How I got the book: Public library
The Sound of Paper:
Starting From Scratch is a series of related chapter or essays on creativity
and creative blocks. Author Julia
Cameron (The Artist’s Way) begins
each essay (or chapter) by musing on some aspect the day-to-day life of the
worlds in which she lives, beginning in New York and moving from there to Taos,
New Mexico, where she spends part of each year.
From walks in Central Park to drought and eventual rain in Taos, Cameron makes
connections between daily life, nature, and the creative process. Along the way, she explores ways in which
artists, whether they are writers, composers, or visual artists, can persevere
through the inevitable periods of creative block and the doubts and
frustrations that can stifle their work.
This is the first of Cameron’s works on art and creativity
that I have read, and I found it both helpful and insightful. The essays are short, quiet, more comforting
than challenging. And yet there is
wisdom here. Each essay is followed by a
gentle suggestion, a small exercise to nurture the spirit and revive the
creative impulse.
This is not a book for anyone who is uncomfortable with the
spiritual. Although Cameron does not
promote any particular religion, she does suggest the need for openness, gratitude,
even the relinquishing of control to a Higher Being. Prayer is one term she uses, though the
concept is certainly not limited to formal prayer. A deep sense of connection to life, to the
natural and everyday world, and to a greater spirit infuses Cameron’s work and
is an integral part of how she herself deals with creative block.
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