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The Creative Life: True Tales of Inspiration
A passionate and inspiring guide to creating a life built around the creative process.
This groundbreaking new work from the bestselling author of The Artist's Way, guides readers in creating a vision for their lives in which art and life are inextricably linked. According to Julia Cameron, when we allow our creative spirit to serve as our compass, we discover that the a...more
This groundbreaking new work from the bestselling author of The Artist's Way, guides readers in creating a vision for their lives in which art and life are inextricably linked. According to Julia Cameron, when we allow our creative spirit to serve as our compass, we discover that the a...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
September 16th 2010
by Tarcher
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This book is a collection of Cameron's experiences during a period of her life, and truthfully, it didn't feel hopeful or connected. It felt sad and depressed.
The long title, The Creative Life: True Tales of Inspiration, Finding Your True North, is entirely misleading and it makes me wonder who chose it, as it seems it was chosen to "sell."
"The Creative Life" -- or, at least, Julia Cameron's life where she hobnobs in New York with all the people she has connected with during her long career. No...more
The long title, The Creative Life: True Tales of Inspiration, Finding Your True North, is entirely misleading and it makes me wonder who chose it, as it seems it was chosen to "sell."
"The Creative Life" -- or, at least, Julia Cameron's life where she hobnobs in New York with all the people she has connected with during her long career. No...more
3.5 of 5. As always, I love Julia Cameron's writing style and comfortable voice. The Creative Life is a creative diary/memoir of a year or so in Cameron's life, and in it we're given a candid view of her life through a collection of short, hopeful scenes.
One of my foremost thoughts while reading was dismay: I don't have the money to go to a restaurant every time I want to meet a friend! How much will I have to earn to sustain such a practice? Upon reflection--and finishing the book--I think Came...more
One of my foremost thoughts while reading was dismay: I don't have the money to go to a restaurant every time I want to meet a friend! How much will I have to earn to sustain such a practice? Upon reflection--and finishing the book--I think Came...more
Julia Cameron offers her readers a direct peak into her daily life events and interactions in The Creative Life: True Tales of Inspiration. Fans of Cameron’s other work related to creativity and spirituality will enjoy this book that is presented as a series of journal entries detailing how Cameron lives a creative life. Newcomers to Cameron or those unfamiliar with her previous work may have a difficult time understanding this book, as they might ask questions like, “Who is this person?” and “W...more
Boring, boring, boring. The book starts out with Julia Cameron, originator of the practice of morning pages, sharing - in a sense - her own morning pages with us. But it becomes so repetitive - work on musical, work on book, go out to dinner with a friend (every night), have a music lesson, walk dogs, and all of these just being repeated, over and over and over for 200-some pages. I skimmed the last 50 pages, and didn't miss a thing. A little too much name-dropping - largely people I've never he...more
I liked the premise, and some of the book really did inspire me, but it felt repetitious in all the wrong ways. Weather patterns and dinners out don't really inspire me. I would have liked to read more about Julia's struggles with her writing at the time. She mentions the uphill process throughout, but that's all we get. I would have preferred to read the details of the struggle and how she pushed through.
Her dedication and love for her friends is a highlight, though. I liked reading about thei...more
Her dedication and love for her friends is a highlight, though. I liked reading about thei...more
Several of her other books are better.
This is a collection of events as they happen day by day related to meetings with actors, reading her play, fine tuning a production. Like a diary of producing a play with interspersions of vignettes of interactions with her friends. It very quickly became boring, predictable and frankly I kept thinking "what's the point?"
I was left with the distinct feeling that this book was produced simply to get something published for the sake of keeping her name out...more
This is a collection of events as they happen day by day related to meetings with actors, reading her play, fine tuning a production. Like a diary of producing a play with interspersions of vignettes of interactions with her friends. It very quickly became boring, predictable and frankly I kept thinking "what's the point?"
I was left with the distinct feeling that this book was produced simply to get something published for the sake of keeping her name out...more
I was really surprised by how much I loved this book as it is so different from her other pieces. It is a running sort of diary of her life, but has this magical quality about it. The glimpse into her life, the support systems she has in place and her own wrestling with her inner critic were very entertaining. Julia is always an inspiration to me and this book may be one of my favorites!
This is the first book by Julia Cameron that I've read. I enjoyed learning about her creative life and process. I'm looking forward to trying the morning pages technique and reading her other book The Artist's Way. It was like peeking inside her daily journal. I love her work selection and the way she describes her surrounding....storms, her dogs, her trip to Maine, etc.
Dear wonderful & amazing Julia: what you have here is a collection of musings and personal morning pages, not a satisfying book about the creative process. I seriously couldn't help but think that you might have been suffering from a mild case of depression at the time you wrote this book. There is something sadly flat and disconnected in the pages. Still love you, however.
Well, this wasn't what I was expecting. I wouldn't call the tales inspiring. Instead, I think of them as journal entries of how she spends her days: lots of meals out (usually with details about what she ordered), time spend with fellow creatives, teaching, writing etc. Such a quick read, that I decided to finish the book, but won't be recommending this book.
I've enjoyed Julia's other books so much more. This book made me feel like a voyeur. I really don't need to know the ins and outs of her life...when/where she meets her daughter for dinner, her vacation in Maine, business trips to Chicago, her opinion of her Artists Way students. Absolutely nothing about her creative life inspired me to be more creative in mine.
I feel as though the title to this book is misleading. I thought that I would be reading inspirational stories for those that are creative. Instead, it was more like mini stories from Cameron's life that I didn't care to know about. All in all, I figured out she eats out, a lot - and at the same places where it is to the point that the waiters know what she eats, she has a lot of writers block, knows a lot of famous people, and heavily relies on her assistant, Emma. Maybe this would be a good bo...more
Not up to par for Julia Cameron, if I wanted to know what she ate at which restaurant and with whom, this would be a great book. However I was looking for something a little more inspirational and something to get me going with my writing, and so I give this book only one star. If they had minus stars I would have chosen that.
If I could give half stars, I would have given this two and a half stars. The premise is misleading - this is more like a memoir about Ms. Cameron's comings and goings with other creatives. It has its moments though.
Diary of the author Julia Cameron's daily encounters with her creative friends which are playwrights, authors, actors, etc. I didn't enjoy it as much as her other book The Artist's Way.
Julia Cameron shares a season of her writing life in The Creative Life. It is a journal of times she spent talking about work with other artists. It is an honest reflection of their struggles to be creative. She provides insight into the everyday life of an artist. ...more
Julia Cameron is one of my go-to non-fiction authors. This book sits comfortably on my bookshelf along with several others by the same talented woman.
There were small pieces of inspiration throughout, but not nearly enough to justify the subtitle. I turned the last page more indifferent than inspired.
This was an interesting book by Julia Cameron, comprised of vignettes from her daily creative life and practice.
I was disappointed. Cameron is churning her stuff out too quickly and it feels a bit sloppy. I didn't finish it.
If you want to know what she orders for dinner, read this book.
Just ok, diary style non-fiction with some inspirational insights.
Wanted to like it but just couldn't get into it.
Sadly, not her best.
Made me feel that I live a very boring life.
Jun 17, 2013
Kimie
marked it as to-read
Jun 07, 2013
Mark E.
marked it as to-read
May 27, 2013
Trisha Scott
marked it as to-read
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Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than thirty years, with fifteen books (including bestsellers The Artist's Way, Walking In This World and The Right to Write) and countless television, film, and theater scripts to her credit. Writing since the age of 18, Cameron has a long list of screenplay and teleplay credits to her name, including an episode of Miami Vice, and Elvis and the Beau...more
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