Breaking the fast

I am breaking my Artist Way reading deprivation tonight. So, I went online and read a few blogs and decided to write in my own blog tonight. Ah........it feels so good. As someone wise in my life said to me "take your lessons and enjoy them and move on" So this is what I've learned:
I don't have a problem avoiding my creativity by reading. Reading actually enhances my creativity. It gives me a lot of inspirational juice. I also learned that writing this blog was giving me an outlet of expression for that inspiration juiciness. I was getting more done and enjoying life more before I did this reading deprivation. The blog and reading other blogs and just plain reading in general was actually giving me a lot of motivation to work with in my creative life and that includes my clay work. I feel like things just dried up for me after the start of the reading deprivation. Oh, I had a few things that happened within the first day, but after that it was like I was waiting for some big break through. This morning I found myself asking over again what am I not getting out of this - then it occurred to me that maybe I've already gotten it - reading and blogging is a current passion - why am I shutting it off now?!?!
I had hopes that this no reading week would give me a kind of uplift. I remember really getting a lot out of it when I did it back in 1995. Of course back then I would pick up a novel and not do anything until I read it through to the end. I could be a total slob and escape into a novel at the expense of living my life. I don't have that problem anymore. If anything I have trouble making time out of my living to escape into a novel.
I learned that I'm not really as unbalanced as I thought when it comes to reading blogs. I thought before this reading deprivation that I was really a little bit out of control. Sure I can sit and read more on the computer than some of my friends, but I'm still living my creative life just fine. And since creating this blog I am more aware of my life and the preciousness of it. Even if I don't blog about the fine details I am noticing that I am much more observant of the fine details of my life. I feel like just having this outlet is giving me access into my visual art. For me, I think I am wired to write, visually work, read, write, and as soon as I shut off the reading and then some of the writing it's like I shut off a flow of expression for myself and it all comes to a halt.
Today on Hay House radio I heard Daena Giardella say "creativity is an improvisation" So I guess I have decided to do an improve on Cameron's assignment. It just isn't working for me. That isn't to say it won't work for someone else - but right now it isn't working for me. You can't force an experience you aren't having. The one thing I have gotten out of all of this is that I would like to do more concentrated reading. I have a tendency to fly from non fiction book to non fiction book without really taking the time to proceed through a book and get it's full width and depth. Consequently I have books that I've read parts of but never really looked at in a more abundant way. I nibble instead of having a full meal with them. They wait on my shelves like unfinished projects and I've decided if I've learned anything from this that would cause me to make a change it would be this - I need to be a little more systematic and attentive to a book before abandoning it in pursuit of my next reading fling.
I appreciate that this exercise of reading deprivation has helped me to see the place reading has in my life. It has shown me that a lot of what I read is really working for me and enhancing my life. I am grateful I know how to read. The pleasure and opportunity it gives me is not something I take for granted especially after the last couple of days. Something I might want to pursue is helping the cause of literacy. For now... I am off to bed to guess what.....yes that is right - READ...AHhhhhhh.......