't really compare myself to people, but it's hard not to go shit. That's a really good fucking idea. I wish I'd had that. I also see, sometimes see people's ideas and go. That's a really good idea, but it's done really badly. I'm gonna do it better this is the thing.
Speaker 1:So I've had this conversation with my boyfriend about like, oh, I had an idea for the same thing, but someone else has done it, and he was saying everything's been done in some way or another but it hasn't been done by you yeah, exactly that's a nice way of yeah yeah, and you're going to put your own unique spin on it
Speaker 2:yeah, so and I guess. So. The other thing is like once I kind of ignored the spirituality side of this and the god side and all that. I read through the introduction and I read the author's journey and there was a couple of things that really really hooked me. So there's one that she says. She kind of talks about how the process will help you look back at yourself, your childhood self, which is obviously where our kind of creativity stems from. It's like, you know, as a child learning about the world.
Speaker 2:And there's one bit she said where was it that we mourn the self we abandoned? That was the, that was the. What she wrote we mourn the self we abandoned, and that. And that really struck me because recently I have been really struggling with the person I used to be and feeling like there was a person there that I have completely neglected.
Speaker 2:Going into the corporate world, going into, you know, a very nice, good career, I kind of neglected that free spirit artist in me, that kind of rebel artist, because I was like all right, well, I've got a mortgage to pay and I've got bills to pay and I'm an adult now. So that whole kind of we mourn the self we abandoned and looking back at who we were, who we could have progressed to be had we not taken certain decisions or paths in life, really resonated with me, because I've kind of I feel like I'm stepping back to step forward and I feel like I'm really looking back at who I used to be, the art I used to make before I kind of became an adult, and like paid bills and all of that kind of stuff, and is there something in that that I'm completely neglecting that? Actually, I mean I've kept all my sketchbooks from school. I've kept all everything and I've just pulled them out from, you know, my attic and I'm like, right, let's look back at the art I used to make, the person I used to be and what happened to her. I mean, she's still in me or maybe there's nothing there and maybe it's just like, yeah, I'll move on from her. She was a weirdo, she was a bit emo, let's move on.
Speaker 2:But I'm really interested in that self-discovery, reintroduction to my old self and I keep seeing these things. You know how sometimes you think your phone is like spying on you or whatever. But you know how sometimes you're like it's actually spying on my thoughts. I keep thinking about the girl. I used to be like I'm talking like little girl. I used to be when I was like always making art and drawing stuff and I'm like I'd love to have a conversation with her. I'd love to have a conversation with her now and be like, sorry, I'm getting weirdly emotional.
Speaker 1:It's not weird. I went to this meditation thing. You would have hated it. Yeah, I went to this meditation thing one time and the opening thing was to imagine that you walk into a room and your little self is sitting on the bed like your bedroom, your childhood bedroom. What do you do, Like? What do you say to them? And everybody was crying.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I'm in bits babe.
Speaker 1:We're going to have to start bringing tissues. I don't love a tissue. Who knew it's not even we haven't even done week one, have we?
Speaker 2:Are you ever? I'm not even going to start week one, we're not going to get past week one at this rate, but it's that like I'd love to be able to speak to her and be like what you know. Because I remember growing up I was like what do you want to be when you grow up? And I was like an artist. And I'm like, guess what babe you are Like.
Speaker 2:I think what would be really interesting for me is that side of this journey of like reintroducing myself to myself. That sounds really weird, but reintroducing myself to who I am and why I have this absolute need to be creative. Because I mean, I think we're all creative in some way. But I have friends of mine who just don't seem to have a creative bone in their body and they don't want one, they're not interested in it. Like I could not live. I could not. I mean, even when I was in my job which again it was a creative job. It was creative on behalf of others, but it was creative. I really struggled because I didn't. I wasn't being creative to myself and for myself. So I'm interested in um exploring that definitely.
Speaker 1:I am also interested in that. However, I have a totally different perspective because I was an asshole when I was growing up.
Speaker 2:I feel like we wouldn't have liked each other growing up.
Speaker 1:I was just this little arsehole like I, I don't know. I've got a lot of reconciling with my past self because I just again problem of authority. I am a nice person.
Speaker 2:I'd say you're nice thanks.
Speaker 1:I didn't show the vulnerability of what I thought. Nice meant weak and I didn't show that I had this really hard shell, but underneath I was so soft but it's, all it was all facade.
Speaker 1:You know, I acted in ways that now I wouldn't dream of acting and like I'd be just going about the place, just a little arsehole like, and you know, just being really bold which bold in Ireland meaning like naughty right, you know, and I wasn't actually a little dickhead. Why did I act the way that I acted? And this is going to be hard, this hells.
Speaker 2:See, I was always nice. I just I always kind of I saw niceness as a strength and I always felt like that, even when I was being really badly bullied at school. I just remember being nice to my bullies and I remember when I've been bullied in the workplace I have this like kill them with kindness attitude the worse you are to me, the nicer I'll be to you, which sounds like I'm being a pushover, but for me anyway, throughout my life it's really helped me in the face of horrible people. I'm just constant, like the smile gets bigger, the sunshine gets bigger, the niceness gets bigger, and it really seems to have helped me in life, like through, yeah, disarming bullies, disarming negativity.
Speaker 2:But then I think I'm the opposite way to you. I think I'm really nice on the outside but inside I'm a horrible person. Oh my god, babe, no, the thoughts I have about people. Who was I talking to the other day and someone I I was talking to was like oh, I thought we used to have beef and I went without thinking beef obviously means, you know, having, yeah, okay, I was like okay, you looked at me like what? And I was like beef, oh no.
Speaker 1:I just can't imagine you like having beef with someone. That's why I look surprised.
Speaker 2:But this person was like oh, I thought I thought we weren't talking because we had beef and I, just, without thinking, I just went yeah, I've got beef with everyone. And she and he was like what? And I literally I hate everyone. I've got beef with everyone, everyone. That's like my internal voice is like I'm an arsehole inside, but outside I'm really nice.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, I'm the opposite. I like I. I'm so soft, I'm so soft. But when? When I was growing up, if somebody had something to say to me, I'd be like fuck off.
Speaker 1:You know, I just oh god, I wouldn't but inside I'd be dying, I'd be so like, I'd be so upset inside. But I had this really tough topic to hear. Yeah, there is something I'd love to touch on actually. Yeah, is I made a note and I highlighted something and made a note beside it because I was thinking of you and it says to affect a creative recovery, we must undergo a time of mourning in dealing with the suicide of the quotation nice self I underlined this bit, did you?
Speaker 1:if we find a certain amount of grief to be essential. Our tears prepare the ground for our future growth, and I wrote down I can't wait for hells to enter her fuck it era To death with the nice self Because you are, if you don't mind me saying this, you are so giving to other people. And we've been discussing how you need to focus on yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, stop creating for others and facilitating for others.
Speaker 1:And it's time for you to say I'm focusing on me and, as I've written here for Hells to enter her fuckadera, I'm here on me and, as I've written here, for Hells to enter her fuck it era.
Speaker 2:I'm here for my fuck it era. Yeah, I'm here for it too, can't wait, but I am. I'm inside, I'm like fuck it, fuck everyone, fuck you, fuck them, fuck him, fuck they, fuck them. But outside I'm like, of course I'll bend over backwards for you and do everything you're asking. That's so funny. I literally underlined in dealing with the suicide of the nice self we have been making do with and I'm like huh, there's a nice self I have been making do with, but also it has helped me. Yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:So week one so we started talking about artist dates and ideas, and then that's it.
Speaker 2:We got sidetracked.
Speaker 1:We started talking about your symbols and your negative bum.
Speaker 2:My negative bum. My negative bum.
Speaker 1:So I was saying the sound bath. I had an amazing experience tripping balls. I got so much creative artistic inspiration. I came out of that session and I painted for like two weeks over Christmas. Really, oh my God, it was unbelievable. I saw so many things.
Speaker 2:Are you?
Speaker 1:sure you weren't on acid. It felt like I was on acid and I came out and I said to my best friend I was on acid. And I came out and I said to my best friend I was shook, I was like what happened? And she was like what do you mean? And I said what happened to you in there? And she was like oh, it's just really relaxing. And I was like I felt I fell asleep and I was like what did you see? And she said what do you mean? What did I see? Because I saw a kaleidoscope of colors can't even describe it.
Speaker 1:It was. Every beat of the gong was a different universe is the only way I can describe it. Multi-colored, the brightest colors. It was insane for two hours. At one point I looked at my watch an hour had passed, still another hour to go and I was like oh my god, okay, I'm tired, but okay, now I'm going back in close, my eyes off. I went again for another hour. It was so intense. I said to her what did you see? And she's like what do you mean? And I said what visions did you see? Did you see other worlds? And she was like girl, I have no idea what you're talking about?
Speaker 1:yeah, you need to calm down you have a glass of water sit down yeah so, and I ran out the door that place. I was like get me out of here. This is mental, but it gave me so much inspiration and I painted non-stop for two weeks these artist dates.
Speaker 2:We have to do an artist date once a week, we have to be, we have to do it alone and that can be anything. So I feel like I do. I take myself on artist dates quite a lot. Like I said, I have a studio. I walk to my studio every day and on my way to my studio, well, every day that I go there, on my way to my studio, I'm constantly thinking about art. I kind of take different routes to my studio to see different parts of London and to me I feel like that's an artist date that could be considered an artist date because I am, I'm getting inspiration from the world around me and I go to galleries as much as possible. So I feel like a couple of a big kind of obvious artist date would be a gallery and I do that as much as possible. So I guess, what other, what other kind of examples does she give, examples of artist dates in here?
Speaker 1:she gives one and she talks about taking yourself to the dollar store or pound shop for a month with five dollars or five quid whatever and buying you know wee bits to make something.
Speaker 1:Ok, that kind of thing. I love the idea of going to galleries and walks and stuff. That's what I mentioned. I took myself to a sound bath. It wasn't, by the way, nothing happened. The second time I didn't get any no visions, Very disappointing. I think I'm probably going to lean more towards that kind of stuff. Okay, yeah, like sound bathy wakey kind of vibe. But also I'd love ideas if anyone is listening to this. Please tell us what is a good artist date and.
Speaker 2:I got, yeah, some. We need some ideas for artist dates. Anyone's done this artist way to let us know what your thoughts about it, how you found it? Obviously we'll be doing week by week ideas for artist dates, I guess. Yeah, my, I think I would lean more towards the actual physical kind of art galleries, physically taking myself into an art world. There's a lot of places in London like bookshops that have nice cafes in things like that.
Speaker 2:Also, I tell you what I love, and I know it kind of blasts, but my public library. I absolutely love going to library, just going to the library for a couple of hours, even if you don't take out any books, just sitting there. A lot of public libraries have computers and stuff, which I know. We all have our laptops and phones. But sometimes just going to a library and sitting in a random you know they usually have quite good art sections I'll just go and sit in the craft book section and just start reading. I mean, what was I reading the other day?
Speaker 2:About tufting, oh yeah, is it tufting? Yeah, that's quite a big thing. It's quite big, isn't it? Like people making their own car and I was like, maybe I need to make a carpet. I'll make a carpet. That's what I'm doing, but just like I just picked up a book on tufting and I was like, okay, fun. So I think I'll be kind of leaning more towards the physical kind of going to galleries, libraries, bookshop. I love waterstones, foils on foil. That big foil is on charing. Is it charing cross road a door they have live.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm not a jazz, massively into jazz, but they have like live jazz most days and things like this, sitting in a bookshop and just free reading books, love yeah, me too, and I love a library as well, and I I've done the same thing where I've gone into my local library and just picked up a book and then sat down. Then, before I know what, I've read a whole book you've read, albert.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm struggle with reading, so I'm just I'm a slow reader, so I thought I would.
Speaker 1:I'm a super fast reader are you?
Speaker 2:oh, I'm such a slow reader, but yeah, and also, what are the? What are the artist dates? I tell you, what I do really enjoy doing is messing about pottery and stuff. You know in what's that shop? The works, you know the works. I love the works. They have air drying clay for cheap in there, just like sitting down and making something that's specifically intended to be thrown away, something for the bin. That's what I do once a week. Have I told you about this? This is my favourite thing I do once a week.
Speaker 2:If I'm really struggling with creativity and don't know what to make and I've got a bit of a block, I just pick up whatever I have in my studio, in my house, even if it's just an envelope, scrap piece of paper, some old clay or whatever and I just make a piece of art that is specifically intended to be thrown away and it just takes that pressure off. I'm such a perfectionist I really struggle with if things don't work or don't look how I think they should or how I want them to look in my head. I get really frustrated. So I specifically make stuff that is just thrown away. No one will ever see it, and actually, nine times out of ten I end up keeping it because I'm like there's something really interesting here or this is really cool, whatever. So I think I might do that, keep doing stuff like that and my artist dates walks anything that doesn't cost money as well.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love the idea of making something to be thrown away. But I remember doing it and I remember loving it. Secondary school we did it for sure, oh nice. Or they took it and got fired, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure, but I loved it. But also like paint you know those like paint plate shops. Yeah, I love stuff like that, where you just go and everything's just set up for you and you've got your plate or your cup to paint. Yeah, I'm going to try and do.
Speaker 1:I'll be going for like the cheap or free options, but I love that too, because it's going to be an example of how we can do things. There's no barrier.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We're going to tell you everything. We're going to be totally honest and we're going to give you our real experiences In here. It said that we would go on quite the journey. Helz, I'm sorry to drag you through this especially publicly, view through this especially publicly. But it says all about the different processes, about feeling angry, about feeling grief, about feeling a birthing process in which we experience intensilation and defensive skepticism, a strong urge to abandon the process and return to life as we know it. Um, a bargaining period, recommitment to process triggers, the free fall of major ego surrender and then eventually, we'll hopefully end up with a new sense of self-marked, increased autonomy, resilience, expectancy and excitement. And it says if this sounds like a lot of emotional turmoil, it is, but we are going to be totally honest and we're also going to tell you, tell you how much we've spent on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for other people, absolutely, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:so we'll tell you how much we spend doing it as well, and at the end of it, 12 weeks from now, we're going to say whether we recommend it or not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have no idea what's coming. I have no idea what's coming, so I did read in the introduction that she says, like you can read ahead and you can get an understanding of what's coming by reading. So each week you get a number of tasks. You have to do your morning pages every day and you have to do your artist date once a week, but then on top of that you have a certain amount of tasks each week to do. And she does say in the introduction that you'll feel free to read ahead and get to know what each week is going to be. I've decided I'm not going to do that.
Speaker 1:OK, I haven't read ahead at all I haven't read ahead at all.
Speaker 2:I haven't read ahead at all, so I just I'm just like I just want to take it as it comes, see what our tasks are. So do we? Should we have a look at what our tasks are for this?
Speaker 1:week. Let's also, if there's anybody listening who has been through this, who's done their 12 weeks and they know, do you think they're like, oh my god, these girls have no idea what's coming.
Speaker 2:I hope so. I hope they're like haha, yes, I mean. But also, if we do it and I don't feel like it's changed my life in any way, I will let you not know yeah, for sure it did fuck all.
Speaker 1:I'm hopeful I'm skeptical, but I'm hopeful. Before we go into the tasks for this week, it might be worth mentioning that I haven't looked back at my artist pages, my morning pages, sorry yeah because she says not to, at least for the first eight weeks, although I'm technically there now.
Speaker 2:I mean you can look back, yeah, so okay. So let me get it straight. We write our artist's pages every morning. Our morning pages, yeah, Our morning pages every morning and we don't read them back. No, we don't look back at them.
Speaker 1:And then at some point you will look back at them, but not yet. Okay, until she tells us it says do not reread these pages or allow anyone else to read them. Ideally, stick these pages in a large manila envelope or hide them somewhere. Welcome to the morning pages. They will change you. Wow, yeah, powerful statement. Very yeah, julie Julia.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:She's got big statements big promises, julia.
Speaker 2:So we have a notebook each Rua has beautifully bought me one in pink, which is my favourite colour, so this is my morning pages notebook.
Speaker 1:And I have one in teal turquoise which is my favourite colour.
Speaker 2:We're just here for the stationery, aren't we? Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1:I love foils as well, and waterstones.
Speaker 2:Oh, I thought you meant hot foils like gold foil. No, because I was about to go off on one about gold foil. Why? Because I love it. I'm obsessed with gold foil, but no Foils. The Bookshop is also great. Also great Sponsor us Foils, no Hot Foil. Anyone who does hot foiling please slide into my DMs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you know what I love? Foil Manifested health. On that note, one of the first things it says that we have to do when we're doing our morning pages. Now, I have not done this. I say that I've been trying to do week one for eight weeks. I haven't, I've just been writing nonsense for eight weeks, and even then not consistently, not every day, just whenever I can be arsed, but from now on I'm on track. However, there's actual instructions I realized weeks into this for how you do part of this. She talks about creative affirmations which I know you're not into, but let's talk about that and also addressing your list of alerts, which are negative things that come out when you're writing oh, I didn't, okay.
Speaker 2:Okay disclaimer I didn't read everything. I said to her I'd done my homework and I'd read it. I'd read the first intro, okay, so wait, you're gonna have to tell me.
Speaker 1:That's okay. I've highlighted this part. It says try picking an affirmation. For example, I Helv, I'm a brilliant and prolific painter. Write that 10 times in a row and then, while you're doing that, if you get these negative thoughts popping up that are like you're not an amazing painter, those are called your blur. I've highlighted here things your subconscious will blurt out. Write them down and they are your own negative core beliefs and then, by using positive affirmations, you should beat them basically so do you have?
Speaker 2:do you have negative core beliefs or blurt like? Do you have those kind of thoughts? I haven't been doing this right at all and no, I don't have those thoughts no, okay, good, because I'm like oh my god, am I just an arrogant cunt? Because I don't't have. I mean, I question myself and I worry that I'm not doing great. Or I'm like oh, I can't really do that, but I don't have those negative blurts.
Speaker 1:So I think what it is when you write down a page of how amazing you are, something in your subconscious should pop up your blurts and try to distract you from your greatness. I suppose I don't.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, for example, things that pop up will say this is a quote about somebody else. You're just kidding yourself. You're a fool, you're not really talented, you're a pretender Like imposter syndrome.
Speaker 2:That kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:If that comes up, that's what you're supposed to write it all down to, and if it doesn't come up, that's fantastic. It you have won, I've won the artist's way and good night, maybe. Yes, end of podcast. But yeah, this is it. So it says turn now to your own list of blurts. They are very important to your recovery. Just talking about affirmations addressing the negative core beliefs. If they come up, if you have any, it's amazing. Right now you're like I don't think I have any. That's the dream. And if something comes up, then then I pop it down you pop it down.
Speaker 2:And maybe that's also part of why the blockage, because maybe I do, but I don't acknowledge them. Maybe Because I'm very good at being like don't think about that, don't think about that hard thing. Like if there's something that really upsets me or like something from my past that's quite traumatic, I can actually hear myself my don't think about that house, don't think about that, pop that back in the vault, close that door, close that lock it, padlock definitely.
Speaker 1:You sweep that under the rug, so maybe that's part of the blockage. Full-on creativity maybe this is gonna be the thing that lets all that out, wow, okay. However, like I said, I've been writing my morning pages, but I haven't done this stuff. I haven't written out affirmations and I haven't done the blur. I haven't written out affirmations and I haven't done the blur.
Speaker 2:I haven't been doing it right, basically so I struggle with the affirmations because I struggle with that whole. Friends of mine are very good with that kind of manifesting and affirmations and they swear by it and I just struggle with it. I just think it's a load of bullshit. To be honest, now probably isn't and I know it's changed a lot of people's lives. I just struggle with it. So I think for me, these creative affirmations, I just don't know how, I don't know. So do I have to say them to myself, write them down? I have to write them down so what's visualization?
Speaker 1:it's where you picture the things you want in the life you want. It's kind of manifesti, okay. But again, I'm not. I don't really know what I want, but do you just do?
Speaker 2:you just I want too many things?
Speaker 1:do you just sit, and you just sit and think most people probably do, but I suck at that stuff and, being still before I know it, I'm daydreaming and I'm planning my trip to Thailand. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, which I suppose is visualizing so you're doing this every morning. I'm trying to. I did it in lockdown because, I.
Speaker 1:This is a whole other story, but I ended up back in Ireland for lockdown because I very dramatically quit my job in January 2020 to go travel the world. I had a really you know I was on a good career path. I was on the road to what success should look like in your career and I was miserable and I was like I don't want to do this anymore. This isn't me. I'm out of here and I quit. January 2020 set off traveling, got as far as Costa Rica and then, before you know what, covid comes and I found myself yeah, back back home in my childhood bedroom no job being like what the?
Speaker 2:fuck have I done? What have I?
Speaker 1:done so. I was just literally staying up all night long watching Below Deck. I mean a great show, but yeah, such a good show, but show but you don't want to be staying up to seven every morning watching Below Deck I mean that's the thing, because lockdown, there was nothing to get up for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's it right you know, so there was no reason. The reason why we do go to bed is because we've got to get up the next morning. Yeah, okay, so you found yourself in a really negative cycle with no direction, feeling like what have I done?
Speaker 1:and will the world ever be normal again and my brother recommended this to give me something to structure my day when I had no structure, and I loved it and it gave me something to be excited to get out of bed for. And I actually I love reading. I read really fast, but I was trying to read a book on neuroplasticity at the time but it wasn't.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, your lockdown looked very different to mine what you're a robot now.
Speaker 1:Neuroplasticity about how the neural networks in your brain can change if you practice new habits oh, okay, so okay that or if you you know, if you have a physical injury, how you can train your brain okay, all right, yeah, yeah yeah, it wasn't a fun book about neuroplasticity it doesn't sound like the most engaging story it wasn't and I could not get through it yeah, no shit yeah, it was hard going.
Speaker 1:I really wanted to read it but I was like this is tough. I really saw the benefit, even having a more positive mindset with the affirmations, visualization, all that I really did find it helped me.
Speaker 2:So you say that you don't like your kind of rules and regulations, but that kind of sounds to me like you did well with the.
Speaker 1:With the structure yeah, maybe it's like more of a structure that you respond well to yeah, even then, I don't do it the right way, I make it my own, you do it your own way?
Speaker 2:yeah, okay, so do you think you'll struggle with the kind of structure of this and like being told what to do with this?
Speaker 1:I am going to try. I'm going to be unrecognizable in 12 weeks house I know you're gonna.
Speaker 2:I won't even know who you are. I won't like you. What if we hate? What if we end up hating each other by the end? How fun would that be?
Speaker 1:not fun, but like how interesting that'd be if we if we become like mortal enemies by the end. And the artist way did that oh well, people are gonna have to stay changed and find out, aren't they?
Speaker 2:and like pick sides. Oh no, yeah, this is my.
Speaker 1:You see, this is the arsehole in me pick sides, pick me, pick me but what is really interesting is that we have such different views on this already yeah, yeah, yeah so I'm really excited to see how we both get on with it, yeah.
Speaker 2:So the plan is we're going to go away each week. We're going to do our tasks. We're going to do it as we're told Rua as we're told, not Rua's way, the artist's way. We're going to come back once a week, speak about what we found, honestly, how we found it, and then embark on the next week. That's the plan Exactly.
Speaker 1:So we're going to review every week what we've just covered off, what was in the week before, how did we find that experience, what was the challenge, what did we find easy, what the tasks were, and then we'll give a recap of how we got on that week and a preview of what's coming next week that's when we can like read our tasks for the next week.
Speaker 2:Yes, fun, yeah, okay. So let's read our tasks for this week then, okay.
Speaker 1:So morning pages and artist date yes, non-negotiable, and that's for the whole 12 weeks.
Speaker 2:I'm looking forward to that. I am looking forward to that.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna do it because I mean, if you don't do it, there's no podcast. So and you, you're making me do it, so yeah, you're doing it so that's the first thing the artist date.
Speaker 1:I am really excited to hear how we both approach that, because I'm trying to do the universe guide me. You're doing the I'm physically going to.
Speaker 2:I'm going to yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's interesting. So I'm interested to see.
Speaker 2:Do we want to talk about what our artist dates are for the week that we're planning, or we maybe we talk about what we ended up doing? What we ended up doing, what we ended up doing yeah, because things change do not have a plan. I do okay.
Speaker 1:Well, why don't you tell us what you're going to do for this?
Speaker 2:okay, so my artist date for this week. What am I doing this week? My artist date for this week. Actually, I've got a new uh, I don't know how to say it. It's a cry cut or cricket crickets. I got a cricket machine, wow, and my artist day is to play with my cricket machine. That's really good. I got it cricket machine wow, and my artist day is to play with my cricket machine. That's really good, very amazing. Do you have?
Speaker 1:one no.
Speaker 2:I got it on really a really good deal, really good discount, and I got loads of free material with it, so I was gonna. My artist date this week is I'm gonna spend probably Sunday afternoon by myself with my new machine, just trying new things that's amazing.
Speaker 1:That's my artist day. Okay, I don't know what mine is yet, okay, but I'll let you know. Okay, yeah, it's going to be good and I will do it, as they say, alone, just for fun. I'll let you know.
Speaker 2:Your face looked really sad when you said alone. You went alone and you had this really like downward smile. It's okay, okay, you're not alone in the world. You've got us, you've got me, don't worry. Okay, our tasks what's our next one morning pages artist date. Now, this is interesting. Task for this week is time travel list three old enemies of your creative self-worth. Please be as specific as possible in doing these exercises. Your historic monsters are the building blocks of your core negative beliefs. So this is your monster hall of fame. More monsters will come to you to work through your recovery.
Speaker 1:It's always necessary to acknowledge creative injuries and grieve them okay, now she does say that you don't need to do all of these. She said choose half and choose the ones that appeal to you and the ones you're most resistant to, because that's where the work, okay so because there's quite a few.
Speaker 1:There's 10 tasks, that's quite a lot yeah, there's another one called time travel, and this is select and write out one horror story from your monster hall of fame. There's another one that says write a letter to the editor in your defense. Mail it to yourself. Probably won't do that, but what does that mean?
Speaker 2:write a letter in the voice of your wounded artist child was actually, oh, okay, so you like defend your, okay, so you time travel. You look at like who maybe people that maybe said like oh, you can't draw, or like you're no good at that. You write down them and then you write a letter to them as a defense Actually, bitch, she was only eight and you're like, yeah, ok, the tree didn't look great, but the house was good, yeah exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:Write a letter to the editor in your defense. Ok, then the next one is time travel List three old champions of your creative self-worth. So people who celebrated you and encouraged you. The next one is more time traveling. Select and write out one happy piece of encouragement. Write a thank you letter. The next one is imaginary lives. If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? I quite like that one.
Speaker 2:See, I like this one Because, okay, imaginary lives. If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? I would be a pilot, a cowhound, blah, blah, blah. So I have always wanted to be a cowboy. Well, cowgirl and. I want to live on a ranch and make like peach cobbler and moonshine.
Speaker 1:I want to come to your farm, please anytime. But yeah, so this is it. It says do not overthink this exercise. So just like write out what would another path have?
Speaker 2:been Five of them. I'm going to do that one. That's fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and finally take your artist for a walk. Just the two of you.
Speaker 2:So my artist is me.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I mean it's like take your artist for a walk, the two of you. I'm like wait, who am I taking for a walk?
Speaker 1:Your little artist self.
Speaker 2:So me and myself, me, myself and I the three of us in fact are going to go on a little artist walk. Yeah, now I do talk to myself a lot.
Speaker 1:So be nice to yourself.
Speaker 2:I'm so nice to myself. Good, I really am. Okay, we'll go on a walk.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we don't have to do all of those things.
Speaker 2:Okay, do the things that appeal to you and the things you're resistant to can we do, but I might try and do them all, 100 I'm gonna do them all, but you can for sure I'm gonna try and do them all it but okay.
Speaker 2:So it does feel like this. So a couple of kind of takeaways from this first week is it feels like this is going to be a lot of work. I feel like that's something that we have to be like really aware of, and we're both crazy busy at the moment. Like even just trying to meet up and like record is crazy. That's something I'm a little bit like worried about.
Speaker 1:I won't do all 10 things for sure.
Speaker 2:See, I will struggle with an hour a day, but I could do like four hours one day and like no hours the next. But that's okay too. Do you know what I mean? Like I probably. I mean I'll do my morning pages, I'll do my artist day in the week. Like I would find it easier to just sit down and do it in one block yeah like do all these tasks in one block. So I think I'm going to try and do that when I have some time.
Speaker 1:I hope Julia Cameron's not listening to this and she's like that's not how you do it, I'm sure.
Speaker 2:But if she is, tell us. Yeah, tell us. Julia, tell us somebody and also like no disrespect about your god we respect your god yes, but honestly, that's a good point to mention that.
Speaker 1:Anybody who is listening to this, who is really religious and does really believe in that, fair enough. You know, if that is for you, that's absolutely grand yeah but even then you are a total atheist. You have no belief, whereas I do believe in something, yeah, yeah, yeah so you know, everybody's opinion is respected totally yeah, okay, yeah. Okay, so I guess that's it then. Hel Off we go.
Speaker 2:Off. We trot on the artist's way. Let's do this. Oh my God, I'm excited, I'm emotional.
Speaker 1:But this is just. We haven't even started the programme yet and there's already been tears.
Speaker 2:I need some more symbols on my bum, I think I think that's the lesson here.
Speaker 1:I'm going to Google that. I have never heard of that before and I'm very open minded to this kind of stuff. That's brand new to me. Ok, thank you so much for tuning in If you made it this far. We are so excited to do this and we're delighted to have others along on the journey, so be sure to reach out to us and come and check in. If you've done this before, we would love to hear. You can find me on instagram at did underscore by underscore, ruah and hell I'm hells gibson on instagram.
Speaker 2:That's h e double l s g I b s o n perfect.
Speaker 1:Come and say hi. Let us know if you've done this before. Ask us your questions, tell us your suggestions for artist states. We are really excited. I can't wait to see in 12 weeks what's different if we're enemies the enemies that we become thank you, and we will chat to you in one week.