Week 06 · Welcome
Recovering Abundance
Halfway. Congratulations. From here we begin to dive into deeper waters. This week the topic is uncomfortable but liberating: money and creativity.
Most of us have a complicated relationship with money. We were taught that there's not enough, that it's vulgar to want it, that artists are poor by definition. This week we examine those beliefs and replace them with something more accurate: abundance is a creative attitude.
"Money flows where attention goes. Where you put your creative attention, possibility opens."
— Julia CameronThe myth of the starving artist
Where does the idea come from that creating and earning money are mutually exclusive? From a thousand cultural sources — but mostly from a defence mechanism. If artists "can't" earn money, then the responsibility for not creating disappears: "I had to choose a real job".
Cameron dismantles this idea piece by piece. There have always been artists who lived well from their art. There are also accountants who hate their lives. The equation "art = poverty" is a story, not a law.
Treating yourself like the artist you are
Cameron suggests an exercise that seems frivolous and is actually revolutionary: treat yourself with small luxuries. Buy quality coffee. A pen that writes well. Fresh flowers. Not for status — to signal to yourself that you are worth investing in.
Many of us spend our lives saying we'll do nice things "when we have money". Cameron flips it: the small investment in beauty is what attracts more abundance, not the other way round.
Counting blessings
List 10 things you have today that you didn't have 5 years ago. Notice you live in growing abundance.
Buy something you've been postponing
A small treat that proves you're worth investing in. €5 is enough.
Look at money without shame
Examine your accounts, your debts, your patterns. The dark hides what we don't look at.
Charge for your work
If you're already creating something, learn to put a fair price on it. Abundance comes from valuing yourself.
Week 06 · Inner work
This week's exercises
Exercise 1 — Beliefs about money
Complete 10 times: "Money is…" Write whatever comes up.
Then look at the list. How many of those beliefs are useful? How many are inherited fears that block you?
Exercise 2 — Counting blessings
Make a list of 50 small luxuries you already have. Hot water, books on the shelf, the friend who calls. You are richer than the story you tell yourself.
Exercise 3 — Investing in your artist
Choose three small luxuries you'll buy yourself this week — under €20 total. Quality coffee, a notebook you love, fresh flowers. Not as treats. As investments in your artist.
Notice what happens inside when you allow yourself this.
Affirmations
Choose 3 of these affirmations and write them every morning after your Morning Pages.
"My creativity flows when I take care of myself."
"There is enough for me too."
"I deserve to invest in my own well-being."
"My envy shows me what I really want."