Resistance and Love: A Little Gem for Would-Be Creative People Everywhere
consider the lilies of the field. or. the hydrangeas in my front yard. whichever.
This is from The War of Art by Steven Pressfield:
Resistance is directly proportional to love. If you’re feeling massive resistance, the good news is, it means there’s tremendous love there too. If you didn’t love the project that is terrifying you, you wouldn’t feel anything. The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference.
The more Resistance you experience, the more important your unmanifested art/project/enterprise is to you–and the more gratification you feel when you finally do it.
I’m currently resisting finishing a children’s book project which has been 95% ready to go for a month. If my number is on your speed dial, feel free to call me up and give me hell about that. I need to harness the Wouldn’t-It-Be-Awesome energy for this little project and imagine how happy I would be sending this little bundle of Love off to the kind-and-nice publishers in NYC. TODAY. Wouldn’t that be great?
How about you this week? Anything you’re ready to stop resisting?
June 25th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
blue hydrangeas. my favorite! i am exceedingly jealous. i planted some last year. the blooms were first pinkish, and then mostly green. this year a cold snap kept them from blooming at all. boo…
get back to your book project. and send it off!!!
June 25th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
WRITE, WOMAN, WRITE!!! Don’t you know the universe is waiting on you? Geez. All sorts of cosmic forces can’t align until you get this done. I’m sure somehow this all affects me one way or the other, so if you care at all about us mere humans, WRITE!
June 25th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
jen! i JUST experienced the same type of resistance last night. i had this 1000 word essay looming over my head for a FREE TRIP TO TAIWAN! i finally finished it, and it feels FABULOUS. YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN, YOU CAN, YOU CAN! you must push the force of resistance aside, and just get started!-Stop for no one!
June 25th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I have every confidence that you can harness the creative resources of the Universe and finish your book. Sometimes when I’m having a hard time doing something, I pretend to be someone else (usually a famous female actress of my choice). I dress like she might dress and go through my work day pretending everything’s happening to her and not me. (Only in my head, of course!) This gives it just enough of a shift to help me make it through. So…perhpas choose an alter ego and take on that persona and let him/her help you finish that children’s book
As for me, I need to stop resisting that it’s time for me to move on from my current paid employment. Signs and symptoms (emotional & physical) are everywhere. Yet I’m hanging on for that dear, dear paycheck and the “good” work that I think I can still contribute. Ugh!
June 25th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I met my dreams
in a dream last night.
They were whining about
the view, the humidity, the
reckless rooms inside my heart.
“We need room for flight”,
they cried. So I’m deconstructing
my tiny house today.
I’m giving my dreams
the starlight as their steeple,
the uncluttered winds
for their kites.
–Monique Duval (from The Persistence of Yellow)
June 25th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
jen!
yes, yes, yes! write, write, write! the universe *needs* & is demanding *your* creation. you are an open vessel. let it flow.
peace, peace, peace.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Hi Jen. Thanks for the live picture of the hydrangeas today. These beautiful blue flowers were one of my favorite things in our drive through Maryland last week. Keep up your wonderful writing!
June 26th, 2007 at 10:11 am
you’re SO close…
take a deep breathe and set it free…
the world is just waiting to welcome your creation.
love,
k
xo
June 26th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Thank you for so many gifts on your site during the past weeks. I’m a long-time lurker and a first-time commenter.
You inspire me to try harder.
June 26th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Now Jen, there you go again–hitting the nail on the head. You wise wise woman. I been thinking about resistance alot lately too. Why we do it? What it means? How we might just be scared to succeed? What is the real risk?
But there are children who need to read that book so get writing sweetheart–We are all waiting breathlessly for it’s amazing arrival.
xo
June 26th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
I love children’s books. Probably I’m going to have to go find it. Hope you don’t mind I’m going to borrow that picture for my desktop image this week. At least I can not resist looking at something lovely while chained to my computer in my basement office all week. Thanks.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
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June 28th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Remember what James said.