Book Review Wednesday: The War of Art
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”
I first became aware of this book when a former yoga teacher read passages from it in one of her classes. I immediately put it in my library queue and then forgot about it. Five months later, it finally arrived. And it was worth the wait.
This is one of the best inspiration-type books I have ever read. I would recommend this to anyone who feels that they are meant to do more than they are currently doing, but aren’t quite there yet.
The author, Steven Pressfield (Legend of Baggar Vance & others) talks about the war that (the personified) Resistance wages against Art, and how to overcome that resistance to fully realize our passions and become professionals at what we truly want to do.
Although the copy I just finished is a library book, I will be buying a personal copy soon, because I know it’s something, much like Stephen King’s On Writing that I will want to come back to again, and again when I’m feeling stuck.
In addition to offering advice on how to overcome Resistance and its creator Fear, it also has really good points on how Resistance & Fear prevent you from being a good person…
“If you find yourself criticizing other people, you’re probably doing it out of Resistance…Individuals who are realized in their own lives almost never criticize others. If they speak at all, it is to offer encouragement.”
I read a lot. This is not a secret. But it is not often that I am both entertained and inspired. Add in a good, swift, literary kick in the ass, and this book is well worth the (fairly short amount of) time it took to read.
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