Julia Cameron Quotes

Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.

I learned to just show up at the page and write down what I heard. Writing became more like eavesdropping and less like inventing a nuclear bomb.

Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.

We tend to think being hard on ourselves will make us strong. But it is cherishing ourselves that gives us strength

The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.

Progress, not perfection, is what we should be asking of ourselves.

I surrender my anxiety and my sense of urgency. I allow God to guide me in the pacing of my life. I open my heart to God's timing. I release my deadlines, agendas, and stridency to the gentle yet often swift pacing of God. As I open my heart to God's unfoldings, my heart attains peace. As I relax into God's timing, my heart contains comfort. As I allow God to set the tone and schedule of my days, I find myself in the right time and place, open and available to God's opportunities.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.

Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

Art is an act of the soul, not the intellect. When we are dealing with people's dreams - their visions, really - we are in the realm of the sacred. We are involved with forces and energies larger than our own. We are engaged in a sacred transaction of which we know only a little: the shadow, not the shape.

Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong.

Do not call procrastination laziness. Call it fear.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

All of us contain a divine, expressive spark, a creative candle intended to light our path and that of our fellows.

Art is the imagination at play in the field of time. Let yourself play.

Life is a spiritual dance and that our unseen partner has steps to teach us if we will allow ourselves to be led. The next time you are restless, remind yourself it is the universe asking 'Shall we dance?

Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

Expect the universe to support your dream. It will.

When we seek daily spiritual guidance, we are guided toward the next step forward for our art. Sometimes the step is very small. Sometimes the step is, "Wait. Not now." Sometimes the step is, "Work on something else for a while." When we are open to Divine Guidance, we will receive it. It will come to us as the hunch, the inkling, the itch. It will come to us as timely conversations with others. It will come to us in many ways--but it will come.