The War of Art. Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative BattlesAuthor: Steven Pressfield; Forward written by Robert McKee

The big idea is that we all have tremendous creative energy that we can tap into if we learn to avoid the pitfalls associated with our ego. By successfully doing so we can be productive and happy while making the most of our time on earth.

Note:  The author’s precision and brevity make this a very quick read however the prose is still quite poetic an aesthetically pleasing to read.

What I do

Brief description of a day in the life of Steven Pressfield.  Steven take time to describe the mundane process by which he goes about getting his work as a writer done with consistency, precision and a sense of detachment from the outcome.

What I know

Steven gives some more clues into the guts of the book where he share the hardest part of writing is the act of sitting down to write.  The first step, or starting is the hardest part.

The Unlived Life

Steven begins by sharing thoughts on the duplicity in modern life that afflict most of us. He even states “Most of us have two lives.  The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance.”

Here Steven starts to define Resistance one of the major themes of the book and the antagonist which aligns with the messages in other works such as The Legend of Bagger Vance.

Favorite Quotes from this section: “Genius is a Latin word; the Romans used it to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling.”  “Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is resistance.”

Book One: Resistance – Defining the

Enemy

Steven describes resistance as anything that works against progress made on creative, healthy pursuits.

Favorite Quotes from this section: “Resistance is a force of nature. It acts objectively.”  “Though it feels malevolent, Resistance in fact operates with the indifference of rain and transits the heavens by the same laws as the stars.  When we marshal our forces to combat Resistance, we must remember this.” “Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and selfperpetuated. Resistance is the enemy from within.”

Book Two: Combating Resistance –

Turning Pro

Steven takes time to draw a stark contrast between the professional artist and the amateur. Here it is explained that the only way to successfully fight off Resistance to act like a professional. Meanwhile acting like a professional comes with many ancillary ideas like working consistently each day, staking your livelihood upon the creative work you undertake, etc. However “turning pro” really speaks to a state of mind and your ability to walk that narrow pathway of full commitment to craft while maintaining a healthy level of detachment from outcomes and external feedback.

Favorite Quotes from this section: “The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven.”

Book Three: Beyond Resistance – The Higher Realm

The final few chapters take time to articulate the ethereal forces that we, as humans, cannot fully understand that may drive our purest expressions of creativity.  These chapters are likely to be met with resistance by those skeptical readers who may not believe in such things as angels and spirits however the writing used to express these ideas is still wonderfully organized and well thought out.

Regardless of the disposition of the reader Steven Pressfield conveys that these forces among us are our allies.

Favorite Quotes from this section: “The Self is our deepest being. The Self is united to God. The Self is incapable of falsehood. The Self, like the Divine Ground that permeates it, is ever-growing and everevolving.  The Self speaks for the future.”  “The Ego produces resistance and attacks the awakening artist.”

The last two chapters “Portrait of the Artist” and “The Artist’s Life” resonated so completely with me that I felt compelled to copy them down in their entirety…  They too provide a tremendous summary of the content of the book providing a succinct summary of much of the major sentiment of the book.

Some additional favorite quotes:

“Sometimes we balk at embarking on an enterprise because we’re afraid of being alone We feel comfortable with the tribe around us; it makes us nervous going off into the woods on our own. Here’s the trick: We’re never alone. As soon as we step outside the campfire glow, our Muse lights on our shoulder like a butterfly. The act of courage calls forth infallibly the deeper part of ourselves that supports and sustains us.”

“The artist must work territorially. He must do his work for its own sake.”

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

“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more resistance we will feel pushing towards pursuing it.”

“Resistance has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possesses comes from us. We feed it with power from our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer resistance.”