honesty, community, and creativity as the antidote to being A miserable person
The Artist’s Way I and II
“IT IS NOT BECAUSE THINGS ARE DIFFICULT THAT WE DO NOT DARE; IT IS BECAUSE WE DO NOT DARE THAT THEY ARE DIFFICULT”
Creativity.
It’s a sticky word. Most people think they are either born creative or not.
But creativity is simply the magic that happens when we start listening to the voice, the light, the nudge that we all have inside us.
It can end up being about making art but usually it's about making a life we love - a life that's true to ourselves.
We are each constantly creating every moment in our lives. Sometimes we just lose sight of the power we’re wielding. We forget that we can move through our days with intention and attention.
At the heart of it, The Artist’s Way is about learning (through simple practices, gentle exploration, and tools) to give ourselves permission.
Permission to SLOW DOWN, listen, and actually hear our inner voice — it’s a way of operating and creating a life of purpose, on purpose.
Why would we need permission, you might ask? Because my friend, we all have the same obstacle here on earth.
We all have a very loud, very grouchy, voice of an inner critic inside our heads which is constantly drowning out the truth of what we want to make of our lives.
The Artist’s Way, much like 12-step recovery (hello there friend), allows us to become aware of how we are operating and from there move towards change.
Once this happens, and we can hear the truth of what our inner voice already knows and is trying to tell us - we start to feel a strange little emotion…called hope.
Most of the time that feeling of hope is so far away because we don’t even dare to envision change, we are surviving (sometimes very well), and surviving means we hold our ground.
The way forward doesn’t feel clear because we can’t hear ourselves above all those early voices…The voice of our father/mother, our boss, our spouse, our first-grade teacher, or that best friend who laughed that time you told them you kind of wanted to live in New York for a year. The voice of the critic is on repeat - it’s an old track playing in the background and it’s incessant.
The Artist Way helps to change this soundtrack, whether you already name yourself as an Artist or not.
It also reminds us that we’re not here on this planet to do any of it alone. The best journeys are done together.
It’s a rare space these days where we can sit and work together (safely) on matters of the heart. Working The Artist’s Way with others in vulnerability and laughter, looking at our stories and finding ease—together we start to feel a little better about how we go about our days. There’s relief in knowing it’s not just us.
Together we get started…Finding What’s True and finding our way.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
“listening to the siren song of more, we are deaf to the still small voice waiting in our soul to whisper ‘you’re enough’”
Testimonials
“I can’t express clearly enough how this little group of women inspired, encouraged, and supported each other during the weeks we spent reading and sharing and growing and caring for one another. Sarah has a way with words (on paper and in real life) that calms, connects, and makes you feel like your contributions to the conversation/group matter. This course and the way she facilitated it made me feel so connected and alive and motivated to make changes personally and professionally. I am forever grateful to have been part of this group that she brought together. I have already told so many people about this experience and what I have gained from it…”
“I don’t believe I could have participated in a more enriching 14 weeks than the time I spent working the Artist Way with Sarah Davis. Sarah has a way of bringing strangers together and creating a space that is safe, honest, and vulnerable. Within a short 14 weeks, I discovered so much about myself, and what was holding me back. I was able to create action plans for positive change and movement. Sarah is a warm beautiful storyteller with a killer sense of humor. She created an open space for all of us to share, get to know each other, and laugh a lot. We began as strangers and left as friends on a very deep level. Personally, I went on to reimagine my artistic process and trust myself again. Sarah’s encouragement and acceptance were exactly what I needed to push myself and my art to the next level. I highly recommend spending time in Sarah’s world … your growth, acceptance, and confidence will soar!! ”
“Doing the Artist’s Way with Sarah has been absolutely, hands down, no joke, one of the most profound, enlightening and valuable experiences of my life. I tried reading the book by myself and didn’t get very far. But doing it as a group, especially with Sarah, who gently and expertly guiding us through the work, made it not only more accessible but also fun and exciting. Given the right leader and group, this work is powerful and transformative and I am so thankful to have had Sarah and to now have the tools of the artist’s way to help me from here onwards and upwards. Highly highly recommend. ”
“In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do—spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.”