Not you being a jealous b*tch instead of putting yourself out there
Week 7: The Bare Minimum Artist's Way
Welcome to Week 7 of our 12-week journey through The Bare Minimum Artist’s Way — an ADHD-friendly version of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
If you’re just landing here for the first time — welcome! We’re suspending the dogma rules about morning pages and artist dates and doing the bare minimum with The Artist’s Way, because we believe half-assing it is better than giving up on Week 3 .
Sound like you? Join us here on Substack and listen to our weekly companion episodes every Wednesday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
How many times have you stared at a blank page, a canvas, or a half-finished project, frozen by the pressure to make it perfect?
How many hours have you spent comparing yourself to that person on Instagram yet again, wondering how they’re getting all the attention and you’re still stuck?
If you hang around here often, there’s a chance it’s a lot of hours.
In Week 7 of The Artist’s Way, we’re exploring how inspiration is received (not forced!) and why sometimes, being a jealous b*tch can be the most powerful motivator to take action on your creative ideas..
Getting things down
When it comes to creative ideas, we act like they’re something we need to hunt down, like inspiration is lurking in the bushes, waiting to be caught.
But Julia Cameron reminds us:
“Art is not about thinking something up. It’s about the opposite—getting something down… If we are trying to think something up, we are straining to reach for something that’s just beyond our grasp… When we get something down, there is no strain. We’re not doing; we’re getting.”
In other words: creativity isn’t about forcing, it’s about receiving.
If you’re chasing down an idea, you’re already on the wrong side of the see-saw. Creativity isn’t out there. It’s in you. You already have the answers.
The problem is, we’re too used to looking outside ourselves for validation. We scroll, research, and obsess over what’s trending, and completely forget to listen to the one voice that actually matters: our own.
Your gut already knows what you need to do.
Your job isn’t to force it.
Your job is to get quiet enough to hear it.
Which is why sometimes, the most productive thing you can do isn’t brainstorming or planning or reading yet another article about how to boost your creativity. It’s putting the phone away, taking out the earbuds, turning off the TV, and sitting in the stillness long enough for inspiration to find you.
You can make it good later
You know the drill: You sit down to write, to paint, to film, and you immediately start buffering about where to begin because you get choked up on needing to get it right the first time.
Perfectionism is the thing that keeps you circling around the same idea for weeks, never finishing anything because you’re terrified it won’t be “good enough.”
It’s why you hesitate to post that video, write the article, or hit publish on your website.
As much as we would love to believe that our perfectionism means we just have high standards, it’s actually about fear: fear of being judged, fear of failing, fear that maybe you’re not as good as you hope you are.
“Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough—that we should try again.” (p. 120 for those playing along at home!)
Damn, Julia… that kinda hurts.
But if you wait until something is perfect, you’ll never make anything.
Creativity isn’t about getting it right—it’s about getting it out. You can make it good later.
This is why we’re eternal apologists for the Shitty First Draft. When the goal is to actually make it bad first in order to get it out, we actually stand a chance of taking action instead of endlessly spiraling about how to get started.
The most successful creatives aren’t the ones who magically nail it on the first try. They’re the ones who start messy, keep going, and learn as they go.
Getting comfortable being uncomfortable
Getting your idea out of your head and into the world requires you to get a littttle cozier with risk-taking.
None of your creative heroes sat around waiting for a guarantee that their work would succeed. No one knows that they’re going to win an Oscar or a Grammy or even if their video is going to go viral! You never know.
This is why you can’t obsess over whether your next move is the right one.
But taking creative risks is not the same as being reckless. Risks can be calculated, in the same way that scientists make hypotheses and run experiments just to get the data.
Creative risks come down to trusting yourself enough to step into the unknown, because your best creative work happens outside your comfort zone.
It’s easy to look at other people and think, Wow, they must have it all figured out. But they don’t. They’re just willing to take that first scary step. They’re willing to confront the perfectionism that has them in a chokehold.
The fire in your belly
You scroll through Instagram, see someone else’s work blowing up, and feel that ugly pang in your gut. Why them and not me? We’ve all been there.
We’ve been taught to not be jealous, that it’s an ugly emotion we shouldn’t entertain, but for so many creative people, it controls who you experience inspiration. Here’s the twist: jealousy isn’t your enemy. It’s actually a map.
Jealousy shows you what you really want. That person you’re envying on Instagram is actually just showing you something express, do, have, or be.
Next time you feel jealousy creeping in, don’t let it drag you down. Ask yourself: What is this feeling trying to tell me?
Is it admiration for their confidence? Their style? Their consistency? That’s your untapped potential talking!!! That’s your creative hunger showing up in disguise!!!! Listen to it!!!!
Instead of spiraling into self-doubt or projection your insecurities on to that person, use that energy as fuel. Let it inspire you to take action on your own creative path. Because what’s meant for someone else doesn’t take away from what’s meant for you.
When you stop seeing others as competition and start seeing them as proof of what’s possible, you free yourself to actually create. And that’s when the magic happens.
If you want to create, create. If you want to take a risk, take it.
The creative journey isn’t about waiting for inspiration to strike, obsessing over perfection, or playing it safe. It’s about showing up.
It’s about trusting your own voice, letting go of perfectionism, taking risks, and transforming jealousy into motivation.
Your creativity isn’t going to wait around for you to get your act together. It’s ready when you are.
So stop judging and start doing. Listen to yourself. Make something imperfect. Start anywhere. And above all—use this all as a way to reconnect with your creative self.
Read the companion article for Week 8
