Week 12: Recovering Faith, Writing, & My Review
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Hello, my lovely MsBrowns family.
It’s NotesOnDawn here, and… "we are finally here" . 🥹
I am writing this post with the most wonderful, strange, and full heart. After 12 weeks, my journey with Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way has come to an end. This "whole series has been a tiny little journey for me," and I am so incredibly grateful, and a little bit sentimental, that I could bring you all along with me here, in our special 'AllAboutBooks' corner.
It feels like just yesterday I was writing my first post, nervous and sceptical, wondering what this "Morning Pages" business was all about. Now, three months later, I’m sitting here, and as I said in my final vlog, "I can't believe how much has changed" [01:30].
I "discovered a lot of things about myself by doing this book" , and if there is "one thing I hope everyone takes away" from this series, it is that "you should read it at least once in your lifetime" .
My final week of the challenge was spent in the most perfect, gentle way. I was "house sitting in the country side" , "looking after the sweetest pup and kitty" (a little Jack Russell called Freddy and a cat named Suki [00:27]). It was a "nice neat finish" [04:54] to the journey, especially as I was in the midst of moving from Birmingham. It gave me the "space... to spend the whole week reflecting" [05:03], thinking, and processing this final, beautiful theme: Recovering a Sense of Faith.
Amazon UK - The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
The Final Week: What Does "Faith" Mean for a Writer?
The theme for Week 12 is "Recovering a Sense of Faith."
This, I think, is the one that scares writers the most. We are cynics by nature. We are observers. We are critics. "Faith" feels... soft. It feels intangible. It’s the opposite of a hard-won plot point or a sharp, edited sentence.
But what I've learned is that "faith" is the most practical tool in a writer’s kit.
It’s not necessarily a religious faith (though it can be). As I reflected in my journal [01:10], it’s about trust. It is the faith to sit at the blank page, trusting that something will come. It is the faith to write a terrible first draft, trusting in the magic of the editing process. It is the faith to take a day off, trusting that "filling the well" is just as important as writing. It is the faith to silence the inner critic, trusting that your voice is worthy, even before it’s "successful."
This whole journey, I’ve realised, has been an exercise in building that faith. It’s been about unlearning the idea that creativity is a "struggle" and re-learning that it is a flow.
What I loved most about this final week was that, as I mention in the vlog, "the actual book itself is not climactic" [05:15]. Week 12 "is not this massive wrap up" [05:15]; it’s "very much a continuation" [05:25]. And that is the final lesson. Faith isn't a certificate you get at the end. It’s not an "end" at all.
The book "gives that sense that this is an ongoing piece of like work" [05:40]. It’s "open-ended" [05:46]. And for me, that was the most comforting realisation of all. This isn't over. I don't have to "put the book aside and... not think about it ever again" [05:57]. I have just been given a toolkit for life.
Practising Faith: A Slow Weekend in the Country
So, how did I spend this final week of "faith-building"?
Not with a grand, lightning-bolt moment, but with small, quiet, analogue acts of trust. My days were filled with "me writing writing... drinking tea exploring the garden" [06:07].
1. The Gentle Routine I "got up early over this weekend" , but as I promised, "no crazy morning routines" ! This wasn't about productivity. This was about "slowing down my routine" and "being able to sit with my thoughts before work" . This is faith in practise. It’s the trust that my day will be better if I give the first moments to myself, to my "journalling" [01:00], not to the panicked scroll of emails and news. It’s starting the day from a place of peace, not panic.
2. Receiving, Not Forcing My favourite moment of the weekend was "picking wild fruit for breakfasts" . I went out in the morning sun and picked "wild raspberries" [00:50] from the bushes. This felt like the perfect metaphor for the entire Artist's Way. For 12 weeks, I’ve been learning to stop forcing creativity, to stop trying to wring it out of myself like a dry cloth. I’ve been learning to just receive it. To see the ideas that are, like the raspberries, growing all around me, waiting to be gently picked.
3. Grounding in the Body I also spent time doing "pilates" [02:46]. As writers, we live in our heads. We can forget, for hours, that we even have a body. Grounding myself, breathing, and moving [02:43] is an act of faith in my own physical self. It’s a way of saying, "I trust this body. It is my home. It is the vessel that holds my stories." It silences the anxious, chattering brain and brings me back to the simple, faithful rhythm of my own breath.
The 12-Week Verdict: My Honest Artist's Way Review
So, "let's talk the artist way" [03:50]. After 12 weeks, what’s my final review?
When I started this "back in early April" [04:09], I was in a strange place. I was "feeling a bit lost... I was in this period of like quietness, of like stagnancy" [04:00]. I "wanted to... get back into my writing, get back into my creativity" [04:20]. I thought I was picking up a 'how-to' book.
"I didn't realize how much... emotional and spiritual work this book was going to make me do" [04:30].
So, here's my big conclusion: This is not a writing book. This is a living book. And by teaching you how to live, it unblocks your writing.
Am I a "different person"? No. As I said in the vlog, "I'm not a different person" [04:17]. But "what I am is very much more knowledgeable about things that I didn't even consider thinking about 3 months ago" [04:17].
It’s not a "fix-all" [paraphrase of 05:30 in previous video]. I’m still anxious. I still get blocked. But the difference is that "now I have the tools to... understand why I'm blocked" [paraphrase of 05:30 in previous video]. I’ve gone from being a victim of my writer's block to a detective. I can look at a block and ask, "Have I been doing my Morning Pages? When was my last Artist Date? Am I burned out? Am I scared?" The fear is gone.
And for us, as MsBrowns book lovers, here is my final verdict on the "Big Two" tools:
1. The Morning Pages: This is "the one thing I'm going to take away," as I said in a previous vlog. "They are a tool for life." They are the most practical, powerful writing tool I have ever found. They are the 15-minute-a-day ritual that proves, every single day, that you are not blocked. You can write. It might be nonsense, but it’s writing. They are the "brain dump" that clears out all the static, all the self-criticism, all the "I'm not good enough" noise, leaving a clear, quiet space for the real writing to begin.
2. The Artist Dates: This is the tool I "struggled with" [paraphrase of 05:00 in previous video] the most. It felt selfish. Unproductive. But this is the real work. This is the "well-filling." As writers, we are constantly outputting. We bleed onto the page. The Artist Date is the sacred, non-negotiable input. It’s the solo trip to the gallery, the walk in the woods [03:08], the "exploring the garden" [06:07]. It's the practise of "doing things just for the sake of doing them" [paraphrase of 05:00 in previous video]. And it’s where all my best ideas have come from.
The biggest shift? "It's made me realize that my creativity is not just my writing... it's my cooking, my scrapbooking, my way of living" [paraphrase of 06:00 in previous video]. This revelation took all the crushing, terrifying pressure off my writing. My writing doesn't have to be my everything. It’s just one beautiful part of a whole, creative life.
Writing My Future: The Manifesting Journal
And so, what comes next?
This is where "faith" becomes an action.
One of the final tasks [08:03] in the book "encourages you to buy a new journal" [08:03]. (As if I needed an excuse!) "She doesn't explicitly say... use it for manifesting" [08:37], but she gives you a beautiful framework.
She asks you to create "seven sections... so I've done creativity... lifestyle... career... possessions... spirituality and relationships" [08:45]. And then, "within each section write out 10 wishes... that you would like to come true" [08:56].
I spent a glorious, sun-drenched evening "scrapbooking my manifestation journal" and "working on my manifesting... boards" .
This is not just wishful thinking. For a writer, this is plotting. This is world-building. This is "a great basis to figure out actually what do I want from these areas" [09:14].
It’s an act of profound clarity. I had to write down, in "true and honest" [09:46] words, what I actually want for my "career" [08:45] as a writer. What do I actually want from my "creativity" [08:45]?
This journal is now my compass. It's the creative brief for my own life. It’s the physical, tangible embodiment of "faith." It’s not a passive "I hope this happens." It’s an active "This is what I am building." It’s about "aligning your actions with your dreams" [paraphrase of 07:30 in previous video]. It's the most exciting, powerful, and creative piece of writing I’ve done all year.
The Journey Continues...
The 12 weeks are over. I’ve finished the book. I had my "celebratory dinner" [11:50] and took one last "evening walk" [13:00] as the sun set on this chapter.
"I'm missing so much now that autumn and her cool mornings have come" , but that’s the beauty of it. A new season is here. The journey gave me a "nice neat finish" [04:54], a moment to "reflect" [05:03] before my move to London, before the next big thing.
I "feel a lot more stable" [01:50]. I "feel a lot more in tune with myself" [01:50]. I am not "fixed," because I was never "broken." I was just... blocked. And now, I have the tools to clear the path.
Thank you all, so, so much, for coming on this journey with me. For reading my reflections, for cheering me on. It has meant the world.
My one, final, honest plea? If you are a writer, a painter, a potter, a baker, or just a human being who feels "a bit lost" [04:00]... please, read this book.
The 12-week challenge is over. But my Artist's Way is just beginning.
With so much warmth and gratitude,
NotesOnDawn