“As we gain—or regain—our creative identity, we lose the false self we were sustaining.” -Julia Cameron
For 2026, I am rereading a chapter from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and providing a free download of themed art cards on a monthly basis (on the third Tuesdays).
Chapter 4, “Recovering a Sense of Integrity” is not surprisingly another timely reminder for me. (And why I like to review The Artist’s Way annually.) My life is changing and there are new rituals and wellness routines happening as I become more intentional about my mobility and health.
- The April guide words have also inspired ideas about living within the power of necessary changes, living in integrity and being true to what we need and value.
- Doing so within a mindset of being [quiet] 💁🏻♀️ detached from spending time and energy to explain (or justify) everything and/or simply do what is life-giving.
“We like to pretend it is hard to follow our heart’s dreams. The truth is, it is difficult to avoid walking through the many doors that will open. Turn aside your dream and it will come back to you again. Get willing to follow it again and a second mysterious door will swing open.” -Julia Cameron
“Take a small step in the direction of a dream and watch the synchronous doors flying open.” -Julia Cameron
This chapter begins with the topic of changing the way we define ourselves, adding to a new level of self-awareness. “[To] stop saying, ‘It’s okay’ when in fact it’s something else.”
- Morning pages (daily, long-form journaling) “press us to answer what else” and becoming clear on what we desire (and what needs to released).
“[Extreme] emotions of any kind—the very thing that morning pages are superb for processing—are the usual triggers for avoiding the pages themselves.” -Julia Cameron
🔀 Crosscurrents are part of this process: “the old you is leaving and grieving, while the new you celebrates and grows strong” and be prepared for “possible emotional pyrotechnics.”
“You are no longer stuck, but you cannot tell where you are going. You may feel that this can’t keep up. You may long for the time when there was no sense of possibility, when you…didn’t realize how many small things you could do to improve your own life.” -Julia Cameron
What does all this have to do with right brain planning?
The principal goal of Right Brain Planner is to foster a daily practice of [being present] + [seeing and evaluating] the details of our living by compiling a visual chronicle.
The focus in developing a right brain planning practice is to see our living as ongoing—a timeline [days within years; years within a lifetime].
- To resist the urge to allow a “bad day” or a “bad week” to become a filter—a lens—that limits our ability to hope and live differently.
- Easing away from a performance-based valuation of self-worth; cycling like the moon and exploring so-called irregularity (stops and starts) as a cycle of wholeness.
Right brain planning is an opportunity to allow our journals to be our “planners”—elevating expression and desires over expectations and shoulds.
Right brain planning is a way to process our values and define buried dreams, “excavate our own pasts for the shards of buried dreams and delights” and approach certain challenges from new perspectives.
- Use the art in the download below to create cards to use as prompts + reminders for your creative practice:
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart. 💗
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
⭐️ I am an artist and curator; I am one who communicates with color, found words and collage, inky marks and doodles as I cycle like the moon (as my calendar), chronicling oracles and abiding with the sky as a meditation.
⭐️ I host creative communities, safe spaces for gathering and sharing. I choose love and creativity for coping with the ongoing challenges of this world and I go to work—not because everything is fine but because I believe art heals.
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute 🤸 delight to continue this portion of my creative 📝🖌️✂️🫧 work (even as I retire from full-time work).
- This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and paid subscriptions). 🫶
- 💁🏻♀️ Other ways to support my work: ❤️ continue to read this blog + follow me on Instagram. 📲
If you already have your own system of creative journal-planning, but are interested in financially supporting my creative work, you may do so by making a donation:
- Make a one-time contribution in any amount via [this link]. (Thank you!) ❤️