Escaping from words (just for a moment)...

I am about to embark on a frightening journey. The author of The Artist's Way calls it "Reading Deprivation". I call it scary. Usually deprivation is used in terms of sleep deprivation or sensory deprivation and other mind-altering situations where one ends up seeing spiders that aren't there or floating through unfamiliar dream lands. I have been following the program outlined by The Artist's Way for 5 weeks now. Each week there is a reading provided, along with writing activities and thought exercises to help open up your well of creativity. So far, so amazing. Everything the author has claimed would happen along these five weeks has. What's more, everything she has claimed most artists struggle with has been a perfect reflection of me. I could open up the book to any one spot and start reading and feel as though she were writing it specifically for me. It's like The Neverending Story.

But last week one of the exercises was this reading deprivation craziness. For one week, you are not allowed to read ANYTHING, other than the workbook. Not even a newspaper! (Good thing I don't read the paper.) I decided- however scary- that I would embark on this assignment in faith, because all of the other exercises have led to significant gains in my artist path. However, I had to put it off for a week because I was in the process of completing all of Dave Pelzer's books before I saw him speak. Now, having accomplished that, and having completed his brother's book, I am almost ready. I am on the final cd of Committed, and as soon as it is finished I will be sans book for a week. Today getting ready for work actually, I went to grab my book as I always bring one in case one of my students stands me up, when I realized I didn't have one. So, however sad this sounds, I grabbed one just to have close by, even though I'm not allowed to read it for a week!

So the point? The point of the exercise is to use that time usually spent reading engaging yourself in other tasks, as well as to free yourself from the continuous onslaught of words for a breather. Tonight when I might have been reading, I instead cleaned the kitchen and organized the bathroom shelves a bit. Hopefully tomorrow my new-found time will be spend a bit more interestingly. But we shall see. I am eager to see how I spend the time. I think it will say a lot. But already, even before it has begun, I am eagerly awaiting the day it is over. I already have two books I want to read on the horizon! Actually three. Ok, make that four...


This is a photo of the drum playing rooster that guards our home that I took before our walk this evening. Maybe with all my free time this week I will take more pictures, or maybe even play the drums some!