I began going on artist dates in June 2021, when the world started opening up again. I was 18 years old and I had just bought The Artist’s Way, a book by Julia Cameron. Now I’m almost 22. So for three years I’ve been taking myself out on a date every week, usually on Saturdays.
I’ve learned so much going on artist dates. Amoeba Music in Hollywood is one of the places I frequent, which is a massive record, CD and DVD shop. From there I started my CD collection. The first time I walked in I was in awe of the unfamiliar world of physical music (at least since I was in elementary school) and I walked 40 minutes in the raw heat right after my visit to buy a CD player as fast as I could, which ended up being a crappy $20 unit from Target, but it’s still what I use.
Starting a CD collection became, without any expectations, an opportunity for me to play the curator role and develop my music taste. I mostly listen to jazz, R&B and acoustic guitar songs. As a student (I just graduated in May 2024 ) I wanted to visit Amoeba to pick up CDs regularly, but I had to be mindful of my spending. So I started listening to new music regularly on my phone to determine which CDs to buy. Now, I have a habit of listening to at least one new song daily (any genre and length) and saving it to a playlist. I enjoy Erykah Badu, Sade, Jorja Smith and Masego, and I’ve recently dipped my toes into reggae. I enjoy songs from most genres, but these artists and categories are my favorites right now.
Beginning to put together my CD collection was a way for me to start thinking like a curator, and was a stepping stone to pursuing a career as a visual arts curator and arts journalist. Feeling a sense of agency was really powerful and a way to experience my love for collecting, interpreting and discussing art. And this I realized from just one of the artist date experiences.
So what exactly is an artist date? What is The Artist’s Way about? The book is a guide to “creativity as a spiritual practice.” It is a 12-week, self-guided course with unique tools and exercises for each of the 12 chapters. These tools help you learn about your interests, heal wounds that block your creativity, and they help gently guide you to take action on your pursuits. Each week has different tools and exercises, but two are consistent for the whole book (and, as Cameron, and I too, hope, the rest of your life): morning pages and artist dates.
Morning pages are an exercise where you wake up and write three pages of stream of consciousness. It clears your mind, helps access your true self, and guides you to a higher power that can answer questions and guide you to take action towards your highest self. (I know that sounds woo woo, but I promise it’s real. I refer to it as the Universe, or universal power.) Morning pages have changed my life and I cannot go one day without writing them.
Artist dates, on the other hand, are complete play. Morning pages and artist dates complement each other, as the former is more “work” and the latter is more fun (morning pages can be, but aren’t necessarily). They are, as Cameron writes, “a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.” So, morning pages help clear your mind of past conditioning and thoughts, and artist dates refill your soul with inspiration, insight and experience. I used to think they were “just” play, but they are a vital part of the process and often what I look forward to after a long week.
I have visited museums (such as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA, SF MOMA and others), galleries (18th Street Arts Center and a few independent ones), lakes, gone pedal boating, gone to the beach, library, bookstores (which are a go-to because you can find anything in them of just about any topic and be inspired), downtowns and so much else. I call it an adventure each week, because I try to make it an expedition where I leave the campus or home for a couple hours — and when I try to plan it like that, it forces me to get creative, especially when I am on a budget without access to a car.
In terms of planning artist dates, I use websites such as Funcheap, Eventbrite, L.A. Times, S.F. Chronicle and TimeOut to find events, and I use Reddit, Discover Los Angeles, L.A. Times and Condé Nast to discover evergreen monuments or places to visit. There is always something you can find or come up with to treat your inner artist every week.
Artist dates have given me a light in my life, and I started playing guitar, pursued my love for painting, developed my own library of books, saw a psychic, learned how to be alone and really got to explore parts of Los Angeles that I wouldn’t have otherwise during my college experience. They have made me comfortable and happy being with myself and showed me how much more there is to life than what I knew before. No matter what it looks like, I highly recommend artist dates and seeing where they lead you. They’ll become your own ritual, your own “thing,” something you make entirely for yourself, which feels so good and soul-fulfilling I don’t think mere words can describe them!