Week 6 of The Artist's Way, "recovering a sense of abundance," addresses the relationship between money and creativity. Cameron dismantles the myth of the artist who must be poor and proposes a change of mentality from scarcity to abundance. Its star tool is the "account of small pleasures": record everyday luxury and indulge in care that nourishes the artist without guilt.
What Week 6 is about
Money is one of the great creative taboos, and Week 6 takes it by the horns. "Recovering the sense of abundance" is based on an uncomfortable observation: many creative people have a toxic relationship with money, marked by guilt, scarcity and the belief that art and prosperity are incompatible. That mentality, says Cameron, is neither noble nor romantic: it is just another blockage.
The week invites us to examine our beliefs about money, to detect where we practice austerity that is actually fear in disguise, and to open ourselves to an idea of abundance that is not excessive luxury, but permission to take care of ourselves.
The key concept: scarcity versus abundance
The central change is to move from scarcity mentality —"there's not enough," "I can't afford it," "money is dirty"—to a abundance mentality, understood as confidence and generosity with oneself. Cameron observes that many creative people systematically deprive themselves of the little things that would nourish them, not because of a real lack of means, but because of an automatic austerity that kills joy.
Abundance, in its sense, is not spending without control. It means stopping punishing yourself, allowing yourself what truly nourishes you, and trusting that the universe—and your own effort—provides. It's an attitude before a bank account. We delve into this topic in the article on money and creativity.
Chronic austerity does not make you more of an artist. It makes you smaller. Abundance begins by allowing yourself what you could already have.
Week 6 · AbundanceThe account of small pleasures
The most memorable tool of the week is what Cameron calls, in different translations, the "little things checking account" or the everyday luxuries account. The idea: during the week, register and allow yourself affordable little pleasures that give you joy. Some fresh flowers, a pretty notebook, a special coffee, a long bath, a piece of fabric in a color you love.
The objective is not to spend, but to reeducate the relationship with pleasure and desert. These cheap pamperings are, to the artist within, signs that it matters, that life can have accessible beauty. Many people discover that they denied these details out of sheer inertia of deprivation, and that allowing them to do so ignites something.
The main exercises
- Inventory of beliefs about money. Write down what they taught you about money and art, and what limits you today.
- The account of small pleasures. Record affordable pampering that you allow yourself during the week.
- Detect austerity-fear. Identify where you deprive yourself out of habit, not out of real need.
- Think abundantly. Exercises to imagine and attract resources towards your creative projects.
Common mistakes in Week 6
The first is confuse abundance with waste. The week does not encourage irresponsible spending, but rather to stop depriving yourself out of fear. They are very different things.
The second is cling to the romantic myth of the poor artist. The idea that economic suffering ennobles the work is precisely one of the beliefs that the week seeks to dismantle. Precariousness does not make better art; usually does less.
The third is skip counting pleasures because they are considered banal. It seems like a minor exercise, but for many people it is the most revealing: discovering how much they denied themselves for no reason. If you want creative pampering ideas that cost little to nothing, check out the date with the artist without money.
Questions to take you to the morning pages
Money is a loaded topic, and writing about it privately helps you see it with less fear. Bring these triggers to your morning pages throughout the week:
- What was I taught as a child about money and artists, and how much of it do I still believe?
- Where do I deprive myself out of habit and not out of real need?
- What small affordable pleasure have I been denying myself for too long?
- What do I think it says about me to spend on something that only brings me joy?
- If I related to money from abundance and not from fear, what would I do differently this week?
Combine this with counting small pleasures: every pampering you allow yourself is an indication of how much you were restricting yourself. Abundance, remember, begins with allowing yourself what you could already have.
How to follow
Week 6 follows Week 5: the possibility and makes way for the Week 7: the connection, which returns to the heart of the creative process: listening before doing. You can work on this stage in a guided way with our complete guide to Week 6. The challenge of the week is practical and delicious: what small pleasure have you been denying yourself for too long?