The Listening Path

“True victory does not come from defeating an enemy. True victory comes from giving love and changing an enemy’s heart.” Morihei Ueshiba (Founder of Aikido)

“Listen” & “Silent” use the same letters.

The Artist’s Way (1992) is a creativity elixir. Nearly 30 years after publication its spiritually inclined author, Julia Cameron still swears by its methods, as do thousands of her followers.

At the onset of The Listening Path (2021) Cameron reacquaints us with three key rituals from Artist’s Way: Morning Pages, Artist Dates, and Walks. Together these routines open the door to the divine.

I like the beginning and end of The Listening Path book the most. The middle consists of filler anecdotes, mostly about the author’s dog, Lily.

The end is interesting as Cameron tackles the “wu wu” area of listening to the dead. Cue eye-roll from the rational, Hercule Poirot.

This occult section of the book reminded me of A Haunting in Venice (2023), the Agatha Christie adaptation I went to see in theaters with my family for my birthday last October. The Crouching Tiger herself, Michelle Yeoh plays the eccentric widow psychic, Joyce Reynolds. Detective Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is made to suffer her strange seance in the home of the departed.

Yeoh is revered, by co-stars and directors alike, for her listening skills. For her ability to listen and react. Listen and re-direct. Like alchemy. In Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) her character, Evelyn unleashes emotional aikido, taking her daughter’s (and all other adversaries in the story) aggressive energy and transforming it into love. And it all starts with listening.

Are you familiar with the Julia Cameron / The Artist’s Way? What is one of your indispensable resources or routines for finding your creativity?

E.F.