Painting color drenched artworks of places and things I love
“The lizard brain is the reason you’re afraid, the reason you don’t do all the art you can, the reason you don’t ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.”
― Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
“A victim act is a form of aggression.” ~Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
How many times have you heard of people who always have some unbelievable thing after another happen to them? This week it’s an illness, last week they couldn’t walk, and before that they were having a miserable meltdown. Everything happens to them. It’s almost comical.
Work never gets done.
Relax, I’m not saying this is me. I’m continuing my study of The War of Art because I’m always in need of that kick in the pants. Steven Pressfield brings these weird things to light and I thing to myself “Wow, that makes so much sense!” Who would think that the victim/martyr act was a form of Resistance?
“Casting yourself as a victim is the antithesis of doing your work. Don’t do it. If you’re doing it, stop.”
I don’t know how he does it, but that Mr. Steven Pressfield is one amazing, intuitive guy. Today I read a post on his blog dealing with Resistance yet again, and again, he hits home. I literally hit myself in the head with my hand as I read it.
Where does he get it all?
His post in Writing Wednesdays: Advance Forms of Resistance stopped me in my tracks because I already had an annoying morning of sorta disaster, like he describes in his post.
Tuesday is my day to study with Mr. Resistance. Did I do it? No. Did I post? No. I thought about it, but didn’t act. I did, however, do some work, thank goodness.
Hitting my stride, working out my kinks, feeling okay about the work that’s happening in the studio. I even listed some work in that Etsy shop I have. Yes I know I should be doing that right here, but I have to figure it out first, okay?
Some how I didn’t post yesterday, and today here’s Steven Pressfield, telling me that Resistance is becoming bad for his health! He banged his hand badly, cracked his skull, broke his toe, all as he was nearing the finish of his work.
Amazing thought: he says it’s Resistance! Yikes!
Surprisingly, I’ve been having that kind of stuff going on with me, but not as drastic. Yesterday inside my refrigerator it was snowing. Okay, had to fix that. This morning I knocked over my beloved fresh hot cup of coffee all over the tablecloth, the floor, and inside The Mr.’s shoes. Okay, clean that up. Just before sitting to write this post I put in a load of laundry, was distracted by some other thing and before I knew it the laundry cycle was finished and I didn’t add the clothes to the machine. Yup, it washed nothing.
Just great.
Thank you Mr. Resistance.
The world being what it is, with so many things going on in different directions, one’s attention can only hold on for so long.
However, Mr. Resistance has been kept at arm’s length lately. Something must be up with him. Either that, or, I’m getting better at side-stepping him. And, since I’ve showed up at the art space for whatever time I am able to spare, the Muse has bestowed her gracious gifts of creativity on me.
Synchronicity abounds the last couple of days.
A little painting here and there, on the latest work. Some thoughts as to the next work. I even listed some hand made jewelry items in my Etsy shop. May as well get them out there, too. Next up will be paintings that are sitting around having their own quiet conversations. Enough of that!
If I could figure out how to list these items here on my very own website, I’d do it. Since I’m still trying to figure out the dreaded WordPress thing, I’ll stick with the Etsy shop for the time being.
Like I said, it’s a new space. It takes time to decorate.
Some things have to be done as easily as possible. Once I hit that wall, Mr. Resistance will show up again. I am not interested in seeing his return. Nor do I want to risk losing my creative self by missing the Muse’s visit.
So, that’s that with that.
Mr. Resistance is quite a character. Over the time I’ve been studying about him I’ve gained somewhat of a respect for his talent and ability to totally screw up my daily agenda.
I still hate him, but I know he’s there, and what he’s capable of doing to me.
Fine.
However, since I’ve been following Steven Pressfield’s thought process on Resistance, I’ve become enamored of his idea of the Muse. You know, you’ve got to have good and evil, yin and yang, the Good Witch or the Bad Witch.
Mr. Resistance’s other half is this kind of entity.
In Pressfield’s imagination the Muse flies around in her little plane thingy. As she flies by she checks to see if the good little artist is at her easel. If not, she whizzes away. She’ll try again the next day. Not there? Okay, she’s gone again. Stay out of the loop enough times and she doesn’t bother coming back.
The Muse is totally not like Mr. Resistance, who never leaves. Please, leave.
Turning a corner on that creep I showed up at the easel. Low and behold there was the Muse, hovering over head. I sorted through my idea pile, got out the large watercolor block and just started in on this new work.
Twenty minutes in, I stopped to let the paint dry, and a little bit later I tried working in more color to define the shapes and shadows.
I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do this painting, but so what? May as well catch the Muse as she flies by and drops some fairy dust on my scattered brain making the most of the process.
This blogging thing, along with Mr. Resistance, is having it’s way with me.
The other day I read Steven Pressfield’s post that said when Resistance shows up, the Dream is around the corner. Well, he is in my face and looms so large that I can barely peek around his huge frame to see the Dream hiding behind him.
Yes, it’s that big. So, I assume that’s the road I need to take. Except I can’t figure out how to get there.
This WordPress thing is taking too much time, energy, and patience. How much information can I cram into my brain, process, and use?
It’s almost impossible. People tout WordPress as THE platform to use. Yes, it’s pretty, but it’s exhausting. The learning curve is too much. Between learning how to navigate this thing, themes, plug-ins, email sign-up forms, galleries, SEO, blahblahblah, I can’t.
Am I finally ready to throw my hands up in the air and give it over to someone who knows what they’re doing? Meaning, pay someone? Maybe not. There’s gotta be a trick to this, a puzzle I need to solve myself. If other people can do it, why not me? Ok, so it’s going to take me a little longer to figure it out I guess.
Yeah, Mr. Resistance will devise this new way to keep me from painting while I fool around with this website stuff.
Honestly, this is getting ridiculous.
“Where there is a Dream, there is Resistance.” ~Steven Pressfield, WRITING WEDNESDAYS: Resistance and Self-Loathing
The more I study the many forms Resistance takes, I am shocked at how it manifests itself as normal, every day stuff of life.
Well, you and I would think it’s life stuff. However, according to Steven Pressfield’s book The War of Art, much of it is Mr. Resistance at work. Which means No Work.
“Depression and anxiety may be real. But they can also be Resistance.”
~Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
Get a load of that! Let that sentence soak in.
Many of us have had our moments, I know I have. But conjuring up anxiety or depressive spells to avoid doing our work?
Is it a little weird?
Maybe the point is it’s subconcious.
“When we drug ourselves to blot out our soul’s call, we are being good Americans and exemplary consumers. We’re doing exactly what TV commercials and pop materialist culture have been brainwashing us to do form birth. Instead of applying self-knowledge, self-discipline, delayed gratification, and hard work, we simply consume a product.
Many pedestrians have been maimed or killed at the intersection of Resistance and Commerce.”
Boo!
“Creating soap opera in our lives is a symptom of Resistance. Why put in years of work designing a new software interface when you can get just as much attention by bringing home a boyfriend with a prison record?”~Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
Steven Pressfield knows how to crack me up. No I can’t relate to this section of his book, but I’m sure there are plenty of creatives out there that do.
I do love his way with words and laughed out loud at much of this. In fact I may have watched TV episodes of some sitcoms that sounded just like this craziness:
“Sometimes entire families participate unconsciously in a culture of self-dramatization. The kids fuel the tanks, the grownups arm the phasers, the whole starship lurches from one spine-tinging episode to another. And the crew knows how to keep it going. If the level of drama drops below a certain threshold, someone jumps in to amp it up. Dad gets drunk, Mom gets sick, Janie shows up for church with an Oakland Raiders tattoo. it’s more fun than a movie. And it works: Nobody gets a damn thing done.”
Can you imagine this scene?
More importantly, would you ever think this is all about Resistance?
Just hold that thought for a moment.
The idea that artists, or anyone in the middle of an important endeavor, would raise hackles like this only to put off doing their work is way out there.
But is it, really?
Since I’ve been studying this Resistance thing, it’s become easy to imagine how many ways there to not work. Really, the thing we most want to do is the thing we try hardest NOT to do.