Summer of Inspiration: Artist Date Week 10

One of my favorite summer memories is walking to the park when the farmer's market crowd has subsided.

The line for the popular bakery is nonexistent, as I pick up a buttery and flaky pain au chocolat that is best eaten outside. After grabbing an iced coffee, I walk over to the cliffside of the park that overlooks the skyline of Manhattan. I lay my yellow gingham picnic mat on the grass and get comfortable as I whip out my current read, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

People chatter all around me, laughter coming in waves, with the occasional dog sniffing the patch of grass around us.

With every page, I'm taking a bite of my pastry, savoring the combination of chocolatey with a tinge of saltiness. Life feels good when the sun hits your skin, cooled by the light breeze, and the laidback energy of a Sunday morning. There is no obligation for the day, except to rest and restore after a particularly hectic week.

As I dive into the world of Pecola Breedlove in the 1940s, I am transfixed by the story that unfolds. Toni Morrison doesn't hold back, nor does she sugarcoat.

If you haven't read anything by Toni Morrison and aren't sure where to start, I suggest starting with Sula, followed by The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon. Sula reads like a tale of small-town gossip with friendship drama, so it's a lot more digestible than the other two.

Reading has always been something I do. Some of my core memories involve reading – the nights I stayed up reading The Hunger Games trilogy, the day I finished Eleanor and Park in one sitting during exam week, and more recently, the way I cried reading A Little Life so hard that I had to put the book down. Reading has always been a way for me to understand people, the world, and see things from a different perspective. It is a balm for the soul when life feels difficult. There is comfort in entering a different world and being spit out with a whole new perspective on life.

One of the toughest weeks of The Artist Way was the media deprivation week.

The initial version suggested no books. However, the updated version of The Artist Way included all forms of media, which meant no reading, no watching television, no scrolling social media, and no listening to podcasts or music with lyrics. The goal is to remove distractions, which will then reward us with a keen sense of creativity to generate the kind of art we want to see in the world.

I would wake up in the middle of the night during that week. Evenings were spent cleaning because I didn't know what else to do with myself. At this point, it has been close to a year, so I honestly cannot remember if I created anything per se, but one thing I do remember is having the brightest ideas.

Would I recommend it? As a one-week challenge, why not?

It's worth seeing what happens when you remove all forms of media from life and focus on your inner creative self. Although a fair warning is to expect the side effects of a dopamine detox. I wouldn't recommend such an extreme act in your routine, unless you personally find enjoyment in doing so.

In reflection of the media deprivation week, I find it funny how I actually feel more inspired to write as I read and research topics that pique my interest. Perhaps it's the nature of what I'm writing that requires the work of others to lay as the foundation, serving as a jumping board into my own ideas and thoughts. I'm learning to balance forming my own opinions and using the opinions of others as a point of cultural reference. Let me tell you, it's not easy, especially when the discourse moves so swiftly, but writing has allowed me to digest the information better and shape my own conclusions.

This TikTok popped up on my FYP recently, which is a useful way of starting any research or finding a topic that you'll be interested in going down the rabbit hole for.

Trust your instincts and don't rely on the algorithm.