let the changes begin

let me say right off that i'm having major withdrawal. and it's not what you're thinking.

i started taking an artist's way (book by julia cameron - fabulous!) class earlier this month. i'm currently on week four. it's a course (and book) dedicated to helping you to release your creativity. i read the book about ten years ago, didn't make any significant changes at the time (although i did appreciate the content), and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. well now it's making me do things i never thought i would do.

starting today (well, technically last night), i've been put on a ONE WEEK reading hiatus. besides reading for work, which for me means limited emails, i'm supposed to not read for one whole week. you might be thinking "big deal" but for me it's staggering. you see, i'm a complete book addict. i read constantly - anything and everything i can get my hands on. i'm usually reading two to three books at a time and devour them quickly. the librarian practically knows my name (since i had to give up buy books a long time ago) and friends are constantly giving me new books to read. i am not sure how i'm going to survive the week.

the whole idea to this reading deprivation is to get me, the "blocked artist," to do more creative things with the time i would be reading. julia cameron claims that many blocked artists hide behind books to keep themselves from having to be creative and i know i'm completely guilty of that. so that's one reason i've decided to start this blog - to give myself something to chew on while i'm craving my books.

this whole reading deprivation, which i just learned about last night, coincides with another major shift in my life - my eating habits. starting monday, i decided to go raw for one week to see how i feel. a lot of my friends have been singing the praises of eating raw food (which basically means sticking with raw veggies, fruits, nuts and oils) so i decided to give it a try. little did i know that my reading would also be snatched away for the same week. ironic or coincidental? or maybe fate.

either way i thought it'd be fun (and helpful) to chronical my experience. i'm an avid journal writer but tend to keep that very personal and quiet. writing for "out there" definitely has a different feel to it but i'm striving to be as open and honest as i've been in my personal journals. in fact, i'm going to try to not writing my personal journal this week and writing only here instead. so it should get interesting.