I recently read Steven Pressfield’s book, the War of Art. It was fantastic. For those of you that follow my ongoing book reading list, I was considering giving this book a 5, but I ended up giving it a 4.5 because there are a few weird parts in the third section (you’ll understand if you read it).
Pressfield addresses those things inside of all of us that we were designed to bring to the world. Maybe it’s a book that you are supposed to write, a business you should start, or anything else that you dream about doing someday. He tackles why we often don’t follow through with those things, which he calls Resistance, and talks about how life won’t be what it should be unless we learn how to unleash these things. I completely agree with this, and I think that God gives things to all of us that we are supposed to share with His Church and the world at large. Here are some quotes that stood out to me:
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
“Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. We don’t tell ourselves, ‘I’m never going to write my symphony.’ Instead we say, ‘I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.'”
“If you find yourself criticizing other people, you’re probably doing it out of Resistance. When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own. Individuals who are realized in their own lives almost never criticize others. If they speak at all, it is to offer encouragement.”
“The professional lover her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her. Her artistic self contains many works and many performances. Already the next is percolating inside her. The next will be better, and the one after that better still.”
“The critic hates most that which he would have done himself it he had had the guts.”
“But the artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life. The artist must operate territorially. He must do his work for its own sake. To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.”
“Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it.”
