EP47: Creativity and Regeneration: The Artist’s Way
In this episode, I explore the parallels between Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and the path of regenerative work. Both invite us to move beyond a corporatized, extractive mindset and into a more life-giving, co-creative relationship with our work.
I share my own experiences with Morning Pages and creative recovery, and reflect on why pursuing regenerative work often feels like being called to artistry: messy, mystical, non-linear, and deeply human. Together, we’ll look at what it means to:
See creativity and regeneration as intertwined spiritual practices
Recognise synchronicity as part of the process, not just chance
Revisit buried dreams and grieve the “nice self” we’ve outgrown
Embrace the spiral path, where old doubts resurface but with new possibility each time
If you’re feeling blocked, doubting whether it’s too late, or wondering if your dreams are “sensible,” this episode is an invitation to see your work as art—and to allow yourself to be a conduit for something larger than yourself.
Listen here
Full Transcript
Alisa: Hello and welcome to Regenerative Work Life. I'm Alisa Murphy.
Before I get into today's topic, I would love to ask something of you. If you have been enjoying this podcast—if it means something to you, if you're learning something, or if in some way it's expanding or opening up things for you—it would mean a lot to me if you could take a few minutes to leave a review for the podcast.
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So that’s a very long-winded way of saying: if you could just take a few minutes to leave what I hope would be a five-star written review, that really will make so, so much difference. It takes literally seconds. Thank you so much. And let's get on with today's podcast.
Okay, we're going to be exploring the relationship between creativity—specifically creative recovery—and regenerative work, which I think is also a kind of recovery: from a corporatized mindset, from a heavily capitalistic, colonial way of being in work, and coming back into a more nature-inspired, aligned, and life-giving relationship with our work.
This idea for the podcast came because I have recently returned to The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I'm sure many of you have heard of The Artist's Way, or perhaps even delved into it yourself and tried out some of the exercises.
Interestingly for myself, because I feel like I'm so familiar with this book and with Julia Cameron's philosophies and tools, I've never actually read the whole book. That’s just my personality type—I am a bit of a skim reader and tend to come in, get what I came for, and then move on. I'm not always great at seeing things through all the way.
With The Artist's Way, the reason I think I've never gone that deeply into it before is because right at the very beginning Julia talks about doing Morning Pages—writing three pages of free-form, free-flowing writing about absolutely anything, whatever comes into your head, just putting it on paper, and doing that every single morning.
If you've been around on the podcast for a while, you’ve probably even heard me talk about my Morning Pages practice, which has evolved a little bit since then, but is absolutely rooted in Julia Cameron's practice. It’s one of her basic tools for artistic exploration and for creative recovery.
Doing Morning Pages was so transformative for me that I never really went much further in the book at the time. That was what I needed, that was what I was called to that book for. Morning Pages has been a really incredible, deeply spiritual experience for me and is now very much how I find guidance and wisdom and connect with something more than myself.
I do personally use the word God, even though I am absolutely not religious. That word has just… I guess I've come into a new relationship with it. But I could easily substitute God for the universe or for nature, and for me all of that—work, feeling, and co-creation—is very much intertwined.
Coming out of the summer, with my kids just back to school, I was really called to come back to The Artist's Way and this time go through it more thoroughly, follow through on more of the exercises, and really allow myself to explore creativity through the lens of my work here at Regenerative Work Life and my work with clients.
I was inspired to share because the first chapter is about creative recovery. The sections I'm going to read to you are about how to use the book for creative recovery.
As I went through and highlighted the sections that really stood out to me, it struck me that the concepts I was pulling out were directly relevant to anyone pursuing and exploring a regenerative work life.
I think there's a really strong parallel between creativity and regenerative work—or even regeneration. I’m only just beginning to understand this for myself, and I’ll probably come back to it in future episodes. But you know me: I like to do my exploration in public. It's not natural to me to come with fully formed, perfectly shaped ideas. I like to think aloud and work this through with you.
What I'm understanding at the moment, what struck me so clearly, is that both creativity and regenerative work are about a relationship with something more than ourselves as individuals—a higher power, a larger connecting force.
I really believe that co-creation is such a fundamental principle of regenerative work. That means not only building things—whether that's businesses, new economics, new farming practices, whatever it might be—in community and with others, and lifting others up and for others, but also doing that in connection with a power or wisdom that is beyond ourselves, a kind of energetic life force. That’s one of the key things Julia Cameron talks about in the beginning of this book.
You'll hear me turning pages a little bit as I look for the quotes that I really want to share with you.
Julia writes:
“The heart of creativity is an experience of the mystical union. The heart of the mystical union is an experience of creativity.”
That mystical union, from my understanding, is essential to regenerative work.
I always feel like I need to caveat when I move into this more spiritual territory, to say: look, it can also be super practical. It can sustain you, it can be financially viable. But if you're seeking regenerative work, you’re seeking something more than a practical solution or something mechanical.
I think you are seeking some kind of mystical union. You might not be someone who would ever use those words, but whether for you that manifests as a deep connection with nature, a deep community, ancient wisdom, or a relationship with ancestors—whatever it might be—I think there is a mystical union or co-creation at the heart of regenerative work.
That also means that we, as people seeking regenerative work and regenerative solutions, have the possibility to allow that energetic life force to work through us. We don't always need to be the instigators, the problem solvers, the ones with all the answers. The more we can be in touch with that connection and open to it, the more we can allow ourselves to be conduits for that.
One of the quotes peppered throughout the book is from Puccini, talking about writing Madame Butterfly. He said:
“The music of this opera was dictated to me by God. I was merely instrumental in putting it on paper and communicating it to the public.”
And there are many other quotes from artists and creators talking about what it feels like when you allow that flow to come from God—or something beyond yourself—and flow through you.
Julia then goes on to talk about what can happen when you start to feel that connection. She says:
“Chief among these changes will be the triggering of synchronicity. We change and the universe furthers and expands that change.”
Now, I have seen that in my work with clients, and I have felt and experienced it in my own life. When we start to open up to the possibilities of regenerative work, when we begin to disconnect and detox from corporate and societal conditioning, things open up to us that simply weren’t there before—or they were there, but they weren’t available to us. We couldn’t see them, we couldn’t understand them.
That’s a magical and exciting process. I often see it happening with clients maybe two or three months into working together. Suddenly, the kernel of an idea they’ve been nurturing—once they really start to commit to it and trust it—opportunities begin opening up. Conversations happen, connections happen, things unfold in a slightly magical way. That’s the synchronicity Julia Cameron is talking about.
Maybe one final point on this more spiritual side. She says:
“Creativity is an experience, to my eye a spiritual experience. It does not matter which way you think of it: creativity leading to spirituality or spirituality leading to creativity. In fact, I do not make a distinction between the two. In the face of such experience, the whole question of belief is rendered obsolete.”
I love that last line so much: “In the face of such experience, the whole question of belief is rendered obsolete.”
I know I’m going deeper—more abstract, more esoteric—than I usually have on the podcast. But that’s because this feels true to me. It reflects my real experience of learning about, exploring, and helping others connect with a regenerative work life.
It is a co-creation, a mystical union, and that synchronicity—that feeling that you’re not doing it all on your own.
Martha Beck describes this as co-creating with the universe. She talks about what it feels like when the universe is on your shoulder saying, “Yes, I love that idea, let’s do that. Here, let me throw some opportunities your way. Good for you for trying something new—let me help you along.” That’s what it feels like to co-create.
And when that starts to happen for you—it takes surrender, it takes faith, it takes resilience—but when it does, as Julia says, “in the face of such experience, the whole question of belief is rendered obsolete.”
But it’s not a straightforward process. It’s not easy. It’s bumpy. Because the world—by and large—doesn’t work like this. If you’re coming out of a corporate background, or even if you haven’t directly worked in corporate but have still been shaped by it, the world of work is highly corporatized.
The idea that your career—the next chapter of your work, the business you’re going to create—could be a spiritual journey, a creative path, infused with mysticism, is completely at odds with how most of us have been conditioned.
We’ve been taught that careers are pragmatic and formulaic: one step after another, climbing the ladder, making smart, strategic choices. To say, “That isn’t working for me anymore, I want to trust something else. I want to return to half-forgotten dreams I shoved in the attic, open them up, and see if there’s still something there for me. And frankly, I’m scared to do it—it feels irrational, irresponsible, nobody understands, and I don’t even know if I believe in myself. But I’m going to do it anyway.”
That is what it is to be an artist. And I think we are called to be artists in the pursuit of our regenerative work lives.
Julia shares what that can feel like when you pursue it, and it very much reflects what I see in my clients’ experiences. She says:
“Remember that it’s a spiral path. You will circle through some issues over and over, each time at a different level. There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life. Frustrations and rewards exist at all levels on the path. Our aim here is to find the trail, establish our footing, and begin the climb. The creative vistas that open will quickly excite you.”
I really believe that. It does open up very quickly—but you have to recognise that this is not a linear progression.
When she talks about issues, it’s true: the same issues arise again and again. If you begin this journey with a lack of self-belief, as almost everybody does, that lack of self-belief is going to show its head and try to pull you back—especially as you progress, challenge yourself, and move into uncharted territory.
But the point is that you are spiralling upwards. Even though the same issue comes back, each time you meet it, you’re further along. Each time, you release a little more, move forward, open to something new.
And that is really, really exciting.
I don’t know if you can hear this, but it’s really quite stormy outside as I’m recording this. There are dark grey skies, the willow tree outside my window is being bent over, and the rain is starting to heavily pitter-patter on the roof. You can perhaps hear that in the background—and if not, that’s just the backdrop for what I’m sharing with you today as we talk about those new creative vistas that are going to open up for you.
Okay, let’s keep going. I mentioned that part of this work is revisiting half-forgotten dreams that we’ve buried away. This is actually something I get very emotional about, and I think it’s the real core of what I love to do for people.
If I have the opportunity to work with someone to uncover a dream they’ve pushed aside—buried under layers of real life, not believed in, not tended to—and I can help them see that dream as a genuine possibility, help nurture and shape it so they can bring it to life, support themselves with it, and allow it to grow and benefit others—well, that’s it for me. That’s what I want to do with my work.
Julia says:
“We begin to excavate our buried dreams. This is a tricky process. Some of our dreams are very volatile, and the mere act of brushing them off sends an enormous surge of energy bolting through our denial system. Yes, such grief, such loss, such pain.”
It’s true. It is very hard to recover forgotten dreams. That’s why I feel so connected to that process, and why I think it’s important to have someone by your side if that’s what you want—because it’s emotional, it’s tricky, it’s volatile. And you’ll constantly be pulled back from it. There will be so many voices, real and imagined, telling you why you can’t do it.
It’s my honour to be a voice telling you that you absolutely can. Particularly in the early stages with my clients, I often feel my primary job is to believe in them far more than they believe in themselves. And eventually, as we move deeper into coaching, their self-belief catches up, and we move into this stage where we’re both deeply impassioned by what’s possible for them.
Julia goes further:
“To effect a creative recovery, we must undergo a time of mourning in dealing with the suicide of the nice self we have been making do with.”
I could probably do a whole other podcast on just these two sentences. But yes—there is a grieving process at the beginning.
I’d expand that to say: grieving and shedding. Letting go of the person we were before. Letting go of the constructs we thought served us. Many of us felt safe within that career ladder ideology, the idea that there was a path set out for us, that we just had to work hard, hit the milestones, and everything would be taken care of. And then it turns out it wasn’t true at all—that the things that really mattered to us don’t exist inside that restricted trajectory.
There is something more for us. Something much bigger. Something not only right for us, but right for all life around us.
That’s a big deal. And it does mean letting go of the “nice self.” Very often that shows up as the good girl, the head boy, the high achiever, the one who had it all figured out. You have to let go of that.
You have to let go of the identity that comes with being whatever senior position at whatever prestigious institution, with however many years of experience. I felt that myself. In my own startup, I was so closely identified with the title of CEO and founder. That gave me validation, recognition—I felt good leading with that.
Now I don’t have that anymore. I’m just me. I’m just Alisa. And that’s humbling. It’s beautiful. It’s human. But it’s a process to go through.
I’ll finish with these beautiful principles Julia shares. I could go into them in more depth, and may revisit in a future episode. But let me share them with you now—six principles, which you might want to embody, repeat to yourself, maybe write down and live with in the week ahead.
Julia introduces these in the context of recognising that you may be creatively blocked. For you, that might mean you’re blocked in building the work life you want, or stuck in committing to the business idea you have, or frozen in your next career step.
Here’s the advice she gives:
Stop telling yourself it’s too late.
It is never too late to pursue regenerative work.Stop waiting until you make enough money to do something you really love.
Yes, money matters. But don’t let financial fear stop you from even beginning.Stop telling yourself “it’s just my ego” whenever you yearn for a more creative life.
Who are you not to create change? Who are you not to bring your dreams to life?Stop telling yourself your dreams don’t matter, that they are only dreams, and that you should be more sensible.
Dreams rarely feel sensible. Pursue them anyway.Stop fearing that your family and friends will think you’re crazy.
What you’re really afraid of is being lonely. This is why I created the Regenerative Work Life Café—a community gathering where you can connect with others on the same path. It’s online, but we like it to feel like you’re coming into a café, full of people who understand. If you haven’t been before, you are so welcome. Sign up at regenerativeworklife.com/community and you’ll be notified when the next gathering is happening.Stop telling yourself that creativity is a luxury and that you should just be grateful for what you’ve got.
Replace “creativity” with “regenerative work.” Regenerative work is a privilege, yes, but not a luxury. For those of us with the means to pursue it, I believe it’s an obligation. It is reciprocal and co-created—you cannot help but give back when you do this work. It is essential.
Well, this turned out to be a longer episode than I was planning. There is so much richness here—and this is literally just the first chapter of The Artist’s Way.
I invite you to embrace creativity within your work. Allow yourself to see yourself as an artist—because it really helps.
I remember the first time I was asked to think of myself as an artist. I was doing Morning Pages, and in that process I often receive insights or instructions that feel like they come from God, or the universe, or nature, or higher power—whatever word you choose. And the insight that came was: Stop thinking of yourself as a business person, and start thinking of yourself as an artist.
I felt so squirmy about that. I thought, I’m not an artist, I can’t call myself an artist. Maybe you feel the same way. But I believe you can call yourself an artist.
What you are doing is an act of creation. You are bringing something to life. And when you think of yourself as an artist, it allows the process to be messier, more emotional, more playful, more experimental.
We don’t expect an artist to sit down with a canvas and create a perfect painting in one linear process. We know artists have half-finished sketches, abandoned canvases, pieces that didn’t work. We know artists get better over time, and their expression is honed through process.
I invite that for you too. You are an artist—whatever it is you are bringing to life through your regenerative work. Whether you haven’t even begun but are daring to imagine, whether you’re in the messy middle of trying and failing and recommitting, wherever you are in the process—you are an artist.
This is a creative journey. It is joyful, magical, and it is a gift to me to be sharing it with you.
Thank you for listening. Thank you for allowing me to imperfectly explore this idea. I will probably come back to The Artist’s Way as I continue through the book and go deeper into the tools.
I’d love your feedback—does this resonate, connect, or raise questions for you? Email me at alisa@regenerativeworklife.com.
Allow yourself to have a creative experience with your work this week. And I’ll see you back here next time.
