I just came back from a two week vacation in glorious San Diego, Pacific Beach where old tide brings mammoth high seven feet waves and attracts newbie boogy boarders like myself. I was seriously burnt-out from teaching, writing and crowdfunding for my memoir Accidental Soldier: A Memoir of Service and Sacrifice in the Israel Defense Forces. The ocean was the perfect way to rejuvenate with creativity and inspiration.
While at the beach, I started to deepen the connection between self-care and writing through “an artist date.” As a mother, writer and business owner, I rarely seem to schedule such artist dates because they go against my productive self.
Vacations are like one long artist date. On vacations, you are in a different time zone. You do some sightseeing, wake up late, ignore emails and Facebook, don’t worry about making a huge mess, go out for dinner — your time starts to become your own. You claim back your time from a society that growls at you for not being productive enough.
When you gain back this precious time, you understand the kind of energies that are needed for artist dates. According to Cameron, an artist date is a “once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you.”
For the last year though, I’ve been listening to the ocean virtually on Youtube. This vacation brough the beach vacation to life. Now, it’s an experience that’s meant to be savored — wave by wave, salt and kelp and all. Vacations are like mini-artist dates for the soul, and as writers we need to nurture our souls and embrace this “nothing to do right now” time.
“As writers, care and maintenance of our writing muscles are necessary for our #writing stamina. . . .Even the smallest amount of self-nurturance will have an immediate and beneficial impact on our writing.” ~Julia
Cameron
Going on an artist date is not self-indulgence. It’s not luxury but its values go against the values of productivity that society has ingrained in us which is why we need to initiate our own artist dates just like we plan our yearly vacations.
Initially, I found it hard to just zap off from my regular teaching and writing schedule. Leaving Facebook. and gmail. Leaving my home and garden. Part of me didn’t feel very deserving of a vacation because these days, my income comes from teaching, not so much writing. I didn’t quite realize this vacation would be such a big undertaking in letting go.
Our initial plan for our family vacation was to hit Legoland, Disneyland and take a trolley tour. We ended up forgoing all that, and just hit the beach. Day in and out on the beach for almost two weeks was the quintessential artist date. There’s something about hearing the ocean waves that ignites creativity and inspiration. Imagine each day with no real schedule and your only main question is where on the beach should you sit and what should you bring and where should you eat?
That’s the kind of energy that comes from going on an artist date. The HOW is secondary. You just go. Take off. And you’re there. There’s nothing stopping you from just hanging out.
So that’s in a nutshell what happened. Here’s what happened during the process:
1. Instead of engaging in worries, inspiration hit me for stories I wanted to write. I could see the topics ever so clearly.
2. By letting go, I lost track of time sitting on a beach shore. i was even able to wake up early a few days to watch the sunrise. I reimagined my life again. I redesigned it. I took the time to record how I wanted to see my life in terms of professional and personal goals as well as income goals. One of the things I see myself doing is networking more frequently in order to build professional connections.
3. I finally got caught up on much needed reading. Writers need a steady reading diet and I had put mine on the side burner. But finally, on the plane ride home, I sprinted through an entire issue of Creative Non-Fiction, and it’s my intention to also submit to this magazine for one of their future themed submissions.
All this took courage — I was so buried in a routine that I forgotten my courageous spirit. It was there. Hiding the whole time. I just had to reconnect with it.
The next year will be a super busy one: getting ready for a book launch for my memoir Accidental Soldier in spring 2016, teaching new classes and getting ready for the new school year. All this requires super powers. My husband and love of my life will need super-power energy to get through it together.
Have you ever taken yourself on an artist date on a regular basis? Where did you go and how did it feel?
Connect with Dorit