Playing open mics has even led to paid gig as a solo act—an experience I’d never imagined before starting The Artist’s Way. Two years ago, opportunities like these weren’t even on my horizon.

In the time since I first picked up The Artist’s Way in early 2023, my world has expanded. It’s brought me into creative communities. It’s got me in touch with local scenes that I didn’t know existed—the types of communities I would love to read about but wasn’t really in touch with. It has also deepened what was probably my first love from a young age: music, and put me back into touch with that in a really beautiful way.

Whatever this has been for me over the last two years—process, journey, or something else—it’s not only reconnected me with music in a special way but also deepened my understanding of how creativity, creative endeavors, and communities can truly change lives. They can open up worlds, change our experience of life, and make them more enriching, fulfilling, and connected.

Which brings me to why I’m writing this blog post today—because today we are opening doors to Inspiration Alchemy, an offering that is like a guided community tour through The Artist’s Way. 

Inspiration Alchemy builds on the course’s powerful framework, bringing it into a psychedelic-friendly atmosphere with two core collaborators who are deeply involved in the worlds of creativity and psychedelics—two creative badasses: Daniel Shankin of Tam Integration, someone who I’ve admired for a number of years now, for his work and how he shows up. And Jake Kobrin, a visionary artist and educator who I’ve aware of since we both worked on different Truffles Therapy psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands in 2018, and who’s work I’ve become more acquainted with and impressed by recently.

It feels like a special moment to now be making this offering to help others embark on their own creative journeys and see their own worlds expand.

But I digress. Rather than give you all the details about Inspo Alch, I want this to be a personal blog post to give you an understanding of my own journey.

So I’m going back five years, an unassuming but pivotal moment in my story.

A Jam Session That Changed Things

Sometime in 2019, when I was still residing in Berlin, A few of the guys I played Ultimate Frisbee with every Saturday at Treptower Park invited me to bring my guitar to and play a few songs with them at the Noisey rehearsal rooms. I wasn’t expecting much, just a bit of fun. 

As we played through a few covers—some guilty pleasures like Blink-182 and other pop rock songs—I realized I hadn’t been in a room with a full band for what must have been about 10 years.

As we started playing, something inside of me just came alive. It felt like something expanding, something opening up, something reawakening.

After we left the rooms to roam down the grimy Warschauer Straße, I realized just how much I’d missed simply playing music in a room with other humans.

Between the ages of 13 and 21, through high school and university, I was pretty much always in one band or another. When I left the UK and started country-hopping for the next 8 or so years, though I played a lot of music, I never settled long enough to find those bandmates.

Through that time, I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it and how much that experience brought to me. Not only the playing itself, but the experience of being in the moment of a dynamic and loud creative act.

That day at Noisey Rooms brought something back to life that had been dormant.

I never actually played again with those frisbee guys. But the deed had been done, I had been reminded of something.

At the time, I still considered myself a creative person. I was writing regularly and had been through some creative processes. I’d gotten into a good writing habit, and I was able to publish and share regularly from a heart centred and intellectual kind of place.

I’d started a blog, which, after some years, developed into Maps of the Mind, where you read this today. It was a hobby slash side hustle which had grown into something which brought professional opportunities. It was through putting my thoughts, feelings, ideas, and experiences into form and sharing them with the outside world: that alchemical process of creativity.

But this was a whole different thing. Music touches something else, something special, something that transcends language. That experience in Berlin got me thinking about how I could bring it back into my life more fully. It planted a seed.

Finding Healing and Growth Through Creativity

When COVID hit, personal and professional challenges pushed thoughts of playing or connecting creatively with others to the back seat. But I did start recording in my bedroom. I made my first bedroom demo in years, a sloppy GG Allin cover. More bedroom recordings followed. In 2022, during another wave of COVID, another Ultimate Frisbee musician friend introduced me to Weekly Beats, a 52-week project where people post a new original recording online every week for a year. I published maybe 30 tracks that year.

By late 2022, I’d left Berlin in search of a new direction and returned to England. It felt like the perfect time to start a new course, so I asked my brother to gift me The Artist’s Way for Christmas.

The Artist’s Way is a 12-week creativity course that combines reflective exercises with two core practices: morning pages and artist dates. Morning pages are three daily pages of stream-of-consciousness writing to clear mental clutter, while artist dates are weekly solo excursions to nurture your creative spark. The program’s structure and exercises encourage participants to reconnect with their creative selves and overcome blocks like self-doubt and fear of judgment.

It felt like a good time to dive into a course, and I asked my brother for a copy of The Artist’s Way for Christmas.

The Artist’s Way was a book I’d heard mentioned a few times by people I followed. One of them was Steve Pavlina, a personal blogger whose creativity course I’d done before which had helped me make strides with my writing, blogging, and developing my first online course, The Conscious Psychedelic Explorer.

I was excited to dive in and I started on January 1st 2023.

Week by week, I began making meaningful strides in this area of my life.

Amongst dozens of exercises which are assigned on a weekly basis, there is one where you make an action plan based on your creative dreams, no matter how silly or unrealistic they may seem. 5-year plan, 1-year plan, 6 months, one month, one week, today. And you have to commit to going through with it.

Inevitably, stuff started happening for me, and in something like week 8 I was putting my name down at an open mic and nervously working my way through a Ty Segall cover and an original from lockdown. I was back the next week, and the week after, and when back in Berlin, played there. Now I just see whats going on everywhere I go.

And so, the world of music communities around the world opened up to me, something that’s been such a big part of my life in the time since. I love being in the environment of being around other musicians, playing and watching, with people who I can have great conversations with about music. I love that I can show up to a place in a t-shirt and people sometimes actually know the band on the t-shirt that I’m wearing. It’s so nice to then be able to have that conversation.

Beyond The Music

It wasn’t only music. The book and its exercises helped me confront doubt, self-criticism, and negative self-talk. The inner child work also gave me insight into where those doubting voices came from—early critics in my life, well-meaning or not, whose words had lingered. I realized how those voices of doubt and judgment had been subtly holding me back. They weren’t conscious; they were just part of my being.

It was like meeting with myself again. It helped me see creativity in a new light.

One of the things I noticed was how closely creativity is linked to healing. It’s no surprise to me that The Artist’s Way is used by therapists or why art therapy exists. Creativity isn’t just about making art or writing poems. It’s about understanding ourselves, expressing what words sometimes can’t, processing emotions, and making meaning of experiences. In some ways, it feels like a core human need—maybe even a purpose, like connection or movement.

That’s one of the reasons why I think The Artist’s Way is such a powerful framework. It provides tools not only to reconnect with creativity but to heal parts of ourselves we might not even realize needed tending.

It’s also given me concrete practices that are now part of my life and supportive on a personal well-being level, which, in turn, helps with creativity.

The Practices and Tools That Have Changed Things

The Morning Pages

One of the core practices is the morning pages: three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing. This has become part of my life.

I don’t do it every day and I don’t always do it in the morning, but I won’t go a week without doing it at least once. It doesn’t go far from me. It’s just too useful. 

Writing three pages helps me clear my mental clutter and bring clarity. In many ways, it’s like a psychedelic practice—it helps me connect with what’s important to me, tap into deeper levels of mind, and bring focus and clarity in moments of uncertainty.

Walking

Another simple but big practice that has been integrated more into my life has been walking.

Even something as simple as walking more has been transformative. One week, the course asks you to take a brisk 20-minute walk and observe how it shifts your consciousness. That simple exercise stuck with me. Since then, walking has become a regular part of my routine. In fact, I’m dictating this now while strolling through a park in Hanoi. Walking has been shown to foster well-being and even enhance thinking, as many studies and books highlight.

and that simple exercise stuck with me to the point that I’ve incorporated more walking into my life since. A simple habit that has changed my daily experience of the world in a positive way.

This is one example of these small deliberate acts that can open doors, and give small shifts that add up to larger shifts.

With these small but cumulative insights, the process has overall deepened my understanding of creativity as a force for transformation. It’s connected to well-being, connection, and fulfilment. It’s changed how I approach my days.

The Artist’s Date

Alongside the morning pages, The Artist’s Date is the other core practice; a solo weekly excursion to do something fun that inspires and nurtures our creative consciousness.

This is about allowing ourselves to do fun and enjoyable things for ourselves. No duty or workaholism. They are about having experiences that bring inspiration, awe, and wonder into life. Moments that fuel creativity.

One of my favourite artist dates was going to see Titus Andronicus, a New Jersey rock band on MDMA where I shook a personal hero’s hand. Another was a psychedelic trip where I took time to read through and muse upon The Basic Principles in and expanded and altered state. These experiences are treasures to me. The practice of the Artist’s Date has helped me carve out space for meaningful and exciting moments in my life instead of letting weeks or even months go by without doing anything interesting or creatively inspiring. 

Collaboration and the Birth of Inspiration Alchemy

In the year and a half since I finished The Artist’s Way, I’ve reflected on the changes I’ve experienced so far. Rather than hitting some end point, I’ve realised this is just an ongoing process, much like the process of personal growth and healing. It’s not some endpoint I’m heading for; it’s something that just continues expanding and unfolding. Which to me is much more exciting and interesting. 

Because I’ve experienced what is possible here, the idea of sharing this process, bringing it to the people in the psychedelic communities and supporting them through it, has kept coming up. When I was going through the course, I shared something about it with a psychedelic Signal Group I’m in, and Daniel from Tam, who had done the course himself some years before, dropped a comment like, “Don’t do it without me.”

As someone whose work I admired for years—that sounded like an invitation that I’d be a fool not to try and answer. I reached out to him about it, and he connected the dots with Jake, an incredibly talented who has not only experienced his own transformation through the course firsthand but is an experienced educator who has been guiding groups through The Artist’s Way for years. 

With Daniel’s grounding influence, Jake’s artistic expertise, and the renowned artists on board, I think we’re creating a space where transformation honestly feels inevitable for those who show up.

So I think what we’ve got here is something special that has the potential to be deeply transformative for all who get involved, and in its ripples, the world.

That for me, is the definition of a meaningful project.

As we open registration today, I’m feeling a mix of emotions; excited, optimistic, and hopeful, and grateful to be in a place to invite other people into this journey.

Reconnect with Your Creative Spark Through Inspiration Alchemy

Inspiration Alchemy is your chance to experience the transformative framework of The Artist’s Way in a whole new way. Over 12 weeks, you’ll be guided step by step through the course, enriched by live sessions with guest artists and creators, a vibrant and supportive community, and tools to help you overcome creative blocks and ignite your passion.

This course isn’t just for professional artists or creatives—it’s for anyone looking to bring more inspiration and flexibility into their life. Creativity permeates everything we do, from taking a new route home to cooking up something fresh in the kitchen. If you’re looking to make space for creativity in your life, this course is designed to support you.

The course starts February 10th 2025  and runs for 12 weeks with live sessions every Monday at 8pm EST.

Why Join Now?

Registration opens today, and we’re offering an exclusive Black Friday discount: $400 off through Thanksgiving weekend, plus an extra 10% off with the code MAPS. This is an incredible value for a course packed with inspiration, tools, and community.

Ready to take the leap?
Explore Inspiration Alchemy now

The post From Berlin to Hanoi: How The Artist’s Way Has Changed My Life appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

Honestly, it felt amazing.

See, I love music. I love listening to it. I love playing it. And I’ve been wanting to perform again for years.

I played in a punk band as a teenager, and a rock band as a student, but I hadn’t played or performed publicly since.

The last time was over 10 years ago.

Rocking out, c. 2009

So how did I get back on stage, shouting these songs about being a loner, an ill-fated LSD trip, and the war on drugs?

Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. I have been building back to this for a while. A key moment was stopping in Berlin, and getting back into going to live shows.

But regardless, I have no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have made it back to the stage already without doing The Artist’s Way.

The Artist’s Way is a course in book form. Subtitled ‘the classic course in discovering and recovering your creative self’, it is a program to be followed over 12 weeks. There are weekly reading and homework exercises to be done throughout the 12 week period.

So, wanting to use the new year’s energy as a fresh boost, I started the course on January 1st and just finished on Saturday.

The course is deep and the book covers a lot of ground, so in this post I won’t cover everything.
This will be a brief overview of my experience with The Artists Way, to give you an idea of what it’s like and if it might be for you.

The Tools

Outside of the weekly reading and exercises, there are two main tools in The Artists Way, The Morning Pages and The Artist’s Date.

The Morning Pages

The morning pages are three pages of longhand journaling to be done every morning.

A4 pages.
So about 30 minutes of pen and paper journaling every single morning.

I definitely felt resistance to this amount of journaling at times. But when I commit to something, I like to stick with it. So I did.

Generally, the pages can be about anything and everything.

For me, I found they were a chance to check in with myself, see what’s on my mind, dump it onto the page (I see notepads somewhat like therapists – in their non-judgmental receptivity), and actively think through things.

The pages gave me a chance to think actively and somewhat consciously, about areas I want to focus on in my life.

One section of the course involved writing down areas you need help or guidance on before you sleep and then journaling about them in the morning. This was like active brainstorming and problem-solving. I put key areas of my life I wanted to focus on: business, romance, and music – and fundamentals: eat, move, sleep.

As directed, the pages were also used for affirmations, exploring personal beliefs, and open-ended brainstorming.

Though the pages were quite a commitment, I found them to be hugely helpful.

I felt mentally clearer, and more ready and eager for each day by the time I finished them.

I could also see which topics were recurring, giving me insight into the contents of my mind.

Will I keep them up since finishing the 12 weeks?

Definitely.

Not every single day, but more as needed. Maybe a couple of times a week.

The Artist’s Date

The second main tool is The Artist’s Date.

The Artist’s Date is a weekly activity, say 2 hours, where you take you – and your inner artist – on a play date. It’s something to capture your imagination and nurture your creative consciousness. And the emphasis should be on fun.

It is to be done alone, with the idea that you are able to receive thoughts, and ideas – to hear your own inner voice.

I will admit that I found this surprisingly hard to keep up. I was also a bit unimaginative.

Still, I found it worthwhile. I went to the cinema a few times, a great hobby that I haven’t been up to much in the last couple of years. (and at a local cinema, for £5 a film, it’s a steal really).

Birmingham Artists Date

My funnest and most story-worthy artist date was heading over to the city of Birmingham, booking myself into a hostel for the night, and taking MDMA to go and see Titus Andronicus, a punk/indie band whose album An Obelisk has one of my favourites of the last few years.

The gig was a poignant experience in an unexpected way – but to save turning this into a trip report – the highlight was meeting one of my heroes after the show.

At the merch stand, I told ringleader Patrick that his music has been important to me, and thanked him. He visibly softened, expressed his appreciation, and extended his hand to shake in a tender and meaningful moment that’ll stay with me.

Honestly, I get a little misty just recalling it now.

After the gig, I went back to the hostel and ended up playing guitar in the common area for the travelers staying up and hanging out. I felt nervous before, but 7 weeks into the course, with the exercises I’d been doing, reflecting on my creative dreams, and plotting steps to get there, it pushed me over the edge in terms of picking up the guitar. Those continued steps got me to the first open mic a couple of weeks later on.

Weekly Tasks

Through the course, I would go to a cafe each Sunday and do my weekly reading and any journaling or written exercises.

This was a highlight of my week. It got me excited, inspired, and dreaming. I reflected, and wrote out action plans and small changes I would make.

Outside of journaling and reflection, other homework tasks included clearing out old stuff, writing letters to yourself, and mailing postcards to friends. An interesting one was a ban on reading for a week! There was a tonne of others. I won’t spoil the surprises but a few others were making collages, saying prayers, collecting pretty rocks, and treating oneself to childhood favorite foods.

There was a wide range of topics explored through the twelve weeks, really too much for me to dig into here, but one that resonated with me was perfectionism, process, and balance.

Perfectionism and Process

A key returning revelation was that we must allow ourselves to be bad artists if we are to be artists at all.

We must allow ourselves to make mistakes, understand that doing so is a necessary part of the process, and know that we won’t start great. This shifts the framing to process over result.

Balance

The Artist’s Way emphasizes a point of balance. It’s not all directly about creative work – in fact, very little of it is.

Sure, there is inner therapeutic work that includes looking at previous and childhood experiences and how they may have conditioned us. And the exercises include establishing a support system. And I can see why the process has apparently been used by therapists.

But a lot of it is about personal growth and self-care, bringing fun into life, and understanding that this leads to creative lives. Creativity is about festivity, enthusiasm, joy, and dreams. This was one of my favorite things about it.

One part I liked was that we surveyed six areas of our life. These were: work, exercise, romance/adventure, spirituality, play, and friends. These were rated three times throughout the course to check progress. Although I did go down in some areas (spirituality, exercise, and work suffered losses), overall, I gained 7 points across the board between week 2 and week 11, and this was hugely encouraging. Honestly, it felt great.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the 12 weeks on The Artist’s Way has been an amazing experience.

In general, I really enjoy committing to a guided growth process and allowing it to unfold as it will.

A couple of years ago I did a course in creativity: Amplify by Steve Pavlina, and the fruits were largely directed toward my psychedelic work. It was also hugely rewarding and had a big hand in the creation of the first version of The Conscious Psychedelic Explorer course, now three cohorts in and with plans to grow.

This time it was great for the focus to be on music, a love of mine that has been somewhat dormant but crying for attention in recent years. The fact I’ve performed solo in public now 5 times in the last 4 weeks (after 0 performances in the last 10 years, and never solo), with a childlike eagerness to continue, and a tonne of fresh ideas for songs and performances, speaks for itself.

I will admit that my enthusiasm for the process did wax and wane over the 12 weeks, and at times I found it quite hard to keep up. I didn’t do all of the exercises, not even close. But as Cameron writes, you can’t do the course perfectly, and as someone with sometimes obsessive tendencies (I like to be really thorough when I do things like this), I took this as a chance to practice letting go of perfectionism.

That said, I also think I will cycle back around for a second time, and do the things that I didn’t manage the first.

I have seen it dubbed: “A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist’s Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.”

I absolutely agree.

Overall, it’s been a great reminder of how much growth can be achieved in a short time when one is committed. And just as importantly, how fun, interesting, and exciting our lives can be.

Do The Artist’s Way With My Support

I’m hugely excited about the idea of offering a group process with The Artists Way, with weekly meetings and check-ins with a group of fellow explorers to share the journey with. I have some ideas for incorporating psychedelics into this course that I’m massively excited about too.

If you’re interested in doing this with a group of psychedelic-friendly folks, get in touch or join my mailing list.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in doing this in a 1-1 coaching format, just send me a message. I’d love to support you in your creative life!

The post My 12 Week Journey with The Artist’s Way appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

To my adolescent mind, inspiration and ‘the zone’ came and went as they pleased and I had to make the most of them when they came, and just be cool when they didn’t. I never considered the scientific side of the process, or that there could be specific techniques to ‘hack’ creativity and enter creative states of mind, until recently.

As with almost everything nowadays, scientists are trying to figure it out, doing all sorts of research, measuring brain chemistry etc. – to find out what’s going on behind the scenes in these creative states, and how we can actually enter them willfully.

Enter Steven Kotler

Steven Kotler, director of The Flow Genome Project

On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan podcast, Joe speaks with Steven Kotler; bestselling author, journalist and co-founder and Director of Research for The Flow Research Collective. Kotler, in his own words, is ‘mechanistic’ and ‘likes to know how things work’.

In his work with the Flow Genome Project Kotler has been trying to understand different states of consciousness, especially the state known as ‘flow’, and how we can enter it.

What is ‘Flow’?

In positive psychology, flow, also known as being ‘in the zone’, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does – it’s when the voice in your head quietens and you are immersed in what you are doing; time seems to fall away and even your sense of self can disappear. It’s a state of optimal human performance and results in:

• Heightened Creativity
• Increased Performance
• Accelerated Problem Solving

What’s happening in scientific terms? Kotler explains [42:36]:

‘What I’m talking about […] is specific changes in brain function; [activity in the] pre-frontal cortex is turning down, you’re getting 5 or 6 neurochemicals which tend to show up, and your brainwaves drop down to the alpha/theta borderline’

Hacking Flow

At 37:55 in the podcast, Rogan asks Kotler:

‘Is there anything people can do to enhance creativity? Is there a proven thing that can enhance flow state or increase creativity?’

First Kotler explains what we actually mean by ‘creativity’, and then explains what neurochemicals show up in the flow state and what they actually do. Then he lets us in on the flow hack. He tells us that if we want to mimic the exact neurochemistry of being in flow – all we need to do is take 3 steps:

Go for a 25 min low-grade run, follow it with a cup of coffee, and then smoke a joint. In that order. One more time:

1. 25 min run/exercise

2. Coffee

3. Joint

Yes that’s it! I have been using this combination a lot in the last month or so, but swapping the run out for yoga, and using hash rather than weed in my joints (I’ve found my mind to work more efficiently on hash compared to weed).

I’ve had some great results, though admittedly not entirely consistently. I should add that I feel pretty damn great after this combo; in a fantastic mood, very present, and full of positive energy – I’ve found it to be an excellent way to start the day.

Works well for writing

I’ve been using this combo for writing but would love to hear from other creatives if and how well it works for them in other creative fields; music, drawing, problem-solving. Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Don’t Smoke Weed? Run!

If you’re not a weed smoker, Kotler says that just going for a run or doing some kind of exercise can help. From 14:45, he explains exercise-induced transient hypofrontality, and says that by exercising, you can put yourself into a low-grade flow state – even just going for a walk can help.

‘It’s a great reset if you’ve been doing something creative and you didn’t get into flow and it was frustrating; this is a way to sorta reset your brain and start over. And if you did get into flow and it was a really, y’know, vibrant writing session – [it’s] another way to chill it out and start over.

You can see more of the episode here, it’s great watch/listen packed with interesting topics and stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNobzrnSRMc

For more information on flow, including other ways of inducing the state, discovering your ‘flow profile’ and what may work best you personally, check out the website: Flow Research Collective.

Do you have any other techniques that you use to enhance creativity, or to help you get ‘in the zone’? Tips or tricks? Habits or routines? Please share below, I’m always interested to hear about others’ creative processes and new ways of coaxing creative states of mind.

The post Hacking Creativity: Shortcut To A Creative Mental State appeared first on Maps of the Mind.