Week 8 of The Artist’s Way calls for recovering a sense of strength. A quote in this chapter that inspired this picture and really stood out to me is “all artists must learn the art of surviving loss: loss of hope, loss of face, loss of money, loss of self-belief.” As a woman, and now a mother, I have experienced that women are very fortunate and have the ultimate gift to be the portal for life. Before my daughter Eeth, my husband and I suffered a loss, a miscarriage. It was really tough. To our surprise, one month later we learned we were pregnant again. The month before, I felt loss on many levels. I felt like a failure. I felt at fault even though it wasn’t. I had loss face, hope, courage. The month before Eeth came along, I turned inward and had to face my fears. With therapy and the help of my husband, I was able to face my fears and move on. It was a big lesson for me. This chapter somehow brought me back to this moment, it was uncomfortable. Somehow at the end of the chapter, I also felt more hopeful and confident as it reminded me that to make progress I have to face my fears head on. I felt strong and inspired. The exercises in this chapter were very powerful. This week was also very interesting, as I had lots going on and took unplanned time off from writing consistently. At first, I felt defeated for breaking the streak. I reflected and realized that I can’t be so militant with myself. I need balance and flexibility. I gave myself grace for taking this time, and two weeks later I started writing daily again and kept up with the exercises in the book. This chapter was the heaviest for me so far, holding the biggest lessons. Looking back, it all makes sense.
