ARTS ANONYMOUS by mando13

http://www.artsanonymous.org/

A.R.T.S. Traits

We grew up in an atmosphere of invalidation which resulted in ambivalence about our artistic expression.
In any given twenty-four hour period we find ways, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid doing that which gives us the most joy — expressing our creativity.
We have withdrawn from our art by investing ourselves in lifestyles, relationships and work activities incompatible with our artistic purpose. Our creative energy has often been diverted into destructive compulsions toward alcohol, food, sex, money, drugs, gambling and preoccupation with the past.
We have made needless sacrifices for our art and yet are afraid to make the necessary sacrifices. We are unable to balance the significant areas of our lives — Physical, Financial, Social, Love, Family, Spiritual and Creative.
Self-defeating thoughts and societal myths turn in our heads: It’s too late — I’m too old — I’m not ready — I am not enough — Art is not practical — Artists are neurotic — You’ll starve. We have accepted these as true when, in fact, they are not.
We have felt intimidated by other artists’ success. Jealousy, envy, fear, self-pity, perfectionism, resentment and other character defects block our creative expression.
We stand always on the edge of a beginning, afraid of commitment. Fearful of pursuing our creativity as a means of earning a living, we get caught in the Amateur syndrome. The concept of supporting ourselves through our art has seemed overwhelming. We are unable to determine the monetary market value of our art.
We have thought of our art as divorced from reality, denying ourselves the right to follow our dream. We forget that artists are entitled to their right work and deserve the happiness and success that right work brings.
We deny our responsibility to fully develop and realize our talent. We do not feel worthy of the success we achieve or desire. We feel like a fraud.
Being multi-talented, we have difficulty discerning our true artistic vision, making a commitment to it and establishing the priorities to fulfill it.
We have difficulty following through on projects and frequently sabotage our efforts. We want to work at our art but don’t know how. We become impatient with the process, forgetting that the results come in God’s time, not ours. Our time is unmanageable.
We have been afraid of our creative energy and have mistrusted our creative instincts. Lacking spiritual awareness, we have not seen ourselves as channels for the infinite creative process. Our art is a gift to be shared.

A.R.T.S. Tools

We use our tools to work the A.R.T.S. program and bring our art into the realm of reality. These positive disciplines are essential for us to live every day as the artists we are.
Affirmations
We identify ourselves as the artists that we are. “My name is ________ and I am a __________.” This and other positive statements affirm our commitment and offset old invalidating tapes.

Meetings
We attend meetings to learn how the program works. We share our experience, strength and hope with each other.

Steps
We work the Twelve Steps of A.R.T.S. Anonymous.

Abstinence
We abstain from the compulsions which divert us from using our creative energy productively.

Daily Action
We find a way to express, or at least nurture, our creativity in every 24-hour time period, accepting what we can do now, beginning each new day where we are that day.

Art Buddy
An art buddy is a helpmate in recovery, someone we speak with daily to turn over what we have done or will do for our art today. This is an important step for many newcomers and worth the effort. Our art buddy may be someone in our field or in a different one.

Telephone
We use the phone to maintain contact and share our feelings with members of the fellowships between meetings. Talking on the phone helps both artists.

Bookending
We bookend by making calls before and after actions for our art. Verbalizing our thoughts and feelings clarifies our course of action and allows us to move through the process.

Action Group
We form mutual support groups of fellowship members to help each other develop an action plan and follow it through.

Action Plan
This is our personal roadmap for recovery. It includes specific actions to take for the development of our art and of ourselves as artists. It may also include a plan for realizing our professional aspirations and achieving balance in the significant areas of our lives.

Creative Inventory
We take a written inventory of our artistic efforts and accomplishments since childhood. We also make a list of our creative goals, what we want to do in our art.

Prayer and Meditation
We work out 11th. Step, seeking “through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” We ask to become channels for God’s infinite creative process.

Literature
We use A.R.T.S. literature. We use A.A. and other Twelve Step Program literature. We use inspirational material from many sources.

Service
We give service to the fellowship through holding office and participating in committee work; by replacing chairs and doing cleanup detail. Service expands our commitment to our A.R.T.S. recovery. Putting the common welfare of the fellowship before our own needs helps us maintain a humble spirit and heals us from grandiosity, low self-esteem, isolation and self-indulgence. It teaches us how to work with others, compromise, lead and work through problems. A.R.T.S. could not exist without the service of its members.

Anonymity
We practice anonymity by respecting the confidential nature of members’ sharing. Who and what we see and hear at meetings is not repeated outside the meeting. We also maintain anonymity on the level of press, radio and TV.

The 12 Talents

1. We grow in an atmosphere of affirmation and conviction that artistic expression is essential to our existence and is part of our unique contribution to the world.

2. We realize any given day is an opportunity to express our creativity, or to plan an artistic endeavor.

3. We turn our lives and our art over to our Higher Power, recognizing that without the aid of that mystic force we are lost. We immerse ourselves in our art, refusing to be diverted from our creativity by any destructive compulsion, and invest ourselves in lifestyles that nurture our creativity.

4. Being true to our inner selves, we strive to maintain a balance in the significant areas of our lives, focusing on being physically fit, financially stable, socially fulfilled, lovingly engaged in relationships, and involved with our families, while growing spiritually and expressing ourselves creatively.

5. Seeing the tapes of societal myths that play in our heads for what they are, we release them, realizing that we, as individuals, have something unique to contribute and that, with the help of our Higher Power, we have what it takes to express that something.

6. We rejoice in the success of other artists and find ourselves encouraged that we, too, will find fulfillment through our creativity.

7. We are committed to our art, and pursue avenues that may lead to our ability to earn a living by means of our creativity. We explore methods of determining the monetary value of our art, recognizing that we are living in a world where money is an exchange of value necessary to our survival.

8. As our art becomes more and more real to us, we enthusiastically follow our dreams. We feel entitled to our right work and deserving of the happiness that our right work will bring to us.

9. With the help of our Higher Power, we hold ourselves responsible for fully developing and realizing our talent, that God-given ability within us, which can give us the freedom and joy we deeply desire.

10. Being multi-talented, we explore each of our abilities, together or at different times, taking joy in the fluidity with which we move from one to the other. Each ability is a facet of our true artistic vision, and each contributes to the whole.

11. We let go, aware that the process itself is a learning experience, and may well prove more fruitful than the result of the project. Time and the outcome are in God’s hands, not ours, and we bless each day that we are given to pursue our art.

12. Trusting our intuition and artistic instinct, we are aware of ourselves as channels for the infinite creative process. Deeply grateful for our part in the expression of creative energy, we offer our art as a gift to be shared.