discovering your cinema self

As with most creatives, I have started and stopped and re-started a few books to inspire creativity.  One book I've attempted several times over the past several years is The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.  It is full of ideas for sparking creativity ... for finding your inner artist. 

One idea, "morning pages," suggests journaling 3 pages every morning. Free-form writing to vent all the burdens and angst "blocking" your creativity ...in order to free your mind and ultimately your artist soul.  

{image via emmacassi}

Another idea I love from the book & try to do (though not as often as I should) is the concept of an "Artist date." A 2-hour or solid chunk of time devoted to you & your creativity. Doing something inspiring.  Seeing, touching, feeling, listening to creativity that will light the fire of imagination + invention. Visiting a museum, seeing a dance performance, going to an art store or a groovy little cafe, painting, playing, being in nature ... finding the artist within.

When I lived in Minneapolis (I know it's hard to imagine this Florida girl in the great white North, but it's true), I had the privilege of attending a seminar by Julia Cameron.

One of the exercises she had us do was extremely fun and memorable for me. So memorable in fact, that I often use it as a reference point when evaluating and re-assessing life.  Here's a very rough breakdown (from memory only, I didn't even google it).  

The concept of the exercise is imagining your Cinema Self.

Julia had us envision our lives as a movie. To picture ourselves on film. 

What would your life look like? Picture your dream self, your "Cinema Self."  Who are you?

- Where do you live?
- What do you wear?
- Where is your favorite place in your home?
- Which celebrity is cast to play "you?"
- What does your spiritual life look like?
- How about your exercise ritual?
- And, your philanthropic efforts?
- Where do you travel?
- What kind of car do you drive?

I know, you might think it could be a depressing exercise. I mean we all want an awful lot of things we don't have. The interesting thing to me was that it actually had me thinking "Why doesn't my life look more like this?" I mean a lot of these things are in our control. Whether we choose to exercise on a regular basis (or not, guilty). How often we involve ourselves with charitable giving. Being spiritual.

So, take a few moments and think through your answers to the questions...and figure out who your Cinema Self is... and decide to become more like her (or him).  Make a different decision or two or three this week, this month, this year.

Of course, being the visual person that I am, I thought it would be fun to visualize my Cinema Self, so here's one more collage. See my recent craze with collages here...

{My Cinema Self}

Obviously, My Cinema Self lives in jeans, flip-flops + white tees; lounges in layers of furry coziness; spends many hours + vacays at the beach; is an in-shape yoga-loving girl; and travels to places with lots of twinkle lights. A girl can dream, right?

But on a deeper side, doing this Cinema Self exercise again has me realizing, I really want to figure out a way to use my skill set and give back in a more profound way. I would love to get involved in something similar to Extreme Home Makeover, just maybe not-so-extreme. I'm on the look-out for opportunities. Anyone know of any such event in North Carolina?

In 2012 I was able to participate in a Habitat for Humanity ReStore ReStyle Design Challenge fundraising event. (If you want to apply to participate this year, see here.)  I really hope to find some deep + meaningful ways to make a difference this year.

...Let me know what you think of this exercise to define your Cinema Self... Did it enlighten you at all? I love hearing from you.

xo

patti