April 2024 Issue

the WAR of ART

Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative battles

A Book Review by Latha Emmatty Gupta

?The WAR of ART by Steven Pressfield provides valuable insights for professionals, entrepreneurs, and artists whose inner resistances prevent them from living the life they wish to live. Some lose precious years, while others remain lifelong victims of procrastination. In this book, Steven Pressfield excavates the procrastination problem from its roots, equips readers to recognise resistance, and shares inspiration for mastering procrastination maladies. He elucidates his argument with examples from his own life. His writing style is funny yet punchy, leaving you amused and annoyed with yourself for being a victim of resistance and procrastination.

?Steven?Pressfield?has?authored several historical fiction, screenplays, and nonfiction.?His?uniqueness lies in his own ability to overcome years of procrastination which lends credibility to his writing. The War of Art is probably his most well-known nonfiction work. In his early life, Steven struggled to make ends meet. During this time, he lived out of his car as a homeless person?and tried?his hand as a tractor-trailer driver, attender at a mental hospital, bartender, fruit picker, screenplay writer at Hollywood, copywriter, and more. It took him twenty-seven years of writing before he got his first novel published. His perseverance to follow through with grit and determination in?the face of?obstacles and despair is remarkable.?He illustrates how you?too?can?master all your inner saboteurs by showing up and warring with them, one day at a time. With just one hundred and sixty-five pages, the book is compact and practical, well-structured into three sections, or sub-books, each with a distinct focus.

The title of Book One,?'Defining the Enemy,'?is where you get?almost a 360-degree understanding of resistance and its characteristic features.?Resistance can appear?quite?rational, as it allows us to justify that we are merely delaying the start of something until a later time. This practice snowballs over time; it becomes a habit, and you start putting things away forever, leaving you with unfinished business on your deathbed. Dr Myles Munroe’s quote illustrates the point aptly when he says,?"The graveyard is the richest place on earth because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that?were never fulfilled, the books that?were never written, the songs that?were never sung, the inventions that?were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to.”

Book Two is?‘Combating Resistance.’?Here?Steven?spells out the distinct ways of an amateur and how it falls short?in comparison?to professionals, more as an ideology than literally. A professional, according to Steven, is someone who commits his life to his cause.?This?is very different from amateurs, who dabble in something?once in a while?and play superficially for the fun of it.?Turning pro,?according to the author, is when you give resistance a hard punch and show up?every single day?to confront your self-saboteurs.?If?you lack the discipline?to consistently show up and complete the work, your talent will go to waste.?A professional is someone who is okay with delayed gratification and is ready for the long haul.

Book Three is titled?'Beyond Resistance.'?This?is the section where you witness the superpowers?that exist?within and around you.?It's?almost as if the universe conspires to make something happen for you by rewarding you for showing up and trustingly surrendering your ego. This positive force is the enemy of resistance that you can rely upon. This section offers ideas for tuning into a higher force for solutions. It reminded me of?Einstein’s?quote about how we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Steven illustrates his argument with the concept of?'Nishkama Karma?'?from?the Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna advises Arjuna not to get attached to the fruits of his labour.?The author also talks of practices to keep resistance at bay?from various other ancient traditions.?It reminded me of the practice in India of starting new projects with devotional?incantations?to Lord Ganesha,?the remover of all obstacles.

In summary, this book is a call to get out of the ditch and give wings to your dreams. The?author's?journey and practical examples serve as its foundation. If you?are seeking?to comprehend your patterns when faced with resistance or arguments to arm yourself to achieve your potential, this book offers a wealth of insights. The optimist in me loves the book from cover to cover. However, a rationalist may find the final section a bit woo-woo. Surrendering oneself to higher realities and letting magic and muses play out can be?a bit?bewildering for them. I believe in the existence of this divine force and its grace. The universe loves to respond and give back but only after you give?your 101% to anything?that?you think is worth doing.?And remember to be at war with all the subversive forces that stand between you and your dreams. Steven?in?the?book?quoted this couplet from Goethe, which I found to be an appropriate closing thought.

“Whatever you can?do,?or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.”

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Latha Emmatty Gupta is a Leadership, Team and Life coach (PCC, ICF). She helps people be more fulfilled in their lives and careers. [email protected]