If you’ve seen my videos about The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, you know how much that book helped my creative practice. The morning pages, the artist dates—all of it made such a difference for me. So today I want to talk about the sequel: Walking in This World.

I just finished this one and I have a lot of thoughts to share. This is basically the intermediate level. If The Artist’s Way was about discovering your creativity and unblocking yourself, then this book is what comes next. It’s about sustaining your creative practice and going deeper.

What Is Walking in This World?

Walking in This World picks up right where The Artist’s Way left off. Julia Cameron calls this “part two” in the journey, and I love that. When I finished The Artist’s Way, I remember thinking—well, what’s next? I could keep doing my morning pages and artist dates, but I wanted to go deeper. This book fulfilled that.

It’s still a 12-week program. You’re still doing artist dates and morning pages. But Julia adds a third tool and expands on some really beautiful concepts that I think are helpful for artists who are further along in their journey.

One thing I really appreciate about this book is how it addresses the real-world challenges of being a creative person. How do you protect your creative ideas? How do you deal with criticism? How do you keep going when you feel stuck? It’s very practical.

Who Is This Book For?

I’d recommend Walking in This World if:

  • You’ve already done The Artist’s Way and want to go deeper
  • You’re feeling stuck in the middle of your creative journey—like you started, but don’t know how to keep going
  • You want more practical tools for protecting your creative energy
  • You’re dealing with criticism, self-doubt, or overwhelm in your creative life

If you haven’t done The Artist’s Way yet, I’d highly recommend starting there first. But if you have, this is a beautiful next step.

The Three Tools

Morning Pages: Same as before—three longhand pages every morning. I like to do mine when I wake up with my matcha. This is where I’m brain dumping, doing stream of consciousness writing, getting everything out of my head and onto the page. I’m still doing this years later and I think it’s so helpful.

Artist Dates: Take yourself out once a week on a creative solo date. This helps fill your creative well.

Weekly Walks: This is the new addition and why the book is called Walking in This World. You take yourself on a walk every week—not for exercise, not with podcasts or audiobooks. Just you and your thoughts, walking in nature.

Julia believes that walking helps us access deeper feelings and ideas. There’s a quote she uses from St. Augustine: “Solvitur ambulando”—it is solved by walking.

I was skeptical at first because I already walk a lot. I live near a river and go there often. But doing it intentionally without distractions made a real difference. Ideas would bubble up. It’s like my brain finally had space to just breathe.

The 12-Week Overview

Each week focuses on discovering a different sense:

  1. Sense of Origin — You are the starting point. Embrace wherever you are right now.
  2. Sense of Proportion — Redefining your sense of self as an artist.
  3. Sense of Perspective — Seeing your creative life with fresh eyes.
  4. Sense of Adventure — Trying new things, taking creative risks.
  5. Sense of Personal Territory — Understanding what you need to create.
  6. Sense of Boundaries — Protecting your creative energy.
  7. Sense of Momentum — Keeping the creative work going.
  8. Sense of Discernment — Learning what feedback to listen to.
  9. Sense of Resiliency — Bouncing back from setbacks.
  10. Sense of Camaraderie — Finding your creative community.
  11. Sense of Authenticity — Being true to your creative voice.
  12. Sense of Dignity — Honoring yourself as a creative person.

Concepts I Loved

The Believing Mirror

This one is really important. A believing mirror is a person in your life who reflects your creative potential back to you. Someone who sees what you’re capable of even when you can’t see it yourself. They give you encouragement and believe in your vision.

Julia says we need at least one believing mirror in our life. For me, that person is my husband and certain artist friends. It makes such a difference. I encourage you to think about who your believing mirror is—and whether you can be that for someone else.

The Hope Jar

This is such a sweet ritual. You write down your hopes, dreams, and creative wishes on pieces of paper and put them in a jar. Julia calls it the “God jar,” but you can call it whatever you want—a dream jar, a hope jar.

The idea is that you’re releasing your dreams to something bigger than yourself. You’re not white-knuckling them or obsessing over them. You’re giving them a space to be held.

I made one and keep it on my desk. There’s something really comforting about seeing it there every day, knowing my hopes and dreams are being held in this little sacred space.

The Art of Containment

This one hit me hard. Julia says the first rule of magic is containment—don’t share your ideas too soon.

We’ve all had this experience, right? You have a great idea, you share it with somebody, and they question it or don’t understand it because you haven’t fully developed it yet. And suddenly you’re second-guessing yourself.

The tip here is to protect your creative seedlings. Let them grow a little before you expose them to the world. Be careful who you share with, especially in the early stages.

Breaking It Into Small Steps

Julia talks about how artists don’t get blocked because they have few ideas—they get blocked because they have an overwhelming amount of ideas. You get paralyzed by not starting on any of them.

The concept is to break things down into ridiculously small steps. Want to write a book? Don’t write a book. Write the first paragraph. Want to paint something large? Mix some colors and see what happens as you develop your palette.

This is something I already try to do, but reading it in the book and the way Julia frames it really reinforced it for me.

Exercises I Found Helpful

Fill-in-the-blank prompts: Julia gives you questions to respond to quickly without overthinking. Many are about childhood and early creative memories. It’s a way of uncovering things that might be affecting your creativity.

15 minutes of nothing: Just lay there. You can put on music, but no podcasts, no scrolling. Just nothing for 15 minutes. In today’s world, sometimes you need that space to let your brain rest.

Walking with intention: On your weekly walk, Julia sometimes suggests a theme. Maybe you spend the whole time thinking about what you’re grateful for. Or letting yourself feel a certain emotion and using it to fuel your creativity. The walks aren’t aimless—sometimes they’re focused on something you need that week.

My Tips for Working Through This Book

  1. Don’t skip the walks. I know it seems simple, but they’re really powerful. Even 15 or 20 minutes. Leave your phone at home or put it on do not disturb.

  2. Find your believing mirror. Think about who this person could be for you. Maybe tell them you’re doing this 12-week program. They could be your accountability buddy.

  3. Make a hope jar. Grab any jar. Write down your creative hopes on little pieces of paper and tuck them in. Keep it somewhere you can see it.

  4. Practice containment. Be mindful of who you share your creative ideas with. Protect those seedlings.

  5. Keep doing your morning pages. This is the foundation. Don’t let it slip just because you’re adding new tools.

  6. Be patient with yourself. This is an intermediate program and some weeks may feel harder than others. That’s okay—you’re doing deeper work now.

Watch the Video

I made a video going through all of this in more detail:

Final Thoughts

I really loved this book and I’m so glad I worked through it. It’s given me tools and perspectives that I know I’ll keep coming back to.

I’m excited to share that I’ll be diving into Julia Cameron’s third book, Finding Water, sometime this year. If you want to continue this journey with me, make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel.

If you’ve read this book or you’re planning to, I’d love to hear what concepts resonated with you. Tag me on Instagram and let me know!