Not you looking for approval from the wrong people 🫠
Week 2: Bare Minimum Artist's Way
Welcome to Week 2 of The Bare Minimum Artist’s Way — our ADHD-friendly version of the 12-week course 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.
You’re doing The Artist’s Way because, deep down, you know your creativity matters.
You’re showing up, you’re taking notes, untangling the old stories. And yet—why does it feel like every time you make a littttle bit of progress, someone (maybe even you) swoops in with a big, steaming pile of doubt?
Some people will low-key hate this new version of you
Julia Cameron calls them poisonous playmates and crazymakers—those people who, consciously or unconsciously, mess with your creative energy.
You know the ones…
Your friend who sighs dramatically and says, “It must be nice to have time for that.”
Your family member who hits you with a “So, you think you’re an artist now?”
Or that one person who only texts when they’re having a meltdown, conveniently derailing your entire writing session.
Poisonous playmates want you to stay small because your growth makes them uncomfortable.
Crazymakers stir sh*t up because if they can’t be at peace, why should you? If you listen to them, you might start believing their nonsense—that your creative work is frivolous, indulgent, or unrealistic. (It’s not.)
First — recognize what’s going on.
Second — stop giving them access to your creative energy. Boundaries are your best friend here. Protect your time. Guard your precious creative energy.
Right now, you’re like a tiny little plant growing from the cracks in the pavement, and these people will try to stomp on you and pull you out of the ground like you’re a weed. You are not a weed. You are a rare and precious organism that has been dormant but is now blooming.
Be selective about who you share your work with. Not everyone deserves a front-row seat to your creative evolution.
Let it feel easier
Even if you manage to dodge the external doubters, there’s still that little voice inside your head saying is this real? How did that happen? Was that just luck? I didn’t do anything special.
Here’s the thing: we’ve been conditioned to believe that success has to be earned through misery and struggle.
READ THAT AGAIN!!! We’ve been conditioned to believe that success has to be earned through misery and struggle.
If something comes easily—if people love your work, if an opportunity lands in your lap—it must be a fluke, right?
Wrong.
Creativity doesn’t follow a logical, linear path. It’s weird and messy and full of moments that feel suspicious. The problem isn’t that good things aren’t happening—it’s that you don’t trust them when they do.
You’ll write something in five minutes that resonates more than the thing you agonized over for weeks.
That video you randomly uploaded is usually the one that goes viral.
Unsuspectingly, you’ll meet the right collaborator at exactly moment you’re ready.
You’ll start The Artist’s Way and suddenly, opportunities start showing up left and right.
Coincidence? Maybe. But also… maybe not.
You can spend time trying to explain it away and make sense of why it happened, or you can simply say: Thank you, more please.
Stop feeding the doubt
Here’s a fun experiment: for the next week, track what you’re energetically paying attention to. Are you spending more time fixating on what’s not working—or on what is?
Julia Cameron says, "The quality of your life is in proportion, always, to the capacity that you have for delight." (p. 53 for those playing along at home!)
If you’re constantly scanning for problems and complaining about everything, that’s all you’re gonna see. But if you train yourself to notice the magic—the synchronicities, the tiny wins, the moments of flow—you’ll find more of it.
So, next time you find yourself spiraling about how a blog/video/(insert creative project here) is performing, ask yourself:
Did I love making this?
Am I proud of how I showed up?
Did this feel creatively alive?
If the answer is yes, that is the real win. Everything else is just noise.
Trusting the mystery
Creativity isn’t something you can control or strategize into submission. It moves how it wants to. It shows up unexpectedly.
The real work of creativity isn’t about forcing it—it’s about learning to trust it.
Stop side-eyeing the good things that happen to you as if there must be a catch.
Stop waiting for an explanation.
Stop letting other people’s doubts dictate what you do with your creative energy.
Just make the thing! Protect your creative energy! Pay attention to the magic! And when the good stuff starts rolling in?
Say thank you. More please.
What was your favorite part of Week 2? Are you noticing any shifts in your creative process? Let us know in the comments!
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Love the analogy of our creative selves being the plant growing from the crack in the pavement. The personal struggles, the injustices & cruelty we see IS the concrete, and it’s heavy!
nurturing creativity, changing the narrative, lessons from nature 🌱
This is the truth! Universe works on vibrations and will amplify what you throw at it. But the catch is that it doesn't care if the energy is positive or negative - so be careful what vibes you decide to nurture!