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Michelle's StoryA few years into my Goal Sister friendship with Ann, my art goals always appeared on my priority list. Ann and I talked about them during in person meetings, and when Ann moved to Joplin, Missouri, we talked about them over the phone or via instant messages on our computers. I remained serious in my intentions to work on my art goals, but that did not necessarily show up in my actions.
Ann and I continued having phone contact and instant message communications about my art goals after I moved to Hawaii in July 2002. Being back home inspired me to get serious about creating art. I called Ann and told her so. I didn’t have any specific plans, but I knew I had to find my muse. One Friday night, when my family and I were at a favorite bookstore, I walked down the self-help aisle and spotted a book with a beautiful black-and-white photograph of a waterfall on its cover. I took the book off the shelf. It was The Widening Stream: Seven Stages of Creativity, by David Ulrich. As I flipped through the pages, I remembered having seen the author’s name before. Something told me I had to buy the book, so I did. When we got home, I rummaged through the stuff on my desk and found a glossy flyer from the Honolulu Academy of Arts. David Ulrich was teaching a class on creativity the next day! Realizing how remarkable it was for me to have spotted David’s book and made the connection to his workshop inspired me to be at his class. It was late in the evening, so I couldn’t call to register. I got to the class early the next morning, only to find out that it was full — but David agreed to let me join the class anyway. It was an awesome experience, and it inspired me to get back into drawing. My muse stayed with me for about six months, then I let other things take precedence over my art and she went away. One Saturday night, when my family and I were at another bookstore (we like bookstores!), I was checking out the bargain books and came upon Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. I knew of the book and it looked interesting, so I bought it and promptly put it on the shelf. Two months went by. In the midst of writing this book, I hit a huge creative block. I kicked myself for not treating my muse better. In my haste to find a self-help business book on my shelf, I found The Artist’s Way — or maybe it found me. I glanced at the first couple of pages, and something about it spoke to me. During the sixth week of following the program set forth in The Artist’s Way, my muse returned and put an end to my creative block. Reading this inspirational book, writing my morning pages, and taking my artist on dates really worked! I’m grateful that my muse has taken up residence with me again! Copyright © 2004-2010 by Michelle Beaulieu Pillen, Ph.D., and Ann Leach. All rights reserved. No part of this Web site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise. |
Michelle creates art and signs books at the GS booksigning in Bloomington, IL
Book Fact #29Our New World Library editor, Georgia Hughes, gave us a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered macadamia nuts when we first met her in-person at the 2003 Maui Writer's Conference.
Georja Skinner, Georgia Hughes, Ann Leach, and Michelle Pillen at the 2003 Maui Writers Conference
A calendar page from Michelle J's planner was transformed by Michelle Pillen into the inside cover of the GS book
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