####Shadow Artist
很多有创造潜能的人，由于很少得到鼓励和支持，而没有机会培养和发展自己的创造力，以至于他们根本不认为自己是艺术家。Julia 称他们为“Shadow Artist”，即隐藏的艺术家。究竟是什么原因造成这些人无法认识真正的自我呢？
第一个原因来自于家庭、父母。从父母角度来看，他们希望子女安稳顺利，少犯错误，因此他们很少鼓励子女多去尝试一些有风险、未知的事情。

Parents seldom respond, “Try it and see what happens” to artistic urges issuing from their offspring. They offer cautionary advice where support might be more to the point. Timid young artists, adding parental fears to their own, often give up their sunny dreams of artistic careers, settling into the twilight world of could-have-beens and regrets. There, caught between the dream of action and the fear of failure, shadow artists are born.

在子女表现出艺术创作的欲望的时候，父母很少说，“你试试,看看会怎么样”。在应该给子女支持的时
候，他们反而只是给予告诫。胆怯的小艺术家们，接受了父母的恐惧，于是往往就放弃了走上艺术创作
的阳光之梦，过着一种暗淡的生活。他们终日充满悔恨，经常反复对自己说“我本来可以……”。这种 
夹在为梦想采取行动和对失败的恐惧中的人们，就是 shadow artist。

For all shadow artists, life may be a discontented experience, filled with a sense of missed purpose and unfulfilled promise. They want to write. They want to paint. They want to act, make music, dance … but they are afraid to take themselves seriously.

In order to move from the realm of shadows into the light of creativity, shadow artists must learn to take themselves seriously. With gentle, deliberate effort, they must nurture their artist child. Creativity is play, but for shadow artists, learning to allow themselves to play is hard work.

Shadow Artist 难以在生活中获得满足，他们的生活中充满了未履行的决心和未实现的承诺。他们想写
 作、想画画、想表演、想跳舞……但却害怕认真地对待自己的梦想。
为了从阴影中走出来，拥抱创造性，shadow artist 必须学会认真对待自己的梦想。他们应当精心培育
艺术性的内在自我。创作充满游戏的乐趣，但 shadow artist 们首先要解决的困难是，如何允许自己
玩创意。

因此，第一周我们的任务就是将 Shadow Artist 从以往的思维禁制模式解放出来。让他们坦诚地对待自己的梦想和渴望。

####Protecting the Artist Child within
作为 Shadow Artist 你虽然有潜能，但要记住你内心住着的艺术性还只处于童年期。要培养自己的艺术创造力，你应当学会善待那个艺术性的“孩子”，它需要保护和鼓励。

Too far, too fast, and we can undo ourselves. Creative recovery is like marathon training. We want to log ten slow miles for every one fast mile. This can go against the ego’s grain. We want to be great—immediately great—but that is not how recovery works. It is an awkward, tentative, even embarrassing process. There will be many times when we won’t look good—to ourselves or anyone else. We need to stop demanding that we do. It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time.

在回复创造力的阶段，如果走得太远或太急，我们很有可能前功尽弃。恢复创造力的过程是马拉松式的训
练。我们每快速跑一公里，得先慢跑十英里。这可能与个人自尊心的期望相悖。毕竟人人都希望自己很了
不起-并且是很快变得了不起-但这样是无法真正恢复创造力的。真正的回复过程充满艰辛、不确定性甚至
很尴尬。多数情况下，我们看起来都一点也不酷。你必须放弃要求自己很酷。人不可能既维持形象又能变
得更好。

Remember that in order to recover as an artist, you must be willing to be a bad artist. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.
When I make this point in teaching, I am met by instant, defensive hostility: “But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano/act/paint/write a decent play?
Yes … the same age you will be if you don’t. So let’s start.
”

请记住，为了回复艺术家的身份，你先得愿意做个很差的艺术家，接受自己是个初学者的事实。这样，你
就可以拥有成为艺术家的机会，或许经年累月之后，你真能成为一个很棒的艺术家。
我在教学中提到这点的时候，总是有人立刻反驳，“你知道等到我学会优雅地演奏钢琴/演戏/画画/写作时，
我得多老了么？”
是的……如果你学不会，也会处在相同的年龄。不管怎么说，开始去学吧。

摘录来自: Julia Cameron. “The Artist’s Way”。 iBooks.

我们将在最近开始 “_Aritist’s Way circle _”(暂定名)的活动圈子，跟朋友们一起进行恢复创造力的学习。
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