Reviewing: The War of Art

By: Jon Orozco

Steven Pressfield is no stranger to failure, loss, or flat-out rejection. In The War of Art, he guides us to the grand conclusion like Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.” But Pressfield approaches it differently. He delivers a modest but definitive swift kick in the ass. He takes away every probable and reasonable excuse for not accomplishing your life’s work. He does it by breaking the book into three smaller books: Resistance: Defining the Enemy; Combating Resistance: Turning Pro; and Beyond Resistance: The Higher Realm.

Pressfield introduces the nebulous cloud of “Resistance.” A force so powerful it stops us dead in our tracks from completing our work. What work? You’ll find out soon enough. Many believe resistance comes externally. A non-discriminating, malevolent force that countless others grapple with every day. Not Pressfield. He asserts that resistance originates from within. Yes, from within.

To fully understand this intangible but powerful force, you have to acquaint yourself with one truth: we are all ensnared by fear. Every single human. Star Trek has served as an excellent model for teaching me lessons. In the Voyager episode The Thaw, Captain Janeway’s team encounters a fear created by and fueled by, as you guessed it, what is inside us. We learn that fear is “the most honest of all emotions.” But with effort and fortitude, Janeway annihilates fear by playing its game, cornering it, looking it squarely in the face, and proclaiming: “Fear only exists for one purpose. To be conquered.”

Pressfield ends the book with a simple, powerful message: “Creative work is not a selfish act. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

So will you? The worst that can happen now is you’ll experience success. Oh, the tragedy. Said no one ever.