The War of Art

My sister Priscilla lent me this great book: The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. It’s about overcoming the enemy of Resistance. It’s specifically for artists/writers, but it could apply to anyone.  Here’s a quotation from the beginning of the book:

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

Have you ever bought a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic?  Ever quit a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever bailed out on a call to embark upon a spiritual practice, dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, commit your life to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace, or to preserve the environment?  Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture?  Then you know what Resistance is.

I do know.  The book talks about Resistance in all its sneaky guises, and then talks about turning pro, and about “those invisible psychic forces that support and sustain us in our journey toward ourselves.”

I started reading this in bed late at night, and as I was reading I felt a strong urge to get right up and work on editing my novel.  I didn’t.  (Hah! Resistance again.) But I did the next day and the next.  Teeny bits, but something.

The book is a very quick read.  I’m going to get my own copy, because after the first speed read it’s a book I want to hang onto and revisit often.

A writer friend and I also made a plan to meet for coffee once a week and write together.  Not writing practice, which is what I do with Priscilla and others on Sunday mornings, but silent, focused work on our writing in progress.