Week Three of The Artist’s Way: Reclaiming Power Through Creativity
I didn’t realize how much of my life I had handed over to someone else until they were gone. For years, I let my time be consumed, my voice stifled, my autonomy erased under someone else’s control. When my partner finally left, I was left with a single, crushing question: Who am I when I’m not accommodating someone else?
Week Three of The Artist’s Way, Recovering a Sense of Power, forced me to face this question head-on. Julia Cameron speaks of anger, synchronicity, shame, persistence, and criticism, all of which hit me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Through this chapter, I confronted what I had lost, but more importantly, what I was ready to reclaim.
Anger: A Signal, Not a Burden
Julia Cameron describes anger as a creative compass, not a destructive force, but a message about what we truly need. My anger stemmed from lost time, the realization that someone else had dictated my days for too long. Instead of suppressing that feeling, I let it tell me the truth: I wanted control over my time, my space, my creativity.
For years, I felt my choices weren’t my own. My partner made sure of that, constantly monopolizing my time, making sure I had no room to breathe. I lost opportunities because they decided my schedule. I felt powerless to change it.
And when they left? They walked away on their own terms, not because I finally set boundaries, but because they had taken everything they could. I wasn’t the one who made the choice. That realization sat heavy in my chest.
Anger became a catalyst. It reminded me that boundaries exist to protect my ability to create, not just to keep people at a distance.
Synchronicity: Signs from the Universe
For a long time, I felt like everything I had built had been erased. My past, my creativity, my identity; it all felt overshadowed. But then, in a quiet moment, my professor showed me something that changed everything.
She led me into the craft room, a space filled with scattered art supplies and unfinished projects. I told her how I felt; that I had been abandoned, that I had nothing left, that the years I spent with my partner had stolen everything.
She listened, then reached for a piece of yarn. With steady hands, she tied a small bead onto it and said, “This is your journey.” She continued tying knots, each one representing a life experience I had lived: my childhood, my education, my friendships, my creative passions.
“Nothing was erased,” she told me. “Just because they existed doesn’t mean your story starts over. They were only a piece of it, not the whole thing.”
That piece of yarn now hangs in my studio, a reminder that everything I’ve lived — every choice, every setback, every moment — belongs to me. Creativity is how I continue that journey, and synchronicity is how the universe assures me I’m on the right path.
Shame & The Fear of Expression
I spent years keeping a low profile, not because I doubted myself, but because too many people expected pieces of me I wasn’t willing to give. Creativity felt like something I had to justify, like I had to make sure it served a purpose beyond myself.
The hardest lesson I learned was this: my creative time is mine alone, and I don’t owe it to anyone else.
The more I allowed others to dictate my time, the more I disconnected from myself. I let their expectations shape me. I gave away parts of myself that should have been reserved for my own growth.
But creativity isn’t about proving anything. It doesn’t need to be validated, justified, or made useful for others. It exists because I do.
Growth Through Showing Up
Cameron emphasizes that creative growth isn’t about massive, focused effort: it’s about showing up consistently.
For years, I let circumstances dictate my creative life. I waited until things felt right. I postponed projects when life got messy. I thought I needed the perfect conditions to create something worthwhile.
But the more I read The Artist’s Way, the more I realized that my creative voice wouldn’t return because I willed it to, it would return because I made space for it every day.
The act of showing up, even in small ways, is what builds momentum. It’s what helps purpose emerge.
Handling Criticism & Creating for Yourself
Not everything we create is meant to be shared. Some work is just for us: a way to process, heal, and reclaim parts of ourselves that have been buried under obligation.
I learned this firsthand when I started prioritizing my own creative projects. For years, my time had been dictated by others: my partner, my employer, the expectations that seemed to come from everywhere. But when I finally started making space for myself, I saw a pattern unfold: the moment I reclaimed my time, people tried to take more of it.
My employer, who had been fine with my workload before, suddenly doubled it once they realized I was dedicating time (outside of work) to my own passions. It wasn’t about productivity; it was about control. Some people don’t want you to create because they don’t want you to grow beyond them.
That period serves as a warning to me now: never let someone else’s fear of losing control dictate your choices. I’ve let it happen before, and I’ve seen how easily it can consume opportunities.
But creativity has taught me something: your work does not need permission to exist. Whether it’s beautiful or ugly, refined or chaotic, every creation is part of the process. We make art not just to be seen but to heal, to transform, to reclaim ourselves.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Choosing Yourself
Reclaiming my voice wasn’t about waiting for inspiration. It wasn’t about proving my worth to anyone.
It was about choosing myself, every single day.
I have learned that autonomy is mine to protect.
That anger can be direction.
That synchronicity is real.
That shame has no place in creativity.
That growth comes from consistency.
That criticism does not define me.
Most of all, I have learned that my time belongs to me, and I will never let someone else take it away again.
If you’re struggling with these feelings, I hope you realize this, too: Your creativity is yours. Your story is yours. Your time is yours. Protect it. Honor it. And keep showing up.
🌿 Milna Cultivates
Good Things Good Days — essays on creativity and becoming.
Originally published on Medium by Milna Cultivates.