Over the past year, I have been working to develop a practice at the crossroads of teaching, creativity and therapy. This past autumn, I workshopped ideas and source material with a wonderful group of friends, colleagues, and former students, and have this to share.
The Course
The Creative Recovery course is designed to help people live more creative lives. I have built it around Julia Cameron’s popular book The Artist’s Way, as well as twenty-two years of experience as an art instructor, artist and writer.
At its heart, The Artist’s Way is a self-help book that looks at creativity – the practice of art of any kind – as a form of therapy. It has a strong emphasis on self-work, looking at motivations, personal history, and habit formation. Some subjects include overcoming negative narratives, establishing creative routines, setting boundaries, and finding inspiration in your environment. Readers are asked to journal daily and take themselves on weekly excursions that will stimulate their sense of aesthetics and adventure, finding space in everyday life for moments of attention, imagination and reflection.
This book has been popular for decades, but is notorious for being challenging to complete alone. Many find it helpful to work through it in a group. My job is to help facilitate, but also draw themes and tools out of the book and present them in ways that help to make them more accessible; this is especially true for those who struggle with some of the religious concepts used by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way.
Though this course is great for people who would not necessarily self-identify as ‘professional creatives’ it has also been surprisingly helpful for those who are looking for a group connection, dedicated time, structure, inspiration, constructive feedback, or perhaps a new way forward.
The Schedule
The course consists of twelve weekly online sessions, with a one week break in the middle – Monday evenings (6 PM – 8:30 PM Pacific) from May 18th-August 10th.
Each session we review exercises, readings and tasks from the previous week and talk about ways your experiences inform your creative identity. I present images & stories each week that look at the work of artists, writers, filmmakers, designers, performers, etc, leading to a new, themed exploratory for the week. If speaking up in a group setting is not for you, you can communicate your questions & observations to me via direct message, and I will voice them.
Twice in the 12-session term, you and I will schedule a one-on-one online session to discuss your progress. I will offer constructive feedback aimed at helping you to recognize the discoveries that are taking place from a broader perspective, and explore new paths of reflection and growth.
You may find trying to describe your impressions and experiences is itself a creative act. You may recognize that your curiosity becomes something that develops its own momentum, becoming a perspective – or even a project – you can share with others. You may find that others’ curiosity, momentum and project ideas enrich your own in surprising ways.
Registration
If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, you can register directly on through the website for the founder’s rate of $650. If this number presents an obstacle, I reserve a number of reduced-fees spaces each term and would be happy to accommodate you – just contact me at info@lunamariscreativementoring.com to learn more. I would be honoured to have you join us.
Thanks for your attention!
John Luna.
John Luna 