The WAR of ART Review

I would describe myself as a light social media consumer and had put an effort to identify Youtube channels that I found both interesting, entertaining from which i could learn from. Lately consuming these channels became challenging as a few months back (maybe even a year or two) Youtube default mode switched to promtoing attention seeking short videos probably to compete with TikTok or any other platform that promotes short videos. I hate it, I could even argue falling into doomscrolling would count as a form of resistance that is covered in the book i will cover.

So, I’ve recently found my way back to my curated list of youtube content providers (i realised there was a subscription section an easier fix than expected to my problem) and reconnected to a channel. I watched an heart-felt video from Michael Palmisano, a guitar teacher that is simply wonderful to watch and learn from.

He was recommending The War of Art a book by Steven Pressfield¹. As the video was compelling to me, i orderd it and devoured this short book in record time. Here’s my quick take on it.

In short form, if you are feeling you are not priorizing your creative projects, stop reading my post now and go read this book. It’s a short read, and eye opener, really fun read and it’s worth your time.

The book is split into 3 sections.

• Book One: Resistance
• Book Two: Turning Pro
• Book three: Beyond Resistance

The First part illustrates all (or most) of the different ways resistance manifest itself. An impressive list to say the least. I do have to admit that i related to a sizable number of those forms of resistance.

The Second Part is about showing up to work consistently and moving past resistance. Putting in the work day after day.

The third and last section, is about inspiration and accepting that our work flows through us and not from us. It’s a little esoteric for me as i don’t consider myself a spiritual person but I kept my mind opened to those ideas WHile it felts very different from the first two books, I thoroughly appreaciated this section and the lessons it contained.

This review is intently kept short as i want to publish this (or simply turn pro). This will have a permanent place in my bookshelf.

Hope this review finds you well and that you get going on your creative journey.