You’re supposed to go on dates with your inner child/artist called Artist Dates as part of The Artist’s Way.  This basically involves setting time aside for yourself to do something you want to.  For my first Artist’s Date, I decided to watch the film Drawing Restraint 9.  It is directed by and stars Matthew Barney, who I think is a genius.  Björk did the music and also co-stars.  The film is all about bizarre scenes on a Japanese whaling ship.  There is a lot of Shinto symbolism, and little dialogue.  The music and imagery was awesome, and I loved the interactions between the characters.  I loved this film, even though the reviews online said the work was extremely pretentious and was like a music video, only less interesting and slower.  I don’t care.  I loved it.  It’s been a few years since I’ve watched a movie alone, so this was a good experience.  I shut the blinds, and curled up on the couch alone in my bathrobe, and relaxed.  It was kind of long though (around two hours).

As far as an Artist Date goes, this was a good one, although I think maybe in the future I’ll do something that’s more date-like.  This didn’t feel like so much of a “date” because it didn’t involve going out.  Also, I’d like to do something that is not isolated from other people.  One of the cardinal rules of Artist Dates is that you must do the activity alone, and I plan to uphold that rule.  Nevertheless, I think it would be good to go alone to a place where there are people, such as a museum, bookstore, theater, festival, etc.  Perhaps next time I will choose an activity like one of those.  Author Julia Cameron is right in The Artist’s Way when she says we will try to find ways to get out of the Artist Dates.  I totally began having cold feet about my Artist Date this morning, but I’m glad I forced myself to go through with it.  Here’s to hoping next week is easier.