“The War of Art” Comes Through Again

My life long battle with fear and self-doubt is never-ending.  Even as I fall into a nice rhythm of two posts a day (see Contrarian Fanatics for my other posts) and some long-term planning, I know that there is something missing.  There is the “Other 97 Percent” project that sits in the horrible, well-tested purgatory in my brain where many a great to mediocre idea has gone to atrophy.

A few weeks ago I mentioned “The War of Art” and shared a passage from the book that hit home.  In the time since there has been a back-slide of sorts, my head and home littered with unfulfilled “to-do” lists.  I ended up buying the book from Amazon (the library copy was recalled) and it has sat tempting me.  I knew that if I read it that I would be moved to action…and for whatever reason I was not ready for that…until today.

Even with house hunting, and organizing on the plate the time is now.  There will never be a good time.  As Pressfield writes in his book, page 22:

“Resistance and procrastination, part II”

The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit.  We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off until our deathbed.

Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives.  There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance.

This second, we can sit down and do our work.

On it, now.

 

Called in From the Creativity Bullpen: “The War of Art” by Steve Pressfield

Most of us have two lives.  The life we live, and the unlived life within us.  Between the two stands Resistance.

~ From “The War of Art” by Steve Pressfield

Two years ago I was lucky enough to be working when “The Art of War” by Steve Pressfield was returned.  The subtitle of the book, “Break Thought the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” spoke to me. Almost immediately the book was charged to my account.

I devoured the book, it was as if the book was ghostwritten by my soul.  Mr. Pressfield taps into how we sabotage ourselves in all facets of our lives: creatively, physically, spiritually. Before dadhood it was the one thing I truly excelled at: self-sabotage.

Since first reading Mr. Pressfield’s tome I have challenged myself in many ways:

• I started to write every day, no excuses.  The process was the most important thing.  How many days, nights, and weekends have deals with myself been broken?  There is no tomorrow, sit down today.
• I took part in the 100 mile AIDS Ride for Life bike ride.  A training regimen was set, and nothing, not even not having a proper riding bike would stop me, and nothing did.
• I took up a long-reviled activity: running.  Two half marathons later it is a part of my life and I feel lost on days when I miss a run.  Removing my preconceived notions was the first step: saying “I could never do that” is a lie.

For the past few months there has been a constant struggle while working on “The Other 97%”.   Both external and (to be honest mostly) internal obstacles, or as Pressfield frames them, resistance were getting the better of me.

So back to the book that got this journey kick-started.

Halfway through my second lap with the book and some of the things that kept me from pushing forward have been peeled back and discarded.  The project has gone from being an albatross under wraps to a source of excitement.  Problems are now possibilities, the fear of failure replaced with the excitement of the creative process, pitfalls and all.

I recommend this book enough.  Here is the Amazon link.

What are you waiting for?

The journey begins now.