Take Yourself on a Date!

Artist’s dates cultivate your inner artist, as well as help you find balance in this chaotic world. Let’s explore what this is and what you’ll need.

I first hear of artist's dates when reading Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way. Both this book and this practice have been in place for many years, but it's still being discovered as something completely new to this day.

My first artist date was a trip the park with my art journal, art supplies and a novel packed into a canvas bag with a light lunch. This was in 1998 and, for many reasons, I felt very uncomfortable and out of place. I felt like I had no business doing something like this on my own and the fact that this date was only about me was beyond what I could fathom at the time. What started out to be a nervous outing, though, soon became very addictive.

Scheduling in artist's dates became my next challenge. I was surrounded by people who had no idea why this was important to me and felt I should be doing things that would benefit the home and the budget. This was benefiting those things, though, in that I was a more productive person when my inner artist was nurtured and cultivated. The fact that I had to convince others of this was frustrating, but very real.

So, that became my next challenge. How would I show people around me that I really did matter? How would I show people around me that I did deserve this little break? How would I show people around me that I need to serve myself as much as satisfy their needs? It was difficult, but worth working for.

Soon, this time became a little less random and more a part of my regular routine. I found ways to schedule this time around everything else, particularly as the things in my life changed so often and so dramatically over the years, so it didn't take away from anything that was more pressing.

Working through these challenges helped me respect myself more as an artist and gave me the ability to stand up to my inner critic. Before, I'd tell myself more often than I care to count how this time was being wasted and it didn't really matter. I couldn't understand why this was happening considering what an important role art has always played in my life, so this forced me to look at other areas of my life and figure out what issues needed to be resolved.

Here are some links of interest: