Julia Cameron - Finding Water

BY JULIA CAMERON

Books in The Artists Way Series

The Artists Way

Walking in This World

Finding Water

The Complete Artists Way

The Artists Way Workbook

The Artists Way Every Day

Other Books on Creativity

The Writing Diet

The Right to Write

The Sound of Paper

The Vein of Gold

The Artists Way Morning Pages Journal

The Artists Date Book
(illustrated by Elizabeth Cameron)

How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy)
(illustrated by Elizabeth Cameron)

Supplies: A Troubleshooting Guide for Creative Difficulties

Inspirations: Meditations from The Artists Way

The Writers Life: Insights from The Right to Write

The Artists Way at Work
(with Mark Bryan and Catherine Allen)

Money Drunk, Money Sober
(with Mark Bryan)

Prayer Books

Answered Prayers

Heart Steps

Blessings

Transitions

Prayers to the Great Creator

Books on Spirituality

Prayers from a Nonbeliever

Letters to a Young Artist

God Is No Laughing Matter

God Is Dog Spelled Backwards
(illustrated by Elizabeth Cameron)

Faith and Will

Memoir

Floor Sample: A Creative Memoir

Fiction

Mozarts Ghost

Popcorn: Hollywood Stories

The Dark Room

Plays

Public Lives

The Animal in the Trees

Four Roses

Love in the DMZ

Avalon (a musical)

The Medium at Large (a musical)

Magellan (a musical)

Poetry

Prayers for the Little Ones

Prayers for the Nature Spirits

The Quiet Animal

This Earth (also an album with Tim Wheater)

Feature Film

(as writer-director) Gods Will

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

First trade paperback edition 2009

Copyright 2006 by Julia Cameron

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Cover and title page painting: Ohara Koson (Shoson), Egret on Willow, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Robert O. Muller Collection, S2003.8.1959

TarcherPerigee with tp colophon is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

Ebook ISBN 9781101666814

The Library of Congress catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:

Cameron, Julia.

Finding water : the art of perseverance / Julia Cameron.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58542-463-4

ISBN-10: 1-58542-463-3

1. Inspiration. 2. Writers block. 3. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.).

4. Perseverance (Ethics). 5. Diligence. I. Title.

BF410.C36 2006 2006029098

153.3'5dc22

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Version_1

Elizabeth Cameron, for her commitment

Sara Carder, for her care

Carolina Casperson, for her daring

Jane Cecil, for her grace

Sonia Choquette, for her vision

Judy Collins, for her generosity

Tim Farrington, for his fortitude

Joel Fotinos, for his faith

Natalie Goldberg, for her resilience

Bernice Hill, for her sagacity

Jack Hofsiss, for his leadership

Tracy Jamar, for her grit

Linda Kahn, for her clarity

Bill Lavallee, for his strength

Laura Leddy, for her prayers

Emma Lively, for her perseverance

Larry Lonergan, for his guidance

Julianna McCarthy, for her inspiration

Robert McDonald, for his art

Bruce Pomahac, for his belief

Susan Raihofer, for her insight

Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, for her loyalty

Jeremy Tarcher, for his wisdom

Edmund Towle, for his friendship

Claire Vaccaro, for her eye

Rosemary Welden, for her enthusiasm

Elizabeth Winick, for her shepherding

To the artists who have gone before me,

leaving a trail of hope and perseverance

Remembering

I was not there when your mother bore you.

Surely you came to this world, hungering and wet,

We all do that.

Surely you came like the rest of us

From that dark sea of souls,

That sighing that brings us forth

And calls us backwe all share that.

If this is true, and it iseven for you

Why are you a broken glass smashed against

The floor? Why not the seas grass on

The ocean floor? Why not a smooth stone, a willow

In the wind? Why do you break, not bend, and

Even broken, why not mend? You do know how.

Walk with me to the edge of the city.

Take off your shoes and feel the earth.

It is softer than a woman.

It is safer than your father.

It is water. It is air.

It is where you are returning

With this yearning you cant name.

Cast off your shame. It is an old coat.

Remember who you are. You are a star,

A mountain, that fountain in the sun.

Your heart is the velvet cave

Where birds sing.

Are you remembering?

J.C.

I T IS MIDDAY , midweek, midwinter. A light snow is falling. Under its spell, Manhattan is hushed. There is a Currier and Ives aspect to the cityscape. Wreathed in scarves and bundled into coats, New Yorkers plunge through the streets, grinning like children at the weather. Snowfall always brings the city quietthat, and a sense of expectancy.

The lightest frosting of snow and Central Park becomes a fairyland garlanded in lace. Under the soft gray sky miracles seem possibleas when an eagle suddenly appears, lifting off amid the parks pine trees with an audible beating of wings. In Native American culture, sighting the great bird signals that great good is about to happen.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

E NGLISH PROVERB

I am ready for good omens. Entering a new book, I want to believe that what I write will prove to be useful, blessed. Walking in the park, when the great bird soared near me, I felt a quick sense of wonder. That is an eagle, I thought. And this is New York. (For many years I lived in New Mexico, where the spotting of an eagle, while rare, was still to be expected.) This is the third time in five years that I have sighted an eagle in New York. Egged on by my own skepticism that the birds really could exist in Manhattan, I have done the research and learned that eagles do live in Central Park, released there deliberately by the Forest Service. Even knowing this, they seem miraculous to me. And so, yes, I believe the bird to be a great good omen. I believe this new book to be blessed and I am grateful for the encouragement.