Quotes from Julia Cameron

Creativity is always a leap of faith. You're faced with a blank page, blank easel, or an empty stage.

I started writing morning pages just to keep my hand in, you know, just because I was a writer and I didn't know what else to do but write. And then one day as I was writing, a character came sort of strolling in and I realized, Oh my God, I don't have to be just a screenwriter. I can write novels.

In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

Life is a spiritual dance and that our unseen partner has steps to teach us if we will allow ourselves to be led. The next time you are restless, remind yourself it is the universe asking 'Shall we dance?

You do not need to work to become spiritual. You are spiritual; you need only to remember that fact. Spirit is within you. God is within you. (67)

Procrastination is not Laziness", I tell him. "It is fear. Call it by its right name, and forgive yourself.

Writing is like breathing, it's possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.

Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can.

But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano / act / paint / write a decent play?" Yes . . . the same age you will be if you don't.

No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.

God does not give us more than we can handle," I am told but I wonder if God doesn't overestimate me just a little. Or perhaps, and this is likely, I underestimate God.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

We need to bridge our sense of loneliness and disconnection with a sense of community and continuity even if we must manufacture it from our time on the Web and our use of calling cards to connect long distance. We must "log on" somewhere, and if it is only in cyberspace, that is still far better than nowhere at all. (264)

Serious art is born from serious play.

Being in the mood to write, like being in the mood to make love, is a luxury that isn't necessary in a long-term relationship. Just as the first caress can lead to a change of heart, the first sentence, however tentative and awkward, can lead to a desire to go just a little further.

Often it is tenacity, not talent, that rules the day.

Progress, not perfection, is what we should be asking of ourselves.

Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite -- getting something down.

Survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention...the capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.

Creativity occurs in the moment, and in the moment we are timeless.

Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness.