On Finishing “The War of Art”

So 24 hours later, I’m through Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.  Without looking back at my notes and highlights, here are the take-aways for me, the specifics the little voice inside me is urging me to pay attention to.

• Stop speculating about art’s mysteries.  Be a craftsman.  Make the work.  Every day.  The mysteries will show up.  
• Be a pro, and be ruthless about it.   You may or may not get paid, but that’s beside the point.  Really beside the point. 
• “Resistance” is ever present and you can count on it being ruthless about what its up to.  It is out to destroy you. 
• Criticism is not the enemy.  Humiliation is not the enemy.  Failure is not even close to being the enemy.  “Resistance” is the enemy. 
• Learn to enjoy being miserable.  Pro athletes know they will play with pain every day.  You thought it wouldn’t hurt?  Dumb. 
• If I don’t work, inspiration won’t bother.   If I do, power gathers around, hovering, nudging, gifting, pouring out. 
• Question: who do I cheat if I don’t answer the call of what I’ve been given?  The only when is now.  “I’ll start tomorrow” is a lie. 
• Transcend Ego.  The Self you were given by God isn’t there.  
• Be territorial, not hierarchical.   That means work for the sustenance it brings, not to compare and assess against others. 
• Would you do what you’re doing if you were the last person on earth? 
• We have allies on earth and in heaven.  Make worlds they want to walk in. 
• Do what you’ve been given to do.  Spending time figuring out what the market wants is the hand of Resistance encircling your neck. 
• This work is not selfish, it is serving the earth and its people by playing your role in the inch by inch movement back to God. 
• Finish.  Finish.  Finish.