Finding My Artist Self

And getting comfortable with the word 'artist'

Welcome to this week’s roundup of three things I’ve been enjoying, and some chat about what’s on my mind. This week, I’m thinking about the word ‘artist’, and the journey towards using it to describe myself, part of my ‘30 on purpose’ series.

• 🚂 Mini Metro game. I was listening to an old episode of Books Unbound earlier today and Ariel recommended Mini Metro - a game a bit like Diner Dash (in that it’s a strategy/management game) but about designing underground and subway systems. As a lover of trains, I downloaded the iOS version for my iPad immediately (the best £3.99 I’ve ever spent? Maybe) and spent a few hours totally absorbed in designing subway systems for London, Paris, and New York.

• 📕 I’m Mostly Here To Enjoy Myself - Glynnis MacNicol. (ad - Amazon affiliate link) The ‘serious’ sounding description of this book is that it’s a memoir about the summer MacNicol spent in Paris after quarantining alone in her New York studio flat through Covid, and reacquainting herself with real human life. The more fun description is right there in the subtitle: One Woman’s Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris. This was a really enjoyable and thought-provoking memoir and I absolutely loved reading MacNicol’s thoughts on human connection, what makes life worth living, and the myths about dating.

• 🌊 Swimming in the sea. I’m nothing but a basic millennial woman here. I spent this week in North Wales (more on that later) and the weather was absolutely beautiful. A couple of us went down to Criccieth beach (Costa del Gwynedd) on Wednesday afternoon and spent a fantastic hour or so in the sun-warmed water (the tide was going out, so the water had been sitting over the gradually sloping beach and while it wasn’t quite bathtub-warm it was much warmer than I expected). S did more actual swimming than I did - I was more dunking and rolling around like an excited dolphin. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I swum in the sea. It was wonderful.

If you’re in a similar part of the internet to me, you might have seen people talking about The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (ad - Amazon affiliate link). It’s a 12-week course contained within a course textbook, which claims to help ‘blocked’ creatives let their inner artist out.

Since its first publication, The Artist's Way has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert, Tim Ferriss, Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron guides readers in uncovering problems and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to open up opportunities for growth and self-discovery.

A revolutionary programme for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.

As this email makes its way out, I’m just completing week 7 of the 12-week course - and I’m so glad I’m doing it.