Creative Recovery for Academics
- Julia Galindo
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
For the last several months, I’ve been waking up early to make some more time in my day, and one of the things I’ve been doing during that precious early morning time (when it is just me and my coffee) is reading The Artist’s Way. I first read it back in 2018, I think, and I’ve come back to its 12-week creativity recovery program several times since then, always working through it by myself.
If you’re an academic, you’re probably heading into one of the busiest times of year—classes wrapping, grades due, students graduating, and all of the extra ceremonies, award nominations, and letters that come with that.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know you had already reserved some time for yourself to be creative come the summer?
Because the truth is, for many of us, creative work is often the first thing to get pushed to the margins—it somehow feels less essential. No one is knocking on our doors begging us to do it. No one is giving us a deadline! And yet, creative work (or, defined in its broadest sense, living creatively) is what makes us feel alive. It’s what makes us us.
I’m trying something new this summer, and I’m deliberately keeping it very small. For academic or alt-ac women and nonbinary folks, I’m running a 12-week live group on Zoom (June–August) based on The Artist’s Way. We’ll read the book and do the program together, meeting once a week to reflect, share progress, and build real momentum around doing creative work. During our time together, I’ll hold space for thoughtful discussion, offer prompts and activities for reflection, and make sure we’re actually spending time writing and creating—not just talking about it. The group itself will be a dedicated space each week to make something, however small, and to stay connected to that practice over time.
If you have trouble making time and space for yourself—especially for your own creative leanings—this group could be just the thing for you.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, email me and I’ll send you a flyer with all the details. When you reach out, please tell me a little bit about yourself and what you’re hoping to reconnect with creatively. I’d love to hear from you!
-Julia
