Let's get Art-ing!

Hey everyone, hope everyone’s been enjoying their summers so far! It’s been a time of relaxing, but also a time of preparing, planning, and learning. Working towards starting up a business seems like so much work at times, and I can feel the resistance and procrastination that keeps me from working and doing my best. I felt overwhelmed and was venting to my boyfriend about this when he suggested that I read a book called “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. He told me it would give me a little more insight on why people (artists and others alike) procrastinate and create resistance for themselves, and then understanding the mentality of the battle of embracing the inner artist inside us all.

     I couldn’t not give this book at least a chance, and motivation to listen to this book came at the oddest of times: while exercising.

               Now, I don’t know if it was the adrenaline from punching and kicking a heavy bag that really made the impact feel so much more powerful, but since I’ve started listening to The War of Art, it feels like my life has already changed in a much more positive way.

               I can’t speak too much on the entirety of the book, I’m about halfway through it. It’s a surprisingly short book, it’s two and a half hours on audible and I'm about an hour and a half in, but so much of what Pressfield talks about hits very close to home. Starting the book off, he asks if we are living two separate lives: the life that we “have” to live, and the lives that we want to live (our artistic selves that is dying to come out). We can wish to be living a different life, but instead of trying to make it happen we allow resistance to stop us from reaching our dreams.

       Why? Because it’s easier than facing the “great unknown” in a sense. If we never try, then we never fail.

Although now I'm pursuing my career full time, I haven't always been and I definitely didn't fly into this career full throttle. I was extremely hesitant on becoming an artist full time, and was scared of failing and nobody wanting or caring about the art I was going to be putting out in the world. It was with the persistence of my boyfriend that I had the courage to really follow through, and even then I was slow to get started. In hindsight, I should have had the "hutz-pah" to have strived for this myself which would have gotten the wheels rolling much faster and more effectively.

I know there are others out there who are just as talented (if not more) who are on the fence about jumping full force into their art career. Don't take my word for it that you should do it - but I highly encourage you to read The War of Art so that you can help yourself become more motivated! If you want to do it, then you can do it.

               One big subject that he talks about that really made me reevaluate my life was procrastination, a resistance that we put on ourselves. Because in our procrastinating, we’re not ignoring our dreams or our pursuit of making our dreams a reality, we’re just putting it off until tomorrow. Or next week. Or next month – whenever. It’s so easy to say that "I’ll get around to it," but I never truly hold myself accountable. It can be terrifying working on your own business, knowing that your success and failure all falls in your own hands.

               That’s where I found a problem with my thinking. Being afraid of failing is foolish, because that fear (if not harnessed correctly) is going to become this overwhelming, dark cloud over me that will drive me to be avoidant and ultimately fail myself. It’s about pushing through the fear, controlling that feeling, and continuing to push forward, even if they’re just baby steps. Fear can be a great tool, but only if it's a healthy amount of it. We know where we can fail, but we need to remind ourselves where we can succeed.

            I truly do recommend this book for anyone out there feeling like they want to improve their work ethic, really pursue their dream career/goals, even spiritual selves, but don’t know how to go about it. It’s been a great source of encouragement and motivation, and I just know it will for you too.

               Hell, listen to it the next time you go for a walk, and it'll put that extra pep in your step.

   Until next time!

S.Y.