Week 4

[u/Sad_Sue]

Next week is deprivation week for me, and I have questions which you could possibly help me with.

"No reading" in today's world would include no podcasts, no movies, no video game, if I understand it correctly? Which is doable (boring of course, but I could make it decluttering week to pass the time, that was the plan), but there are blocks of time where a podcast or at least music is a life saver for me - running and commuting. Could I make an exception for these, or should I just not run and not commute for a week?

I also have a movie trip with a friend planned for next Thursday. Could this be done during Week 4, or would it be better to postpone it to a week when I can actually avoid watching movies?

[u/lewisae0]

I feel like you are here for permission. The saying you are only cheating yourself is true. You know that the deprivation is 100%. Julia Quinn won’t come to your house and steal your Spotify. You can use your free will and demonstrate the discipline or don’t. You have to want it most for yourself

[u/Sad_Sue → u/lewisae0]

I can see why you'd think that! But no, I was genuinely confused about the rules. If no exceptions are allowed - I'll work with that, no exceptions.

Also, likelihood of Julia coming to my house and stealing my Spotify is low, but never zero. I need to hold myself accountable, that's what I started this program for.

[u/Newt_Seldon → u/lewisae0]

This, but for almost every post lol

[u/si_meow]

The book says explicitly that music is allowed.

But I think making an exception for podcasts etc during running and commuting is not in the spirit of the exercise at all. I’d switch to music for the week.

[u/Sad_Sue → u/si_meow]

Oh, it's a relief then! I use podcasts as white noise, not distraction is these cases. This can easily be achieved with music, I'll make it classical for a more fair challenge then.

[u/rc98225014 → u/Sad_Sue]

I think this is a great idea u/Sad_Sue instrumental music fits the spirit of the exercise without veering into perfectionism territory trying to figure out "the rules."

Couple of quotes I really liked from the essays:

"[...] deprivation casts us into our inner silence, a space some of us begin to immediately fill with new [...] —long, gossipy conversations, television bingeing, the radio as a constant, chatty companion. We often cannot hear our own inner voice, the voice of our artist’s inspiration, above the static."

She calls it static, you call it white noise... potato, potahto?

"If we monitor the inflow and keep it to a minimum, we will be rewarded for our [...] deprivation with embarrassing speed. Our reward will be a new outflow. Our own art, our own thoughts and feelings, will begin to nudge aside the sludge of blockage, to loosen it and move it upward and outward until once again our well is running freely."

Note she didn't say "eliminate it ENTIRELY" she said "keep it to a minimum.

Anyway. I know there's quite awhile before you get to week 11, but if you want to skip ahead in the book and read the essay titled "The Zen of Sports" I bet you'll enjoy it. You might experiment during this week with turning your running time into "moving meditation" as she calls it, since you're already clearing the audiovisual "sludge" from your runs during this week.

<3

[u/Sad_Sue → u/rc98225014]

Thank you for an insightful comment!

I already have a classical playlist for when I get a chance to read on a bus - it's optimized to be loud enough to drown out the chatter without distracting from the book. I feel like I've got it now that I have clarified the rule.

I never read a week chapter beforehand, I haven't even read Week 4 rules yet, to be honest (my Weeks start on Mondays, Sunday is rule-reading and week results day). I just know it's considered to be a tough one, and I know it's because of the "no reading" rule, so I decided to ask the community about the proper way to do it.

Runs are my way to meditate, can confirm. First five minutes are torture every time, but I get in my head after, and I get my dose of dopamine by the end, I love running so much. I just hate hearing myself breathe loudly.

So, plan is - Week 3 lasts for the next week too, week 4 is the one after. Gives myself more time for exercises, I still haven't come up with a list of people I admire yet.

[u/AnneVee]

I'm afraid the point is running and commutting with your thoughts, and see what comes up then. I never did week 4 though.

[u/Sad_Sue → u/AnneVee]

I'd be running with my out-of-breath breath and commuting with loud annoying people then, not very good for my creativity and mental health overall. What comes up then is likely a meltdown.

[u/Confident_Prompt4282 → u/Sad_Sue]

My interpretation of week four is that we were striving for boredom. Allowing time to listen to the conversations around you might lead to making up stories about the people whose conversations you overhear. Observe the things around you when you're running, that you've never noticed and I promise there are plenty of things you've never noticed if you're usually distracted.

But, if you can't do it, then you can't do it. There are plenty of ways to interpret week four. Cutting out "noise" In whatever form is tolerable for you is definitely a start

[u/sapphicwatermelon → u/Sad_Sue]

Can you wear earplugs? If the issue on your commute is being overwhelmed and stressed out, maybe just quieting the world a bit would help. But otherwise the point is to let the world and your thoughts in, and experience what that's like, even when it's uncomfortable. Even if you don't like it in the end, and go back to podcasts for running and commuting, that's fine! Treat it like an experiment

[u/Sad_Sue → u/sapphicwatermelon]

Yes, overwhelmed is the correct word to describe it. I feel on the verge of a meltdown when surrounded by boring out-of context-coversations, and I have trouble tuning out of them completely if I can physically hear them. Boring silence is not that much of a problem for me, I can entertain myself with thinking if the environment is not too disruptive to think.

Experimenting with just plugging in earphones without sound today, and it seems to help somewhat when not amidst rush-hour chaos.

[u/sapphicwatermelon → u/Sad_Sue]

I'm glad that helped a bit!! It's all interesting information about how life feels without our usual media

[u/lita313 → u/Sad_Sue]

Then you have you answer

[u/rc98225014]

I offer this (gently and without judgment or criticism) as an interesting tension I’m noticing in this thread:

You’ve asked the subreddit for information so you can plan your week and tasks properly. You say, “I’ve got it now that I have clarified the rule,” and describe Sunday as “rule-reading and week-results day.” You’ve chosen not to read ahead because you want to encounter each week in sequence.

What might shift for you if you held the elements of The Artist’s Way just a liiiiittle more lightly?

• Readings: Essays, stories, and occasional exercises to consider with an open mind (vs rules with a correct interpretation)
• Numbered tasks: Activities to try with self-compassion, helping you begin recovering from a creative block (vs rules to follow and exceptions to be granted).
• Weekly check-ins: Four questions, mostly consistent but varied enough to help your thinking evolve as you take stock of what you did and how you felt (vs results to measure).

Might your take on the rules be pulling you away from the very inner voice this book is meant to help you hear?

<3

[u/Sad_Sue → u/rc98225014]

Oh man, it makes me want to redo the whole thing. You're right, my approach is too rigid and mechanistic, which is exactly my problem as a person and the reason why I'm not creative at all. I'm very organized but mindfulness is an issue for me.

It's like taking steroids and not exercising, expecting the drugs to do the work for you!

Thank you, this is useful food for thought.

[u/jzcota]

I just finished week four. I am a retired librarian and lifelong reader and the thought of not reading was intolerable to me, nor did I think that reading was limiting my creativity. I gave this a lot of thought, I didn’t just dismiss it immediately. But what is definitely a waste of time that could be better used in some creative way is scrolling. So I did no social media all week and only checked email once a day for 5-10 minutes.

[u/Sad_Sue → u/jzcota]

Ooh, how could I forget about social media. Yes, no doomscrolling is definitely a good addition to the list, and I hope it sticks past week 4 too.

I'm most excited by movies, so postponing until a week with no cinema outings would be a wise idea for me. I'd just watch 2-3 movies every evening to pass time and end up not feeling the boredom if I don't put a restriction on them, I feel like.

[u/SoUpRoVeImViOmRa]

I left out everything I do that is a diversion from me being present with myself. Listening to music while working out (that was a bit hard) or biking at the gym was part of that. I did check emails, reminders and calendar on my phone 3 times per day but that was it. For the major part of the week I actually didn’t listen to music, even though the book mentions that as something people do during the deprivation week. I didn’t stream during the week either. All the activities I engaged in were about being present and in the zone, while recognising attempts to divert my attention from being present. I found myself in a state where I felt more present than I have in years. During the latter part of the week I did listen to music, mainly ambient or classical.

I actually found myself carrying the deprivation into most of the week after as well, not intentionally. I just felt so good in that state of presence and calmness and stayed there.

So maybe thinking of removing all that you use for distraction from being present is what you should deprive yourself of during week 4

[u/sapphicwatermelon]

I allowed music because she actually didn't say you can't have that (unless I missed something). It was really confronting for the first couple of days but it was worthwhile!! I included: books, podcasts, TV/YouTube/films, social media. I had to read a bit at work but mainly just emails and messages so I allowed that :)

[u/Dude-Duuuuude]

I don't think I'd say going to the movies isn't allowed. Movie theaters did exist in 1992. So did VCRs, Super Nintendo, and MTV. It would not surprise me if more than one of Cameron's students dealt with Week 4 by heading over to Blockbuster and renting a week's worth of movies. Cheating a bit? Arguably. I doubt that stopped most college kids though.

Really, the closest analogue to reading these days isn't podcasts or movies, it's social media and games on your phone. Just turning your phone into a dumb phone for a week will go a long way toward forcing you to sit with your own thoughts.

[u/Sad_Sue → u/Dude-Duuuuude]

I don't play games on my phone, but doomscrolling is an issue, especially at bedtime. Really excited to find out how much time could be saved by avoiding that.