The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

I read this book front to back in one sitting. It is a quick, powerful read. A week later, just to make sure I had the message down, I read it again.

Pressfield's The War of Art has the potential to be life-changing. It is the talk about art and creativity that you've been waiting to hear without realizing it. It is a kick to get going. It is a call to arms...if you're willing.

In The War of Art, Pressfield discusses a powerful repelling force called Resistance. Pressfield calls it out, exposes its many forms, so that now it can be recognized. And once you know what you are dealing with, you can fight it. The second part of the book tells you how, and the last part gets into artistic inspiration.

You may have noticed my updates have been few and far between. I have also not gotten much writing done.

Well, as the excuse is, life happened. (It's true. I picked up a second part time job that left me very little time to do anything. )

However, the real truth is that I fell victim to Resistance.

Resistance is caused by fear, mostly. But it is tricky and had disguised itself. "No one is reading this blog anyway," Resistance said. "You don't know what you are doing," and, "Suppose people DID read it, and didn't like it?" On and on it went.

It also manifested in tv show marathons and compulsive internet usage. I can easily lose hours and hours of time on the internet. I just keep clicking. Ironically, one activity that I do out of resistance is read self-help blogs. Instead of creating or writing every day, I read blog posts on the subject. If I want to win against Resistance, I can indulge in some blog reading, but spend more time actually getting words on the page.

I have been facing Resistance in another area of my life as well. I aim to find work abroad, a goal which terrifies me as much as it excites me. It is time to move on, yet I have found myself paralyzed, unable to make any progress towards my goal.

But that all is about to change, for now I recognize Resistance, and I realize it's not just something I have especially because I'm lazy. It's something that everyone deals with. And it can be defeated a day at a time.

Slowly, I can start living the life I've dreamed of.

(This goes without saying, but the book is strongly recommended.)