kathrynloch
New member
by Stephen Pressfield.
Has anyone read this book? I just finished it and I loved it! I like Stephen Pressfield anyway - he wrote Gates of Fire which is about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. It was a fantastic book! He also wrote the Legend of Bagger Vance and Tides of War.
Let me clarify, I just finished the audio book version. I haven't had time to read in...oh...forever...so I thought I'd try audio books while I sat painting. Turns out Amazon has a free 30 day trial for their new audio book program and it comes with a free book of your selection. Anyway, when I learned that Stephen Pressfield wrote a non-fiction book about overcoming "block" or those things that stop us from succeeding as artists - well I had to get it. This focuses on art in general writing, painting, music, even taking a risk at being an entrepreneur. For anyone here struggling with burn-out, block, or wanting to start their own business but hesitating, I want to encourage you to read (or listen) to this book.
He labels that inner demon - that voice that tells us we can't - as resistance. Resistance is not psychological, it's ingrained into our DNA. It's how the tribe enforced behavior. It's that logical side that likes things as they are - it's security, not taking risks, towing the line, being the sheep and keeping our place secure in society. It's what tells us we can't, we're not good enough, art or that big business venture is too big of a risk. So we have two lives. The one that we live and the unlived life within ourselves - the one we dream of living.
I wrote down some quotes from the book. I want you to see if they sound familiar, either if you have said them to yourself, or if you have seen others write them on this very board.
Pressfield talks about defeating resistance by "going pro" not necessarily turning professional but treating your art with a professional attitude. There are pro's who show up for work every day, no matter what, and there are amateurs, the weekend warrior, the person who only shows up on occasion.
"The amateur - you don't hear him b*tching that this f**king trilogy is killing me! Instead, he doesn't write his trilogy at all. The amateur has not mastered the technique of his art nor exposed himself to the judgment of the real world."
"The Professional dedicates himself to mastering technique. A professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them. The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique, not because he believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because he wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come."
"The Professional is sly. He knows that by toiling beside the front door of technique, he leaves room for Genius to enter by the back."
"A Professional does not take failure or success personally. When people say an artist has a thick skin, they do not mean that he is dense or numb, but that he has seated his professional consciousness in a place other than his ego."
"Evolution has programmed us to feel rejection in our guts. This is how the tribe enforced obedience by wielding the threat of expulsion."
"The Professional blows critics off. He doesn't even hear them. Critics, he reminds himself are the unwitting mouthpieces of Resistance and as such can be truly cunning and pernicious. They can articulate in their reviews the same toxic venom that Resistance concocts inside our heads. That is the real evil, not that we believe them but we believe the Resistance in our own minds for which critics serve as unconscious spokespersons. The pro learns to recognize envy driven criticism and to take it for what it is - a supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts!"
The book is full of great insight. In Iono's thread many folks have commented on how they too would love to start a business but are afraid they would end up hating what they love. Pressfield addresses this issue directly. His biggest thing is to sit down and do the work. No matter how loudly Resistance screams, no matter how much it makes you dread doing it. Sit down and do the work. When you're done, you feel better for it, not worse.
In my own life, I recognized my resistance is not to the painting, I'll sit down and paint all day. It's not even throwing it on CMON and showing the world...or at least this little corner of the world. My resistance is putting it up for sale on Ebay then watching the auction tank with no buyers or worse, having it sell for nothing, not even a little recognition of all of the work that went into it. Another realizaton came when I realized my unfinished business plan is because my Resistance is to throwing that business plan out to the world of lenders for start up capital - and their rejection.
I'm taking an online business course that works me through the business plan in sections. When I finish, I'll not only have a certificate of completion but I'll have a completed business plan. I started this course, worked through section 1, and aced the quiz at the end of that section. Section 2 started the business plan. I read through it and stopped. Didn't go back to it for days. It takes too much time away from my painting. Ah, but painting is only one aspect of the work that needs to be done. This is another and I'm allowing resistance to stop me. So this morning, I spent going through the next two chapters and writing the first two sections of my business plan - and aced those quizzes too.
Afterward, I promptly pulled out some horses photographed them and threw 7 auctions up on Ebay. That took the rest of the afternoon. You want to talk about time consuming! Bummed that I hadn't been able to paint all day, I decided to burn the midnight oil, get some painting in, and finish the last 30 minutes of the book.
I am so glad that I did! I'm actually energized over the whole thing! Yeah, taking the course and writing the business plan is a pain in the ass. Taking photos, editing them, organizing everything for the auctions is a pain in the ass. But it needs to be done!
I did it. Today, I defeated Resistance. Tomorrow, the battle will begin anew, but each day I need to just sit down and do the work.
One last mention - Pressfield talks about our talent being a gift...a gift from the gods, God, or a muse, and even if our gift is to only move awareness down the evolutionary path one tiny millimeter, what right do we have to withhold that gift?
It's a great read and Pressfield has a great sense of humor - I highly recommend it for all artists.
Has anyone read this book? I just finished it and I loved it! I like Stephen Pressfield anyway - he wrote Gates of Fire which is about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. It was a fantastic book! He also wrote the Legend of Bagger Vance and Tides of War.
Let me clarify, I just finished the audio book version. I haven't had time to read in...oh...forever...so I thought I'd try audio books while I sat painting. Turns out Amazon has a free 30 day trial for their new audio book program and it comes with a free book of your selection. Anyway, when I learned that Stephen Pressfield wrote a non-fiction book about overcoming "block" or those things that stop us from succeeding as artists - well I had to get it. This focuses on art in general writing, painting, music, even taking a risk at being an entrepreneur. For anyone here struggling with burn-out, block, or wanting to start their own business but hesitating, I want to encourage you to read (or listen) to this book.
He labels that inner demon - that voice that tells us we can't - as resistance. Resistance is not psychological, it's ingrained into our DNA. It's how the tribe enforced behavior. It's that logical side that likes things as they are - it's security, not taking risks, towing the line, being the sheep and keeping our place secure in society. It's what tells us we can't, we're not good enough, art or that big business venture is too big of a risk. So we have two lives. The one that we live and the unlived life within ourselves - the one we dream of living.
I wrote down some quotes from the book. I want you to see if they sound familiar, either if you have said them to yourself, or if you have seen others write them on this very board.
Pressfield talks about defeating resistance by "going pro" not necessarily turning professional but treating your art with a professional attitude. There are pro's who show up for work every day, no matter what, and there are amateurs, the weekend warrior, the person who only shows up on occasion.
"The amateur - you don't hear him b*tching that this f**king trilogy is killing me! Instead, he doesn't write his trilogy at all. The amateur has not mastered the technique of his art nor exposed himself to the judgment of the real world."
"The Professional dedicates himself to mastering technique. A professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them. The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique, not because he believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because he wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come."
"The Professional is sly. He knows that by toiling beside the front door of technique, he leaves room for Genius to enter by the back."
"A Professional does not take failure or success personally. When people say an artist has a thick skin, they do not mean that he is dense or numb, but that he has seated his professional consciousness in a place other than his ego."
"Evolution has programmed us to feel rejection in our guts. This is how the tribe enforced obedience by wielding the threat of expulsion."
"The Professional blows critics off. He doesn't even hear them. Critics, he reminds himself are the unwitting mouthpieces of Resistance and as such can be truly cunning and pernicious. They can articulate in their reviews the same toxic venom that Resistance concocts inside our heads. That is the real evil, not that we believe them but we believe the Resistance in our own minds for which critics serve as unconscious spokespersons. The pro learns to recognize envy driven criticism and to take it for what it is - a supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts!"
The book is full of great insight. In Iono's thread many folks have commented on how they too would love to start a business but are afraid they would end up hating what they love. Pressfield addresses this issue directly. His biggest thing is to sit down and do the work. No matter how loudly Resistance screams, no matter how much it makes you dread doing it. Sit down and do the work. When you're done, you feel better for it, not worse.
In my own life, I recognized my resistance is not to the painting, I'll sit down and paint all day. It's not even throwing it on CMON and showing the world...or at least this little corner of the world. My resistance is putting it up for sale on Ebay then watching the auction tank with no buyers or worse, having it sell for nothing, not even a little recognition of all of the work that went into it. Another realizaton came when I realized my unfinished business plan is because my Resistance is to throwing that business plan out to the world of lenders for start up capital - and their rejection.
I'm taking an online business course that works me through the business plan in sections. When I finish, I'll not only have a certificate of completion but I'll have a completed business plan. I started this course, worked through section 1, and aced the quiz at the end of that section. Section 2 started the business plan. I read through it and stopped. Didn't go back to it for days. It takes too much time away from my painting. Ah, but painting is only one aspect of the work that needs to be done. This is another and I'm allowing resistance to stop me. So this morning, I spent going through the next two chapters and writing the first two sections of my business plan - and aced those quizzes too.
Afterward, I promptly pulled out some horses photographed them and threw 7 auctions up on Ebay. That took the rest of the afternoon. You want to talk about time consuming! Bummed that I hadn't been able to paint all day, I decided to burn the midnight oil, get some painting in, and finish the last 30 minutes of the book.I am so glad that I did! I'm actually energized over the whole thing! Yeah, taking the course and writing the business plan is a pain in the ass. Taking photos, editing them, organizing everything for the auctions is a pain in the ass. But it needs to be done!
I did it. Today, I defeated Resistance. Tomorrow, the battle will begin anew, but each day I need to just sit down and do the work.
One last mention - Pressfield talks about our talent being a gift...a gift from the gods, God, or a muse, and even if our gift is to only move awareness down the evolutionary path one tiny millimeter, what right do we have to withhold that gift?
It's a great read and Pressfield has a great sense of humor - I highly recommend it for all artists.
