I believe a lot in cosmic ordering and I have been trying to learn myself how to use cosmic ordering to my own advantage for the last two years, by reading various books on the subject to get a wide view point from many individuals who use it.
Julia Cameron uses some of the techniques of cosmic ordering in her book “The Artist Way”. I have been reading the artist way for a while now, because I think it helps with my creative recovery, despite some of the tasks she sets before me, being brushed under the carpet as for me; they are impractical for my way of life. Such as the artist break, I never go anywhere on my own, let alone go on holiday by myself, I wouldn’t want to; however, the occasional trip to a local café or the library with a note pad in tow, is something that I do enjoy from time to time, so the artist date isn’t ignored entirely.
Another thing I ignore in the Artist Way is the week in which she says that we should avoid all kinds of reading, do anything but read. I am sorry, but I don’t do reading deprivation. If I am not reading stuff online, I am reading magazines, newspapers or books. I have never ever experienced doing without reading – for me, like silence, it would kill me.
I can live with a rule such as – internet deprivation, but reading deprivation, dream on baby.
Also, by using the rule of reading deprivation, I can’t do those precious morning pages she wants me to, I can’t do my art, because in order to do my main form of art, I need to write and with writing comes editing and what is essential when editing a writer’s work? You’ve got it, reading!
I won’t stop writing any more than I would stop reading. I wanted this book to help me write more, not encourage me to stop what I feel are essential habits for me to work.
Anyway, getting away from my point a bit; The Artist Way contains many techniques similar to other books for cosmic ordering. In my opinion she assists in that she helps us identify why we are not as successful in our chosen artistic careers as we would have liked to have been. She delves deep in our sub consciousness, digging up long forgotten memories that helps answer how we’ve lost our path.
I found out that I lost my original creative path by using her techniques, by remembering that as a child I had a huge interest in fashion and drawing, but I was pushed away from this and put into writing. Everyone had agreed for me that writing was my talent and to Hell with any other talent I might have.
I have trained in psychology and social sciences in the past and I have used some of the techniques learned there, with various self-help books, cosmic ordering stuff and I have realised that a lot of my current pitfalls as an adult, is not self-inflicted but are actually reactions against something happening that I didn’t like when I was younger. When I was little I loved fashion and loved drawing dresses and playing with Barbie. However, I didn’t get my own Barbie doll until I was around 11yrs old. I wasn’t encouraged because my mother was a tom boy and wanted me to be the same as she was. I noticed by the time I reached around 8yrs old I became a very obese child, but I didn’t give up on the whole idea of fashion and drawing until I was around 10yrs old and each year I was getting bigger and bigger. Then it finally happened – when I was around 12 I told my mum that I would love to go into fashion when I am older and she simply said to me “with your weight, you’d be eaten alive in the fashion industry, you won’t survive”; so with that I thought lose weight or lose the dream, I tried to lose weight but every time I had an interest in fashion again, she’d bring out the doughnuts and McDonalds and remind me that it’s a foolhardy dream for someone so large. Every time she gave me a treat and I ate it, she said it was my fault I wasn’t thinking about my dream, that I should have more self-discipline.
So by the time I was 14 I had literally totally forgot my dream. I remembered it because in The Artist Way, Julia asks us to think about people we are jealous of and identify why. I happen to be jealous of a lot of young girls I know who are professional dancers and are in the fashion industry.
When I realised the reason for the jealousy, I was then asked to search deep as to why that would affect me. I remembered it all lead to fashion. I also realised this because my favourite non-fantasy and non-horror movies and TV shows, happen to be focused around fashion. “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Mean Girls”, “Are you being served”? “101 Dalmatians” any shows featuring Gok Wan, and so on!
I am not someone who follows fashion though, don’t get me wrong. I am someone who likes to start off the trends and I usually succeed. I don’t like to fall into a normal fashion concept, I like to develop my own, I believe in having a bespoke fashion sense and a bespoke home, to match who you are, I believe people should show the world exactly who they are as much as possible. I think it attracts more genuine people to you. I am more comfortable with speaking to someone who dresses in alternative fashions, whether they are punk, Goth, witch, or Hell’s Angel, than someone who seems very conservative. Because to me, those conservative people are hiding themselves for some reason, or have a narrow concept of what’s acceptable and what’s not; I don’t do shallow people.
I am learning about the true me through doing all of this. I am happier for it and luckier too. In the Artist Way, Julia Cameron has asked me to do another task recently that is to make a collage of everything I love and everything I want to attain in life.
This for me is something that I used to do and those things did come to me very quickly. I got out of the habit of having a collage when I moved in with Paul as I could never work out where to put one in the house that I would see regularly and that wouldn’t raise questions with Paul’s family and our friends. Recently Paul has suggested that I forget other people’s opinions and do what I want around the house. So I will.
I am going to enjoy pinning things up on my collage, I am also making a scrapbook collage as well of more personal, secret things.
But the main impersonal things will be put into two locations around the house, so my sub consciousness can soak it all up, and help make it happen through the cosmos.
