The Artist's Way

family and friends to leave us alone and stop making
unreasonable demands.
We are the ones making unreasonable demands. We
expect our artist to be able to function without giving it what
it needs to do so. An artist requires the upkeep of creative
solitude. An artist requires the healing of time alone.
Without this period of recharging, our artist becomes
depleted. Over time, it becomes something worse than out
of sorts. Death threats are issued.
In the early stages, these death threats are issued to our
intimates. (“I could kill you when you interrupt me.... ”)
Woe to the spouse who doesn’t take the hint. Woe to the
hapless child who doesn’t give you solitude. (“You’re
making me very angry.... ”)
Over time, if our warnings are ignored and we deem to
stay in whatever circumstance—marriage, job, friendship—
requires threats and warnings, homicide gives way to
suicide. “I want to kill myself” replaces “I could murder
you.”
“What’s the use?” replaces our feelings of joy and
satisfaction. We may go through the actions of continuing
our life. We may even continue to produce creatively, but
we are leaching blood from ourselves, vampirizing our
souls. In short, we are on the treadmill of virtuous
production and we are caught.
We are caught in the virtue trap.
There are powerful payoffs to be found in staying stuck
and deferring nurturing your sense of self For many