“The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield

I’ve recently gathered my summer reading list and am really looking forward to it. This year I’ve got four books on my desk to read over the summer:

• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
• Leading in Prayer: A Workbook For Worship by Hughes Oliphant Old
• Rework by Jason Fried

Each of these books has come up in different conversations (in real life, on the blog, twitter or facebook) over the past year and I’m looking forward to each of them for different reasons.

I started reading “The War of Art” the other night and never has a book had such profound impact on my life within so few pages – with the exception of the Bible, of course. The first part of the book explains something that is very well-known to artists but hard to express – Resistance. He makes the case for the clever, sneaky ways that Resistance pulls us away from our task of creating. Resistance takes on many forms – distractions, laziness, success, etc – but always comes once we make the commitment to create. (As a sidenote, I’m not one of those who thinks that “artist” is a specialized category of class of people. I believe we are all artists and every single person will face Resistance in some way, whether or not they believe that they are gifted creatively.)

He moves from this incredible discussion on Resistance and its power to an exploration on the differences between amateurs and professional. The general view of “amateur” is that they are someone who is doing something because of their love of the activity. Pressfield’s argument is that it is the amateur who does not love the activity enough and that the professional, while he may get paid for his work, is actually the one who is creating because of his love. Even if the professional were not being paid, he would still be compelled to create.

One of the fun ways to take a book like this to a new level has been to share some of my thoughts and some of the quotes on twitter (@chrisfromcanada) and to have a second level of interaction with people who are either new to the book or who have read it before. If you’re interested in following along, I’m attaching the #WarOfArt hashtag to all of my tweets about the book.

Here’s a series of tweets and replies that have been happening on twitter the past few days -

“It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

I’m 10 pages in and I’m already convinced that this book could change me. #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

“The best & only thing that 1 artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.” #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart Thanks, artist friends, …

“We will never cure our restlessness by contributing our disposable income to the bottom line of Bullshit, Inc.”#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

“Fundamentalism and art are mutually exclusive. There is no such thing as fundamentalist art.” #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

Resistance and fear. What’s the step I’m afraid to take right now? What’s the journey that is too fear-filled? #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

“If you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.”#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart Thankful for the enduring perfect love of God

From @JeannaMiller – RT @chrisfromcanada: “If you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.”#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

From @derricklogan – RT @chrisfromcanada Summer reading begins now. #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofarthttp://twitpic.com/1ylkf3 // Top 5 all time for me.

Some more #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart reading tonight. Lots of things stirring in my brain from the first 50 pages.

From @anidolheart – RT @chrisfromcanada Some more#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart reading tonight. // I have been told to read that book. Thanks for the reminder.

“Seeking support from friends and family is like having your people gathered around at your deathbed.”#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart Thankful 4 deathbed friends

“Tolstoy had thirteen kids and wrote War and Peace.” #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart He must have had one great wife.

I wish I could tweet all of page 57. I think I need to rip it out and frame it instead. #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

From @christopherbmac – @chrisfromcanada I dare say Tolstoy’s family life was probably the inspiration for the book, with that many kids.#warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not.” #warofart" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23warofart">#warofart Little over the top. I get it

The exploration of amateur vs. professional has so much to say for those of us leading teams of “volunteers.” Good stuff. #WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt

“The professional, though he accepts money, does his work out of love. He has to love it.” #WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt

“Technically, the professional takes money. Technically, the pro plays for pay. But in the end, he does it for love.”#WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt

“The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods.”#WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt

I totally get Piper’s “we are not professionals” but I am now sold on Pressfield’s “we are not amateurs”#WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt

From @ChurchTechGuy – @chrisfromcanada I was once told the only difference between amateur and professional art is who gets paid. I do it for the love of art.

From @b_rewster – RT @chrisfromcanada:”The professional masters how, & leaves what & why 2 the gods.”#WarOfArt" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23WarOfArt">#WarOfArt/Another awesome person reading “The manifest”

From@sabbatical – @chrisfromcanada Karl Marx had seven kids, but at least 3 of them died because he was so poor due to his writing/philosophizing.

From @charlie_mcevoy – @chrisfromcanada The first time I read that book I wanted to copy the entire thing in a note book.

From @wdkunkel – @chrisfromcanada Isn’t that one of the longest books EVER. With 13 kids, could it have been his ‘garage project’ before there was a garage?

From @marcjolicoeur – “War of Art” is quite good, eh @chrisfromcanada?

I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of the book. As you may be able to tell, I have a feeling that the impact of this book is going to last for a long, long time.