PDF Summary:Seeking Wisdom, by Julia Cameron

At some point in their life, every artist has wished for a sure-fire method to enhance their creativity. Luckily, Julia Cameron provides that method in Seeking Wisdom. She explains that spirituality is the key to creativity—to maximize your creative potential, you must first get in touch with divinity through prayer. Throughout the book, Cameron walks you through each step of your spiritual journey, using anecdotes from her own life and interviews with those close to her to illustrate her recommendations.

This guide to Seeking Wisdom will break down Cameron’s techniques to unblock and boost creativity. We’ll discover how you can begin communicating with the divine, the types of prayers you should practice, and how to channel your spirituality into your creative endeavors. We’ll also discuss books from other authors, spiritual guides, and psychologists that supplement Cameron’s advice, such as The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown.

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• Practice following your intuition. If you’re not used to listening to God’s guidance through your intuition, start by making small decisions based on your intuition. For example, rather than spending time considering what others will think of an outfit, just pull whatever feels right out of the closet and get dressed. This will help you start to recognize and trust your intuition so that when God sends bigger decisions and opportunities your way, you’re comfortable letting your intuition take the reins.

• Take a snap judgment test. Write down a question on a piece of paper with yes or no below it. Go about your business for an hour or so and randomly come back to the paper, read the question, and write your immediate response. Similar to Cameron’s recommendation to ask a question to the page and write the response that you hear, you’re letting God’s guidance flow through you without overthinking it.

While making personal requests to God is most common, Cameron explains that asking God for humility and help with bad moods will also strengthen your spirituality and creativity.

Requesting Humility

Cameron adds that when you’re denied what you ask for in prayer or don’t receive the answer you want, you must resist the urge to become resentful, disappointed, or frustrated. These negative feelings can weaken your connection with God and your creative energy because you’re resisting the path that’s meant for you. If you find yourself resisting God’s will, you can use another type of request prayer: a prayer of humility.

(Shortform note: In The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale agrees that resisting God’s will decreases your creative energy. While Cameron sees this lack of creative energy as a sign of disconnection from God, Peale argues that people who resist God lose their energy because they choose to waste it trying to force something that would never happen since it’s against God’s will.)

Cameron explains that there are many different formal prayers and informal prayers you can use to ask for humility. For her, the formal Serenity Prayer often helps—“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

(Shortform note: The serenity prayer is an extremely common prayer of humility used in Alcoholics Anonymous. Experts explain that many alcoholics have an extreme need for control that prevents them from achieving peace and sobriety—the serenity prayer is a way of remembering acceptance on a minute-by-minute basis.)

But there are many informal ways of praying for humility. Cameron notes that going into nature is a great way to remind yourself of God’s goodwill and orderly direction. You can observe how the sun and rain feed flowers so they fulfill their purpose of blooming and remind yourself that just like the flowers, God will give you what you need to fulfill your purpose as well.

(Shortform note: In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen recommends a more active strategy to increase your humility. She explains that if you make a point to serve God and others through your actions, you will grow closer to God and be more willing to accept his will when things don’t go your way. For example, when someone is rude or offends you, remain silent and take it rather than fighting back. Further, try reducing egotistical thoughts by identifying them when they happen and humbling yourself instead. Ultimately, you should try to see life from God’s perspective—love everyone and approach them with compassion and understanding.)

Requesting Help With a Bad Mood

Cameron cautions that it can also be hard to accept God’s guidance when you’re dealing with a bad mood. Bad moods happen to everyone sometimes—if you find yourself in a bad mood, you can use a prayer of request to ask for God’s help. Cameron reminds us that God is a friend that’s always listening and supportive.

There are a few ways you can pray for your mood. You can simply check in with God and say, “God, I’m feeling grumpy”—God’s always watchful, helpful, and accepting of your emotions. Or, you can ask for God’s help, saying “God, please help with my mood.” Cameron says that whenever she asks for help with her mood, she always receives a small pick-me-up that she knows is from God. She says to look out for God’s help; it can come in many different ways.

Fixing Bad Moods

While Cameron recommends praying to improve your mood, psychologists explain that there may be more effective methods to climb out of a rut. They explain that there’s often a reason why our moods go rotten and that getting to the bottom of it can make us feel better and prevent the bad mood from returning. They explain that there are a few common causes of bad moods and offer specific strategies we can use to make ourselves feel better:

• You’re feeling guilty. Maybe you did something you feel bad about, like forgetting to meet your friend for lunch. Even if you already apologized, reach out and let them know that you’re very sorry and didn’t mean to hurt them.

• You have outstanding tasks. Maybe there’s something you need to get done but don’t want to do. Even if you can’t do it immediately, making a plan for when and how you will accomplish the task can make you feel better.

• You’re brooding over a past situation. Maybe someone did something yesterday that made you upset and you keep playing it over in your head. Instead, try to remain in the present moment rather than dwelling on the past. A two-minute distraction like doing a crossword or playing a game can refocus your attention on the present.

Prayers of Appreciation

Prayers of appreciation are when we express gratitude for the things we have, the guidance we’ve been given, and God’s gifts. Cameron explains that these prayers are important because they bring us feelings of prosperity and abundance that will attract even more positivity and abundance back to us. She elaborates that praying about the things you appreciate helps you believe in the innate goodness of the universe, and the more positive your image of God and the world is, the more positivity and goodwill you’ll receive.

(Shortform note: In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne explains that this premise is called the Law of Attraction: the energy you emit into the universe will be returned to you. But while Cameron says that practicing gratitude will help improve your life and creativity, Byrne emphasizes that not practicing gratitude will actively set you back in life. She elaborates that if we want something new but aren’t grateful for what we already have, we’ll end up emitting negative emotions like a sense of lack, envy, self-pity, or resentment (often unknowingly). Consequently, we’ll attract negativity and stagnation into our lives.)

To begin expressing your appreciation through prayer, Cameron suggests observing the beauty of nature. When you observe nature—green grass, vicious snow storms, rumbling rivers—you often enter a state of awe. Cameron says that awe is a great starting point for prayer. Use the energy of awe to express your gratitude for God’s beautiful gift of nature.

(Shortform note: Cameron says that nature can increase your creativity by providing a topic for appreciation prayers. However, other experts explain that nature can increase your creativity alone—without having to pray. They explain that walking in nature can decrease stress levels and rumination while increasing positive emotions and attention—these physiological changes are the brain's natural way of recovering the prefrontal cortex. And when our prefrontal cortex recovers, we get bursts of creativity, problem-solving, and feelings of well-being.)

Once you’re in the practice of expressing your appreciation, Cameron recommends tying a few specific topics into your regular prayers of appreciation: other people, miraculous events, and experiences of serendipity.

Appreciating the People in Your Life

Cameron recommends regularly expressing gratitude for the people in your life. These people can be casual acquaintances or your intimate support system. Ultimately, she says that God sends people into your life for a reason. For example, maybe the cashier at the grocery store this morning complimented your eyes and changed your mood from bad to excellent. You can thank God for that person.

Cameron adds that it’s especially important to express your appreciation for the intimate support system of people in your life—the group of people that you’ve chosen as your family. Some may be from your biological family, and some may be people you’ve met in different stages of your life. These people all have unique gifts that have helped you grow as a person, and they’re people that you can always turn to for support or advice.

(Shortform note: In How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie says that in addition to praying on your gratitude for others, you should show your gratitude to them as well. Acting on your gratitude will help train your brain to be more thankful all the time. For example, you could surprise your local barista with a small Christmas gift to show your appreciation, or write a handwritten note to each member of your support system telling them how important they are to you and what you find amazing about them.)

Appreciating Miraculous Events

Further, Cameron says that you should thank God for miraculous events—experiences that teach you an invaluable lesson or change how you see the world. While it might be easier to identify positive events that have helped you grow, Cameron notes that miraculous events can be tragedies sometimes as well.

She elaborates that tragic events often represent significant milestones in our lives. For example, many people have had life-changing epiphanies after traumatic events like losing a loved one, going through a breakup, or becoming seriously ill. Cameron explains that even when we struggle, God provides guidance to help us in the right direction. Cameron recommends writing about an experience that hurt you—what happened, how did you feel, what did you learn from this experience, how did God help or support you, and what can you be grateful for?

Stoic Problem-Solving

Cameron explains that appreciating miraculous events—good and bad—will help you uncover the lessons and inspirations sent by God. However, when a traumatic event happens, it can be hard to immediately look for the positive side of things. Luckily, in The Obstacle Is the Way, Ryan Holiday explains that the Ancient Greek Stoics’ problem-solving mindset can help you see the positive side of any situation while avoiding the stress and anxiety that come with seemingly “bad” experiences—ultimately allowing you to uncover God’s guidance as the event unfolds and helping you better understand God’s will.

We can condense Holiday’s perspective on the Stoic problem-solving worldview into two basic truths: (1) no event is inherently good or bad, and (2) you can choose to see every problem as an opportunity. He elaborates that if you interpret all events neutrally, you’ll avoid the anxiety and negative emotions that “bad” situations tend to bring. Then, the absence of negative emotions will give you a higher capability to learn from and overcome the obstacle. If you’re able to change your mindset to integrate these two truths, you’ll have a clearer perception of God’s gifts and guidance when trying events occur.

Appreciating Experiences of Serendipity

Finally, Cameron recommends thanking God for experiences of serendipity—when things in your life seem to randomly fall perfectly into place. For example, imagine you decide that you want to learn to sing but can’t find an available teacher in town. The next day at the grocery store, you reach for the same carton of milk as a stranger who you learn is a singing instructor, and she invites you to her last open lesson. Cameron says that these events are acts of God—God’s always listening and will send you exactly what you need at the right time.

(Shortform note: In The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck echoes Cameron’s point that acknowledging moments of synchronicity and serendipity is key to finding grace, or in other words, recognizing God’s gifts. Unlike Cameron, he adds that dreams can also be serendipitous gifts from God—sometimes we may receive warnings, guidance, or confirmations in dreams that we find to be accurate and helpful in the waking world. Further, if you ever find yourself doubting God’s presence, Peck says that you can use these dreams as evidence that God is always watching and helping.)

Part 3: Unlocking Your Creativity

Cameron explains that once you’ve found and connected to your God, you should absorb God’s messages, gifts, and signs and channel them into your creative endeavors. This section will lay out Cameron’s recommendations for how to fuel your creativity through spirituality.

Have Faith

Cameron says that above all, you must maintain your faith in God and the future. When you believe that the future will be good and that God will guide you in the right direction, your creative work will flourish. Cameron says that your faith will provide answers when you need them and ideas when you lack them—all you need to do is ask God and have faith in the signs you receive. Faith is the foundation of creativity, and without it, you’ll struggle.

Cameron adds that a crucial way you can show your faith is to regularly dedicate time to your creative endeavors, even if you don’t know what you want to create. If you have faith and ask for God’s help, ideas will come to you as you work. She adds that when she asks God for guidance on what to write next, she’s often directed just to write. As she begins, she feels God's creative power flow through her and ends up satisfied with the result. So pick up your paintbrush, instrument, or tools, set to work, and listen for God’s signs.

The Ingredients for Creative Success

In The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale agrees with Cameron that having faith and dedicating time to your endeavors are vital ingredients for creative success. However, he adds an important third ingredient to this formula that Cameron doesn’t discuss: knowing what you want.

Peale explains that while committing your faith and time will allow you to overcome obstacles and achieve tremendous things, a lack of clearly defined goals will send you in circles without a satisfactory end result. For example, you may know that you want to paint, and you may put time and faith into your painting, but you should ask yourself why you want to paint in the first place—is it to acquire new skills? To overcome trauma? To open your own gallery? Without having a clear goal in mind, your work may become meaningless and unfulfilling. And in the end, these emotions can take a toll on your creativity.

Similarly, Cameron warns that when you’re facing a “creative block,” it’s often an issue of faith—instead of trusting the process, you believe that you lack good ideas, that ideas won’t come, or that others can do it better. If you let yourself continue down this path, you’re likely to end up in despair—the total opposite of faith.

If you reach a point of despair, you ignore the positive things in life, focus on the negative things, and see more negativity coming your way. You become resentful toward life and God and ultimately block yourself from creativity.

The Risks of Losing Faith and How to Restore It

In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne elaborates on Cameron’s point, explaining that losing faith and wallowing in a negative mindset not only diminishes your creativity but also attracts negativity into your life. When you lack faith and start thinking thoughts like “someone else is better than me,” or “I can’t do that,” your negative thoughts are emitting a negative frequency that the universe will return to you. In other words, if you tell the universe that you can’t do it, the universe will believe you, and reality will start to reflect that belief.

Byrne also provides a few recommendations for how you can quickly turn your negative thoughts into positive ones and restore your faith:

• Close your eyes, relax, and smile for at least one minute.

• Make a list of thought lifters that you can reflect on: for example, storms on the ocean, puppies playing, and traditional dancing. When you feel down about yourself or about life, reflect on a few things from the list and focus on how they make you feel.

Be Inspired by God’s Gifts

Cameron explains that God provides multiple forms of inspiration if we’re able to recognize them. As we discussed previously, God’s gifts include experiences of serendipity, miraculous events, other people, and even the beauty of nature.

Reflect on the recent gifts God has sent you and consider what you could learn from them—have you made a discovery about nature, about people, about a certain topic, or even about yourself? Have any of these gifts encouraged you to pursue a new creative endeavor? Is there anyone you know who specializes in a topic you’re interested in or who you think could help you develop an idea?

Cameron explains that you should always be on the lookout for signs of inspiration and keep these questions in the back of your mind—sometimes God’s signs are big and flashing, pointing you in a very obvious direction, but other times they’re subtle and only obvious if you’re looking for them.

(Shortform note: Many experts claim that a helpful way to identify opportunities and inspiration in life (what Cameron calls “God’s gifts”) is to cultivate a pronoia mindset. Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia—the belief that the universe and everyone in it are conspiring in your favor. When you believe that there’s some magic force turning the gears of life in your favor, you can more easily recognize opportunities and inspirations because you’re expecting them. You can start to develop a pronoia mindset by not taking offense to things, avoiding negative conversations, and always believing that something amazing is waiting for you right around the corner.)

Take Care of Yourself

Cameron says that taking good care of yourself and treating yourself sometimes can boost your creativity. Take care of yourself by removing unnecessary anxieties from your life, having reasonable expectations for yourself, trusting yourself, and doing your best. For example, don’t force yourself to do housework on your days off unless you’re feeling up to it—doing so may cause unnecessary stress that will hinder creativity. If you think a personal goal or deadline you’ve set is stressing you out, extend your deadline or break your goal up into a few smaller pieces.

She adds that treating yourself can make you feel more creative as well. For example, you could make your favorite dessert, get your nails done, or take a trip to the beach. Cameron adds that this is also partially the point of solo adventures—to be on your own doing something you enjoy without any stress or expectations.

(Shortform note: In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown seconds Cameron’s point, explaining that play (treating yourself) and rest (removing anxieties) are necessary ingredients for creativity. She defines play as engaging in activities for no other reason than to enjoy yourself, and she defines rest as getting the proper amount of sleep and time away from external pressures. She explains that the combination of play and rest increases your empathy, ability to navigate social situations, and overall happiness, in turn, increasing your creativity. If you lack adequate play and rest, not only will your creativity decline, but you’ll also increase your risk of depression, drowsiness, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.)

Create a Prayer Routine

Last but not least, Cameron says you must create a regular prayer routine to maintain your spirituality and creativity. You should continue your routine of writing Morning Pages and writing for guidance every day, taking solo adventures every week, and going on walks twice a week, but you should also create your own routine for prayer.

Cameron recommends praying every night as a starting point. However, she emphasizes that prayer is a unique experience, and you should do what’s right for you—maybe you pray when you wake up, before or after you eat, or just whenever you feel the urge. Follow your instincts, but make sure prayer is a daily occurrence in your life.

(Shortform note: While Cameron explains that you should pray every day to increase your creativity, psychologists add that praying daily also increases your overall well-being. A Harvard study found that young adults who pray daily tend to have lower levels of depression and higher levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and positive affect, compared to participants who never pray. And research on mental illness recovery has found daily prayer is a major part of the recovery process for many patients. So while praying will increase your creativity, it can also improve your mental health and happiness.)