Week 1: Morning Pages
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Hello, my lovely MsBrowns family.
It’s NotesOnDawn here, and I am so, so happy to be sharing this new journey with you, here in our beloved 'AllAboutBooks' corner. It feels like the perfect place to start, because this... well, this is all about beginnings.
This late spring, I’ve felt a quiet but insistent pull to change my relationship with my creativity. As a writer, as a reader, my creative life can feel like a series of fits and starts. I'll have intense bursts of inspiration, followed by long, dry seasons of self-doubt and, if I'm being brutally honest, stress [07:29]. I’ve been feeling a bit "too stressed out... for fully dedicating myself to writing" [07:29], and I knew something had to give.
So, I’ve finally done it. I’ve picked up that book I’m sure we’ve all seen, the one that whispers of a different way: Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way.
I’m embarking on the 12-week challenge, and my recent vlog was a little diary of my very first week: Recovering a Sense of Safety. This first step isn't about grand gestures, but about the quiet, foundational work of building a safe nest for your inner artist.
This post is a soft invitation to sit with me for a moment, to reflect on our own creative dreams, and to explore the two new, non-negotiable rituals that have already, in just one week, begun to change everything: The Morning Pages and The Artist Date.
Amazon UK - The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
The Sacred, Scary Ritual: My First Morning Pages
My new "late spring morning routine" [00:20] now starts with a ritual that feels both like a confession and a cleansing: the Morning Pages [00:50].
If you’re not familiar with them, the instruction is deceptively simple: three pages, longhand, of stream-of-consciousness writing. Done first thing in the morning, before you do anything else.
But here’s the most important rule, the one that makes this so different from "journalling": This is not art. It’s not "writing." It’s not supposed to be clever, or insightful, or even coherent. You are not allowed to re-read it (at least, not for the first eight weeks). It is, as Cameron calls it, a "brain dump."
And, oh, what a dump it is.
My first few days were... a mess. As a writer, sitting down with a pen and a blank page brings with it the weight of expectation. I want to write a good sentence. I want to be profound. My inner critic, that bossy editor who lives in my head, sits right on my shoulder, tapping its foot.
The Morning Pages are not for that critic. In fact, I’m discovering they're a tool to bore that critic into silence.
My first pages were just a long, whiny list of complaints: "I’m so tired. I don't know what to write. I need to buy milk. I’m worried about that email. Why is the sky so grey? This is stupid. I’m still thinking about that character’s plot hole. This is really stupid. Three pages is so long..."
And on, and on, and on.
But a funny thing happens on page two. The critic gets bored. The complaints run out of steam. And then, a different voice pipes up. A quieter, more curious voice.
"I wonder what would happen if..." "I remember that day at the reservoir..." "It would be fun to..."
This, I’m learning, is the entire point. It’s not about what you write; it’s about the act of writing. It’s about clearing out all the mental static, all the anxious, critical, administrative fog that clogs our brains, so that we can get to the clear, creative signal underneath.
For someone who loves writing, it’s a profound act of un-learning. It's teaching me that not all "writing" needs to be for an audience. Some of it just needs to be for me. It's a way of saying to my inner artist, "I am listening to you. Even the boring bits. Even the angry bits. I’m here. You are safe."
Fuelling the Well: My March Book Wrap-Up
After the brain dump, it’s time for a "brain fill." My ritual is to follow my pages with breakfast and a real book [01:20].
This is 'MsBrowns', after all. We know the truth: to be a good writer, you must be a voracious reader.
I’ve always felt this viscerally. As I mentioned in my vlog, "I personally as an artist I think my reading impacts my writing the most." [01:56] It’s a creative barometer for me. "Whatever I'm in the mood to read kind of correlates to whatever I'm in the mood to write." [02:05]
So, in the spirit of 'AllAboutBooks', I want to share my March wrap-up. It was an eclectic month, and you can see my creative mind searching for something.
1. The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence I’ll be honest: "this a cover by it absolutely was a cover by" [02:30]. How could I resist? "Magical libraries" [02:30] and that stunning art? Count me in. This book was a commitment—at "900 Pages" [03:04], it "took me ages to get through" [02:51]. And it’s not perfect. It "was kind of slow" [02:51], and I agree with some of the "popular criticisms" [03:11] about the plot. But... I just didn't care. I "really enjoyed it" [03:04]. It has this "classic sort of... '90s fantasy vibe" [02:45] that felt like a warm, familiar hug. It’s a book about books, a story lost in a library. For a book lover, what is more comforting than that? It was a lesson in enjoying the vibe and not just the technical perfection.
2. The Foul Lady Fortune Series by Chloe Gong "Keeping along the fantasy" [03:17] (or is it "historical fantasy" [03:24]?) theme, I dove into this series. I did it all backwards, reading this "before... 'Violent Delight'[s]" [03:33], which is "kind of back stupid" [03:33], but I "enjoyed it nevertheless" [03:39]. This is a "new Adult Book" [03:46] that "explores a lot of great themes" [03:52], but mostly, it’s just fun. I was "really invested in these characters" [03:46], and sometimes, that’s all you need. It was a "general good like fourstar read" [03:52] that reminded me of the simple joy of a story well told.
3. The Unnamed Coffee Table Book (My Creative Hero) Okay, this one is special. There is a YouTuber I am obsessed with. He’s this man who "lives in two stone cabins in the Italian... mountain range" [04:09, 04:17] and is slowly renovating them. He "releases like 40 minutes to an hour video every Sunday" [04:24] that is just this "slow ASMR of him doing his little task" [04:24]. And "every Sunday without fail I will watch his whole video" [04:31].
I found out he’d written books about his travels. I bought his "one year travels on bike" [05:01] book for my sister for Christmas... and "I read it before I gave it to her" [05:09] (shh, don't tell).
Honestly? "This is the most stunning... coffee table book I have ever fucking read" [05:09]. The "photos are gorgeous" [05:16]. But more than that, he "balances what information he releases in his videos and what he explores in this book" [05:27] in such a beautiful way. This man, with his quiet, consistent, analogue life, has "convinced me to change a lot of my long-term... ambition goals" [05:32]. He is, in a way, the living embodiment of The Artist's Way. He just does the work, gently and consistently, and in doing so, creates a life of profound beauty and creativity. He "just sues my soul" [05:40], and his book is a physical reminder of what’s possible.
4. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff After that, I "hit a bit of a slump" [05:57]. I was between jobs, and my reading brain felt scattered. I finally "picked up... 'the vast of Wilds'" [06:12]. Now, I read Groff's Matrix and found that while the "descriptions were beautiful" [06:29], I "didn't understand the story most of the times" [06:38]. I was expecting that "unhinged magical realism intersect with history" [06:47] again.
But this... "this was gorgeous" [06:47]. It was "very rooted in like reality" [06:47], following one character over a "very short time period" [06:56] in the "colonial American... settlement period" [07:08]. It's raw, visceral, and breathtaking. It’s a survival story that is also a story about the inner spirit. (My one note: I'm making a point "to search up more if she's dealt with the representation of that historical period well" [07:02], which is always important.) This book was a jolt, a reminder of the power of a singular, focused narrative.
Reading all these "different things" [07:24] has made me realise I'm "hoping with doing the artist way... I can start pulling on some influences and Inspirations" [07:37, 07:44] for my own writing.
The Solo Adventure: My First Artist Date
This brings me to the second core tool: The Artist Date.
The rule: once a week, you must take yourself—and only yourself—on a solo date. An "artist date." It’s a 'well-filling' exercise. It’s not about doing errands. It's about "play."
For my first date, after a morning of rain, the sun finally came out [07:44]. I "was like," right, "it's sunny now... I'm going to go down to the reservoir." [07:51]
I packed my notebook (for the tasks, not the pages!) and just... went.
I walked. I looked at the "cherry blossoms" [09:10]. I found a tree and I sat in it, like an eight-year-old, and I did my "Artist Way Week One Tasks" [07:50].
This is where the vulnerability comes in. The tasks ask you to reflect on your creative dreams, your creative monsters (the inner critics), and your creative champions. Sitting in that tree, I had to be honest with myself about my "creative journey so far" [User Prompt]. I had to write down my "creative dreams" [User Prompt] and admit how much I want them.
It was... uncomfortable. And magical.
Looking out over the water, I felt like I was finally giving these parts of myself air. I was letting my inner artist—the part of me that wants to write, to climb trees, to dream big—have her day. I was, quite literally, recovering my sense of safety. I was showing her that I will make time for her. I will take her on adventures. I will protect her from the critics, both inner and outer.
A Slow, Safe Evening
I came home from the reservoir feeling full. Not in a frantic, buzzing-with-ideas way, but in a quiet, grounded way. The day ended with "home made pizzas and a slow evening" [09:20].
And that, I think, is the whole point of Week One.
"Recovering a Sense of Safety" isn't about one grand, life-changing epiphany. It’s about the small, grounding rituals. It’s the "brain dump" of the Morning Pages that says, "All your anxieties are allowed here." It’s the Artist Date to the reservoir that says, "Your play is important." And it’s the simple, nourishing act of making a pizza and having a "slow evening" [09:20] that says, "You are home. You are safe. You can create."
It's only Week One, but I’m "hoping" [07:37] this is the start of something truly transformative. And I am so glad I get to share it with all of you.
With so much warmth,
NotesOnDawn