The War of Art

1
The War of Art

• Notes by David E. Goldberg
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• deg_at_uiuc.edu

2
The Text

• Pressfield, S. (2002). The war of art Winning
  the inner creative battle. New York Rugged Land.
• Pressfield is author of The Legend of Bagger
  Vance and other books.

3
What Pressfield Knows

• Writing isnt hard.
• Sitting down to write is hard.
• Resistance prevents us from sitting down to write
  (or design, or start a company, or invent, or
  ???).

4
The Unlived Life v. the Life We Live

• Resistance is the distance between the two.
• Ever
• Quit a diet?
• Stop exercising?
• Give up on a dream?
• The what if I got cancer tomorrow? test.

5
Resistances Greatest Hits

• Writing, painting, dance, music.
• Entrepreneurial activity.
• Diet or health regime.
• Program of spiritual advancement.
• Program to overcome addiction.
• Education.
• Act or moral or political courage.
• Commitments of the heart.

6
Internal vs. External Opponents

• Resistance is internal.
• Often blamed on others.
• Pat Riley calls them peripheral opponents.

7
Resistance is

• Insidious it lies.
• Implacable like Jaws.
• Impersonal Just business.
• Infallible More important, more resistance.
• Universal Happens to all.
• Fueled by fear Like Star Trek episode.
• More powerful at the finish line

8
Manifestations

• Procrastination is job one.
• And it can become a habit.
• Sex?
• Trouble (seeking attention).
• Self-dramatization.
• Self-medication.
• Victimhood.

9
Resistance Feels Like

• Unhappiness.
• Unalleviated.
• Clinical depression
• Buy stuff to overcome.

10
Criticism of Others

• Sign of resistance.
• Cant stand thought of others succeeding while we
  are blocked.

11
Isolation as Necessary

• Solitude with your thoughts is not being alone.
• Writer with reader.
• Artist with viewer.
• Entrepreneur with customer.

12
Combating Resistance

• Turning Pro Sit down regularly to do whats
  necessary.
• Difference between urgent and important.
• Do the important.
• Pros already At our jobs.
• Show up everyday.
• Show up no matter what. Dont over-identify with
• Stay all day. Learn technique
• Committed for long haul. Have sense of humor.
• Stakes high and real. Accept remuneration.
• Accept praise or blame in the real world.

13
Pros Love Their Work

• Do it out of love.
• Are patient.
• Seek order.
• Demystifies.
• Endures adversity.

14
Beyond Resistance

• Making a start.
• Keep going Improvement and revision.
• Authentic self Tabula rasas are not us.
• A hack someone who second guesses his audience.