The 2nd Artist's Way Group

At this point we started over again with Janice and Carey.  It was around 1999. We decided to meet once every two weeks as everyone felt that trying to do a chapter a week was just too much. Friday nights after work every other week became the plan. We'd cook dinner and have a few drinks and then we'd have the meeting. There were four of us and we got done at about 9:30 or 10PM.  There was some tension when Janice and Abby were late, because they had gone out to a bar after work with some of their co-workers from the Statesman and left me and Carey waiting for them. Then Abby started leaving her door unlocked and Carey and I would just go in and get started. It was really nice of Abby to let us have almost all the meetings at her house. In the meantime somewhere along the way Kay came to a couple of the meetings, but she bowed out because she thought it was a little bit too much for her with writing group. Not for me though. Our biggest conflict was the fact that Janice and Abby would be tipsy from drinking and Carey and I would be sober. Even if I joined Abby and Janice in a drink or two, they were way ahead of me.  We had a hard time getting them to get a bit centered and serious and Janice, of course, thought I was a stickler for the Aritist Way rules. I don't mind if people bend the rules, just as long as they know that if they do and the program doesn't work for them the way they hoped it would, it is probably because they aren't doing it properly.   I don't understand why people will sign on to something and then have the nerve to say " I don't think we really should have to do that. I'm not doing it."  Why would you join in the first place, and if you can't do it the way you're supposed to, at least have the aspiration to get to the point where you can.  Don't just dismiss it out of hand. We made it through the book and called it quits. We were all burned out.  Carey and I decided to keep going, however.  I also had given the book to my brother, who looked at it and said, "I pretty much do all this already."  My sister-in-law, Jana, took his book and was interested in starting The Artist's Way, so I suggested she join Carey and me.