A lot of people recommend cooking new recipes for Artist’s Dates. I decided to give that a try this week. I’m not familiar with Asian cuisine so I chose to cook a few traditional items for Chinese New Year.

Shopping for ingredients was a bit of a journey. I made quite a few mistakes! And why is it so hard to find mirin, the cooking wine? Most importantly, why was I carded when I bought a bottle at the grocery store? I was more bewildered than flattered.

One recipe I was hesitant to make was the jien duy. They are balls made of sweet dough, rolled in sesame seeds and fried until golden brown. I didn’t know how they should look or taste. While I was making the dough I thought that this had better not be a waste of my time.

And then I paused. How many times had I worked on an idea that didn’t sell? How many times had I written a story and decided it wasn’t ready to send out? While these books never made it to the shelves it doesn’t mean that it was a waste of my time to write them. I learn by doing.

The same goes with cooking. I’m always learning how to cook or improve a recipe by doing. I learn from trying new techniques, discovering new cuisines and stumbling on the occasional happy accident. There have been plenty inedible mistakes throughout the years, and there were plenty of complicated recipes that ultimately I didn’t like. Doesn’t matter. Those experiences helped me become a more confident and competent cook.

Oh, and the jien duy? Imperfect but delicious.

I’m a contemporary romance reader. I don’t care if the story is sweet, spicy, short or gigantic as long as it’s a romance and it’s based in today’s world. The problem is, when you have a steady diet of one genre, you become firmly entrenched in your comfort zone.

There are a few authors I turn to when I want a comfort read, but the familiar isn’t going to spark or strengthen my creativity. So this week I decided to spend my Artist’s Date reading a book I normally wouldn’t. I went for young adult dystopia.

That’s right. I read The Hunger Games.

I enjoyed the book but I have to admit it wasn’t a comfortable read. Not because of the violence or the action. It was because my reader expectations had to be put aside for a different genre. For example, I liked Peeta, but I wasn’t sure if I should become emotionally invested in the character in case he died.

Has reading the book helped my creativity? I don’t know yet. There were moments when I was caught up in the story and there were times when I was aware in how the author handled flashbacks and world-building. (Occupational hazard, I guess.) I haven’t had an “Aha!” moment or felt inspired to write something, but inspiration comes in all forms and in different timetables.

If you plan to reading outside your comfort zone for your next Artist’s Date, I recommend that you get a book everyone is talking about. That way you know you’re a reading a good example of its genre even if you don’t know the genre’s rules. Read a phenomenal bestseller like Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, The Hunger Games, The Kite Runner, The Lovely Bones, The Time Traveler’s Wife or Twilight.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to have more Artist’s Dates. I first heard of this idea when I attended Gerri Russell workshop “Resurrecting the Muse.” It’s a term created by Julia Cameron in The Artist Way and it’s described as “a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.”

I tried it last year by visiting the Kubota gardens in Seattle. I don’t garden so this wasn’t something I would normally do. I also didn’t have a specific goal, but my visit reminded me what one person could do with consistent hard work and a vision.

My goal this year is to do more Artist’s Dates. I don’t think I can do it every week, and from what I’ve seen on the Internet while researching Artist’s Dates ideas, not many people do. My goal is to do at least 2 a month.

My first Artist’s Date was already faced with a challenge. I was recovering from surgery and wasn’t allowed to do much. What kind of Artist’s Date could I do while pumped up on pain medication? I looked through suggested ideas and landed on coloring books.

Armed with a fresh set of crayons (the box of 64 that was always the envy when I was in elementary school) and some printouts of coloring pages, I started to color. I must have been a sight because my family was watching me very curiously, whispering to each other and wondering if this was a side effect of too much anesthesia.

I admit, coloring (or anything arts and crafts) is not my thing. While my twin sister did everything in her power to avoid P.E. classes in high school, I did the same to avoid stepping into the Arts building. The process of coloring felt strange and I didn’t like my end results. One of the problems with art is that it isn’t easy to edit. Once you place something on the page, you’re pretty much committed.

But while I was filling in the pages and wondering if there really was a difference between asparagus and forest green, I started to relax. There was almost a meditative quality to coloring with crayons. I remembered an acquaintance once told me her therapist recommended getting a few coloring books when she started to feel anxious. Another friend of mine told me she went through so many coloring books the month before her wedding and found it very helpful.

While coloring is relaxing, is it useful as an Artist’s Date? I wasn’t sure until I stumbled on this article: 7 Ways Meditation Increases Creativity. This article is talking about meditation, but I believe you can also take it a step down and do it with a coloring book.

Have you tried an Artist’s Date?