The War or Art.

By Steven Pressfield.

Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

This is the second time I’ve read this wise and  inspiring call to action, and I found it even more galvanizing this time around. In his  direct, no-frills manner, Steven gets down to the crux of the ‘Resistance’ that prevents many of us from creating, and introduces us to the angels that aid our artistry, in the form of the ‘Muse’. He pragmatically gives us ways to recognize Resistance in all its insidious forms, and to revere our Muses, whatever shape they may take in our lives. In the foreword Steven tells us that ‘when inspiration touches talent, she gives birth to truth and beauty’. What I have learnt from this book is that it is the work itself, and not just the talent, that matters; and the intentionality and commitment of returning to the work, again and again. I love this book, and will return to it again, and again.

Steven believes that most of us have two lives – the life that we live, and the unlived life within us; and that between these two lives lies Resistance. Giving in to Resistance makes us less than we are, and less than we were born to be.

‘The War of art’ is helpful to anyone who wants to pursue the act of creation – whether it’s a piece of art, a new business, a stable family, or a stronger sense of self. By calling out the universal Resistance that gets in our way, we can break down our own barriers and start to make progress in the directions that we desire. Once we learn to do this, the possibilities and opportunities are surely endless.

Book 1:  Resistance: Defining the Enemy

‘Resistance will keep kicking your backside around until you realize it exists and start taking steps to defeat it.’

A list of things that bring about Resistance:

·      Any creative pursuit i.e. writing, painting, music etc.

·      The launch of any entrepreneurial venture.

·      Any diet or health regimen.

·      Any program of spiritual advancement.

·      Any program designed to overcome bad habits or addiction.

·      Education of every kind.

·      Any act of political, moral or ethical courage.

·      Undertaking any endeavor to help others.

·      Acts that entail commitment of the heart i.e. weathering a rocky relationship patch.

·      The taking of a principled stand in the face of adversity.

In summary: An act that rejects immediate gratification in favour of long-term growth, goals, health or integrity, is an act against Resistance.

The Characteristics of Resistance:

·      Invisible (negative, repelling)

·      Internal (seems external, but it comes from within)

·      Insidious (lying, bullying, falsifying and full of shit)

·      Implacable (seemingly indefatigable).

·      Impersonal (indifferent)

·      Infallible (it unfailingly shows us our true north, in the opposite direction)

·      Universal (it affects everyone)

·      Never sleeps (rarely goes away)

·      Plays for keeps (it aims for the kill)

·      Fueled by fear (we feed it ourselves)

·      Only opposes in one direction (it obstructs us from lower to higher, not the other way around)

·      Most powerful at the finish line (it makes one last assault and slams us with everything it’s got)

·      Recruits allies that will try to hold you back or guilt you into inactivity.

‘The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.’

The Symptoms of Resistance:

·      Procrastination (tomorrow!)

·      Sex/drugs/alcohol/shopping/tv/phones/gossip/fat/sugar/salt.

·      Trouble that gets in the way of work (including ill-health, alcoholism, neurosis – anything that draws attention to us).

·      Self-dramatization.

·      Self-medication (blotting out our soul’s call).

·      Victimhood (lends significance to one’s existence).

·      Our choice of a Mate (can be a form of self-sabotage).

·      Unhappiness/boredom/restlessness.

·      Criticism (of others and self).

·      Self-doubt (can be an ally – real innovators are often scared to death!).

·      Fear (this is also an indicator – the greater the fear, the more important the endeavor is to us).

·      Love (the opposite of indifference – also the more important to us).

·      Grandiose fantasies of being a star.

·      Isolation – afraid of being alone (when in fact we are not – often the Muse settles on our shoulder like a butterfly).

·      Healing that needs to be completed before work can begin (rubbish – begin anyway!).

·      Needing support before beginning (delay tactic – seek the support, but begin!).

·      Rationalizations (keeps us feeling the shame of avoiding our work).

·      Justifications (can be tricky, as many are legitimate).

Each of these points in the book is succinctly and inspiringly explained on a single page in most cases – the above is just a summary and it well worth reading this book in full. Steven has a way of writing like he is talking directly to you. Resistance CAN be beaten, once you have learnt to recognize it, in all its forms.

There are a few pages dedicated to explaining the difference between an Artist and a Fundamentalist, which I loved:

A Fundamentalist: Believes that humanity has fallen from a higher state; and they look backwards, hoping to return to a perceived purity.

An Artist: Through self-examination and knowledge, they look forwards to progress and evolution and believe that humankind is advancing (albeit imperfectly) to a better world, and hopes to be a part of the creation of the positivity, and progress.

Socrates demonstrated that ‘The truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery’. Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.

Book 2: Combating Resistance: Turning Pro

When you move from an Amateur to a Professional (in your actions) – everything changes. Resistance hates it when we turn Pro.

This section made me realize that we can decide for ourselves to be a professional – this does not need to be a title awarded to us by someone else; and we can choose to be a professional in our art and have our career alongside that. We get to decide how we behave.

The Principle of Priority: Know the difference between what is urgent and what is important. Do what is important first. What is important is the work. It isn’t easy. You will need to steel yourself for it, every day. The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. You have to know how to be miserable, love it, and persevere.

We are all Pros already, in our jobs: 

·      We show up every day.

·      We show up no matter what.

·      We stay on the job all day.

·      We are committed over the long haul.

·      The stakes for us are high and real.

·      We accept remuneration for our labour.

·      We do not over identify with our jobs. (The amateur defines himself by it = over invested = paralysis!)

·      We master the technique of our jobs.

·      We have a sense of humour about our jobs.

·      We receive praise or blame in the real world.

The aspiring artist (the amateur) does the opposite of all of these – he has not mastered the technique of his art. If we apply the above list to our art – we will cover ground. Taking a few blows is okay – it means we are in the arena!

The Aspects of a Professional:

·      Is patient (understands delayed gratification, steels, conserves, prepares, sustains).

·      Seeks order in their craft (does not tolerate disorder, eliminates chaos – so that the Muse may enter).

·      Demystifies (concentrates on technique, acts in anticipation of inspiration, does the work).

·      Acts in the face of Fear (knows that fear can never be overcome).

·      Plays it as it lays (conducts his business in the real world despite luck, adversity, injustice).

·      Is Prepared (to confront his own self sabotage, to take what the day gives him)

·      Does not show off (she has style, and the style serves the material).

·      Dedicates himself to mastering technique (he apprentices himself to those who have gone before, and want to be in possession of a full arsenal of skills).

·      Does not hesitate to ask for help (seeks out the most knowledgeable teacher and listens with both ears).

·      Distances herself from her instrument (it is what God gave her to work with – she assesses it cooly, impersonally, objectively).

·      Does not take failure (or success) personally.

·      Endures adversity (cannot let herself take humiliation personally).

·      Self-validates (controls reactions and governs emotions – nothing matters but that he keeps doing the work).

·      Recognizes her limitations (brings in other Pros for other things).

·      Reinvents himself – I love this – ‘As artists we serve the Muse, and the Muse may have more than one job for us over a lifetime.’

Turning pro is a decision, brought about by an act of will. We simply make up our minds to view ourselves as Professionals.

Book 3: Beyond Resistance: The Higher Realm

‘As Resistance works to keep us from becoming who we were born to be, equal and opposite powers are counterposed against it.’ Muses and angels support and sustain us on our journey towards ourselves. The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day, and trying. The Muse approves of daily work, and bestows favours, ideas and insights.

Before you sit down to work, take a minute to show some respect to this unseen power, and humbly entreat help. Invoke the Muse in your own way – and know that the universe is not indifferent. The Muse can be what you want to believe or trust in - God/gods/consciousness/intelligence, omniscient spirit, greater intelligence.

There is magic in making a start. When we begin, we get out of our own way, and we allow angels to come in and do their job. There is magic in keeping going. When Steven finishes a day’s work, he heads out for a hike, and a process of self-revision and self-correction begins with the space that he affords his mind. An intelligence, independent from and yet in alliance with our conscious mind processes our material for us when we give it some space.

Steven explains the ego as our conscious intelligence, where Resistance sits, and our Self as a greater entity that incorporates the personal and collective unconscious, where dreams, intuitions, and angels sit. The Ego likes thing as they are, and the Self wishes to grow, create and evolve.

The Ego believes: Death is real, time and space are real, every individual is separate and different from each other, the predominant impulse of life is self-preservation, and that there is no God.

The Self believes: Death, time and space are illusions, all beings are connected, the supreme emotion is love, and that God is all there is.

The Self is our deepest being – it is ever-growing and ever-evolving and is incapable of falsehood. If we aim to seat our consciousness in the Self, we have a weapon against Ego and Resistance. We experience Resistance as Fear; of failure, of bankruptcy, of being selfish, of betraying others, of being ridiculous. Sometimes our biggest fear is that we will succeed! That we can access the powers that we secretly know we possess, that we can become the person we sense in our hearts that we truly are, that we have the talent, the skills, the gifts, the perseverance and the capacity. We truly can steer our own ships.

Each of us have an authentic self. None of us were born as a passive generic blob, waiting for the world to stamp its imprint on us. We each have a job to do, a calling to enact, and a self to become. ‘Our job is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.’

We can define ourselves in two ways:

1.     According to a hierarchy, where we look up and down, compete against others and evaluate happiness according to our rank.

2.     Or according to a territory, where we look within. This is how the artist must operate. Our inner territory provides sustenance, and can only be claimed by doing the work – it returns what we choose to put in.

‘Are you a born creator? In the end, the question can only be answered by action.’

And so choose to begin the work, and to keep doing it. Magic will follow.