The morning pages and "finding the river"

I've been talking a lot recently about "The Artist's Way" - a remarkably effective creative course I'm doing at the moment. A lot of my friends are intrigued by the daily discipline of "The Morning Pages" which is the routine of filling 3 pages of a notebook with stream of consciousness writing first thing in the morning every day for 12 weeks. The morning pages is a critical element of the course. In fact, you could argue that The Artist's Way is nothing without the morning pages.

Maybe it's my enthusiasm or maybe it's just politeness but a lot of people seem interested in the course, to the extent that they appear to begin entertaining the idea of giving it a try. However, they often baulk at the idea of the morning pages. "What is the point of that?" people earnestly ask, skeptical because of the time commitment required by such an endeavour.

I've just started the fifth week of the course and I can honestly say that the shift in my perception brought about by my commitment to the morning pages is amazing and perplexing.

Last night I read an excellent description of the way in which the morning pages assist the "unblocking" process that The Artist's Way is designed to promote. I thought I'd share it with you here, mostly for the benefit of all those people who have asked that pointed question and received an inadequate answer from me.

As for the rest of you reading this - if you have any creative aspirations then I thoroughly recommend the course if you are finding them frequently frustrated. It works.

"The shift is a gradual one. We have been making this shift slowly and surely. With each day we become more true to ourselves, more open to the positive. To our surprise this seems to be working in our human relationships. We find we are able to tell more of our truth, hear more of other people's truth, and encompass a far more kindly attitude toward both. We are becoming less judgmental of ourselves and others. How is this possible? The morning pages, a flow of stream of consciousness, gradually loosens our hold on fixed opinions and short-sighted views. We see that our moods, views, and insights are transitory. We acquire a sense of movement, a current of change in our lives. This current, or river, is a flow of grace moving us to our right livelihood, companions, destiny."

Julia Cameron, "The Artist's Way"

The Overton Window

This is a concept that Graham introduced me to a month or so ago, but it was so interesting I thought I'd post about it here.

Extract from Wikipedia:

The Overton window, in political theory, describes a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, in a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue. It is named after its originator, Joseph P. Overton[1], former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

At any given moment, the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, which a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. Overton arranged the spectrum on a vertical axis of “more free” and “less free” in regards to government intervention. When the window moves or expands, ideas can accordingly become more or less politically acceptable. The degrees of acceptance[3] of public ideas can be described roughly as:

- Unthinkable
- Radical
- Acceptable
- Sensible
- Popular
- Policy

The Overton Window is a means of visualizing which ideas define that range of acceptance by where they fall in it. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public so that the window either “moves” or expands to encompass them. Opponents of current policies, or similar ones currently within the window, likewise seek to convince people that these should be considered unacceptable.

Other formulations of the process created after Overton's death add the concept of moving the window, such as deliberately promoting ideas even less acceptable than the previous "outer fringe" ideas, with the intention of making the current fringe ideas acceptable by comparison.

Guy Walks Across America

I thought this would be interesting enough to post on the Bettany blog. In photography class I am looking at stop frame animation and will be working on my own project. Whilst doing some research I came across this and thought it was very creative and clever.

WikiRebels - The Documentary

From YouTube:

“Exclusive rough-cut of first in-depth documentary on WikiLeaks and the people behind it!

From summer 2010 until now, Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network WikiLeaks and its enigmatic Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange.

Reporters Jesper Huor and Bosse Lindquist have traveled to key countries where WikiLeaks operates, interviewing top members, such as Assange, new Spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, as well as people like Daniel Domscheit-Berg who now is starting his own version – Openleaks.org!

Where is the secretive organization heading? Stronger than ever, or broken by the US? Who is Assange: champion of freedom, spy or rapist? What are his objectives? What are the consequences for the internet?”

Bill Bailey - The ultimate song about loneliness, love and loss