imaginary lives are inner parts (a therapy reframe on The Artist’s Way)

a personal adopted philosophy on The Artist’s Way, identity shifting, and inner parts/internal family systems

word bank ::

^{✧ Imaginary Lives = inner parts, identities, or desires that may already exist inside you, even if you have not fully embodied them yet}

^{✧ Internal Family Systems / IFS = a therapy lens that understands the self as having many inner parts, each with its own feelings, fears, desires, protections, and needs}

^{✧ Inner Parts = the different selves within you that carry desires, memories, fears, creativity, protection, longing, or identity}

^{✧ Inner Artist = the creative part of self that The Artist’s Way asks you to protect, listen to, nurture, and take seriously}

^{✧ Inner Child = the younger part of self that may still hold play, wonder, tenderness, fear, memory, or unmet needs}

^{✧ Identity Shifting = practicing the thoughts, habits, choices, and self-concept of the version of yourself you are becoming until it feels natural, embodied, and real}

^{✧ Table Time = giving an inner part space to speak, be honored, and influence your real life without letting it run your whole life}

01 :: imaginary? immediately no

the exercise of imaginary lives make me think that imaginary lives are invented, like they don’t already exist. the word imaginary makes them feel like pretend before i could even take it seriously. It made something real in me feel like make-believe… like a fantasy outside of my body. instead of something real… which by Julia’s countless encouragement to act out our imaginary lives… what i really think she is trying to get us to do? is Internal Family Systems philosophy lol!

that’s what i think lately. i been reframing imaginary lives through an IFS therapy lens. just like ‘inner artist’ is… that’s a part of self! = IFS therapy!

i alsoooo used to think identity shifting was the same way. I’m dreaming something up, something that feels imaginary, fake, not real, ungrounded, abstract. whereas “identity”? feels safe, grounded, actionable, real, concrete, solid, tangible.

02 :: the language was the block

when I hear the word “imaginary” something weird happens in my body. I immediately start gaslighting myself. It feels fake, abstract, ungrounded. but when I hear identity, I feel confident, strong, safe, grounded, and held. Identity feels tangible to me, actionable, real.

I think just saying identity or inner parts feels safety than the concept of imaginary lives to me because my brain immediately grounds it in my IFS therapy knowledge.

I immediately feel safe and held, in a way, knowing that I’m not just manifesting… nothing. I’m bringing up parts of myself that already exist… I just likely haven’t given them any table time.

03 :: julia cameron loves an inner artist, lol

Julia Cameron looooves to say inner artist/child, lol.

When Julia says inner artist/inner child, my brain automatically grounds the language in inner parts language from internal family systems therapy. I absolutely read it as an IFS part. And if our inner artist and inner child are parts of self… why wouldn’t our imaginary lives also be parts (Identities)? I’m realizing we’re alllllll sitting at the table.

so, to recap:

imaginary feels fake, abstract, ungrounded.
identity feels safe, strong, grounded, held, tangible.

03 :: actually, that’s parts work

Imaginary makes me feel like I’m a little kid again talking about the fake friend sitting next to me that no one else can see. But when I talk about wanting to write a book, that shit is such a real curiosity for me, a real part of my innermost self, a secret I’ve been holding on to since childhood. I don’t want to reduce that desire to an imaginary life. i want to know thats a part of my identity, an inner self part that already exists: i am a writer. let’s write that damn book! thats the difference.

honestly? i know its JUST it’s a mindset shift at the end of the day. but that’s all the book is, too. maybe that’s all I needed for it to be to feel real and inspirational and embodied.

IFS made the whole thing feel safer for me, more real. i’m not manifesting something imaginary. im calling home to an innermost part of myself. i see that identity of myself physically sitting at the table with me, in my minds eye. the part that’s been waiting for table time.

04 :: table time is necessary, not make-believe

when you stop treating their imaginary lives as fake, you can easier step into and embody them (aka: let them sit at your table) instead of dismissing your desires as silly.

it also helps as acting as the first step. a bridge between the mental world and the actionable one: it allows you to stop waiting for external proof before being able to honor your different inner parts.

you can see the identity as a part of yourself, not a random fantasy.

so maybe imaginary lives are not supposed to be fake selves we invent but rather our secreted inner parts desperately asking for table time?

xoxo, nikki

p.s. if you’re reading the artist’s way too (or have been meaning to), come join my free The Artist Way 🎨📒 Book Club on Facebook!

it’s basically a real book club, except everyone is on their own timeline. there are no weekly deadlines, no pressure to keep up, and no guilt if you disappear for a while. just jump in wherever you are.

we talk about morning pages, artist dates, resistance, creative recovery, share our art, ask questions, and work through all the weird and wonderful parts of the book together.

the group itself is the creative cluster, so whenever you’re ready, we’d love to have you. 💛