Artist dates are an invention of Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way, a book that saved my life by helping me to creatively pull myself out of extreme grief and depression. Artist dates are solitary excursions meant to stimulate your creativity. It helps to imagine that there is an artist child inside of each one of us. This child is full of questions and curiosity, so we take the child to places that spark an interest. If you've never tried an artist date, my articles will give you lots of ideas and possibilities.
Artist dates have done so much for me as far as adding a steady flow of inspiration to my art and writing. They also provide a nice dose of juiciness to life in general.Even though I knew they were helpful, I used to avoid them. But writing these columns means that I must prioritize going on at least one artist date each month. It has been really good for me, especially with all of the grief I have been going through this past year.