Creative Book Review: ‘The War of Art’
“THIS (AUDIO) BOOK IS CALLING ME OUT!!!”, I shouted internally and on social media upon finishing Steven Pressfield’s ‘The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.” How impactful was its message for me? I’ve listened to it almost a half-dozen times (and counting) and highly recommend it on the bookshelf of any inspiration-hungry creative pursuing their God-given gift. It also does a good job fully identifying and offering strategies to overcome the daily obstacles ‘Resistance’ challenges us with in fulfilling our calling. Content-wise, this book’s positives outweigh its negatives.
Most of the revelations I took from this book were from Part I: Resistance: Defining the Enemy. One of the prefaces, “The Unlived Life,” really drew me into wanting to know more about this unseen enemy. Pressfield tells a story of a woman who learns she has six months to live. Faced with a premature end, she quits her job and resumes her dream of writing Tex Mex songs she gave up to raise a family (among other pursuits). Her friends think she’s crazy but she’s never been happier in her life. As it turns out, her cancer ends up going into remission.
“Is that what it takes?, he asks. Do we have to stare death in the face to make us stand up and confront resistance? Does resistance have to cripple and disfigure our lives before we wake up to its existence?”
Resistance exists and has an entire marketing campaign to support its underhanded deeds of distraction. It popped its ugly head more than once as I typed this entry. It surrounds us like a malevolent force dedicated to halting our daily pursuit of purpose. I’ll go so far a to call it the devil incarnate, whether it takes the form of consumerism, drama, or outright fear and doubt. I recall mentioning, “A fool’s errand” among my incorrect notions developing creativejason.com. Fear is a good indicator of love, however. As Pressfield puts it, “The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
My only slightly negative remark on this book is that I don’t recall anything particularly as impactful from the second and third portion dealing with resistance fighting strategies and the higher realm beyond it. This is not an entirely bad thing, because these memory gaps invite revisiting the source material again and again. I’m just revitalizing my writing career, so I’m sure I’ll need reminders along the way when delivering creative, original content and insights to my audience.
In closing, Steven Pressfield’s ‘The War of Art” is highly recommended. It offers both encouragement and timeless lessons to creatives, whether your ‘art' appeals to one's sight, sound, or touch. Some may disagree with the heavily-spiritual approach the author takes in explaining resistance. Others like myself resonate with it. Anything creative takes time and sacrifice and I will utilize creative battle planners like this in my written adventures. It is available on multiple outlets through Amazon and other retailers. I look forward to building a reading list from his other work too.
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