Years ago I stumbled across Steven Pressfield’s THE WAR OF ART (no, I didn’t write that down wrong) & loved it. Loved its passion & determination. Loved it so much I bought a copy for a friend’s birthday. Only to shortly hear that he didn’t want gifts that birthday. So I shelved it until an entirely different friend came visiting, complaining of her inability to follow her creative force, to build creative focus & to just *create*, goddammitt. And she picked up the Pressfield WAR OF ART book from my shelf like it had been destined for her — in its shiny silver, tactile cover — and said to me, “Is this a good book?”
“Even better,” I told her, “it’s YOUR book.”
And I fetched the copy that had been intended as a gift & I gifted it to her on the spot. It was a satisfying moment. THE WAR OF ART had found its other home.
So, if you feel the need to be invigorated, enraged, ENGAGED to fulfill your creative vision, THE WAR OF ART might be for you, too. Though I’m not sure if they’re still doing it in the tactile silver covers.
Thanks to the wonders of Twitter, I found Pressfield’s now doing a blog on creativity, & I wanted to mention that his entry called “Panic is good” is rather marvellous if you find yourself feeling afraid. And there are plenty of other entries if you’re up to some other part of your journey.
So. To war!