This week in The Artist’s Way, the chapter shares how in order to stay creative, we must stay spiritually centered. Cameron recommends setting up a small dedicated space as an altar of sorts to help us focus our attention on our connection to God and our creativity. In today’s short post, I’m sharing more about my altar space.

100 Liminal Days is an experimental project of embracing my current transitional season after exiting my business by sharing an honest, real-time account of my self-initiation experience in daily posts. I’m using The Artist’s Way as a guiding tool, and sending shorter weekly recaps only via my newsletter. Visit Day 1/100 to learn more and sign up to get the weekly recaps delivered to your inbox.

This is something that Julia Cameron recommends for artists, but I’ve done this for many years of my life without really thinking of it as an altar or as having any specific intention. My grandmother, Tita, always had little nooks displaying objects that delighted her – a gourd she painted and stuck googley eyes on, a self-portrait sketch on a ripped corner of a paper sack, a pretty rock, and a pressed leaf or dried flower.

I loved the way she always brought nature into the house, and it is something I have done myself for as long as I can remember. Knowing that it can become a bit of an eyesore to some people, I have tried to keep my little spot in my office or bedroom, a place where I could enjoy it without it drawing attention from others. It has always felt precious to me, even when my partner thinks it looks like clutter. It does help me connect to my inner artist. It delights me in the way a shiny rock delights a child.

In more recent years as I have deepened my spiritual practices and connection to God, I have created small rituals around my little “altar” but never really thought of it as an altar. Honestly, I was worried that thinking of it like that would seem like I was practicing something occultic – especially with all of my animal skull art around! 😆 But truthfully, this space has helped me shift from “normal mode” to “creative mode” when I want to create from the deepest place within me.

My top shelf includes The Survivor, part of my Into the Wild art skull series, along with an hourglass, a vase from my grandmother’s house, a little “Goals” book (although I just like the way it looks, I don’t write in it!), and a cherished gift from a friend: a sundial compass. The items on this shelf remind me that life is finite, but time moves on forever.

On the second shelf, I have all kinds of items I’ve found in the wild – feathers, rocks, sticks, an arrowhead, a crystal (another gift from a friend), a gourd and several shells from my grandmother’s, and a rock I painted to look like a mix between a horse and a rhino just because the shape of the rock looked this way to me. These items have been collected from all over the world. (Yes, I know I shouldn’t take things and sometimes I break the rules. But I also take gifts back to the land, leaving something special to me in it’s place.) These items help me remember sacred places I have visited, but also remind me that the Creator made some pretty cool stuff, too!

The window includes a stained glass I bought in Colorado, a guitar I carved and painted years ago, and a dollar bill someone folded into an origami elephant while sitting at a bar one night. The guitar has some of the lyrics of Amazing Grace painted on the sides. It was actually a box car that had wheels attached before, but I threw those out and just kept the guitar.

All of these little objects might look like clutter to some, but they bring me a lot of joy and remind me to nurture my inner artist. Sometimes I light an incense stick and just take a moment to check out my feathers and rocks and such before getting into a creative project. Maybe it does nothing, but maybe it invites in a little magic. Either way, it makes me happy, so I’m keeping space for my Artist Altar.

Weekly recaps of 100 Liminal Days are emailed on Tuesdays only to my newsletter subscribers. If you want the summaries, share your email here to get on the list. You’ll also instantly receive a free Notion template I use every single day to track my habits and reflect on the day.