The War of Art

Many thanks to my new friend, Patrick, for recommending The War of Art, by Steven (or Stephen) Pressfield.

It's a lot like Shout to the Lord, in the sense that once you've heard its message, you're immediately glad that someone put it out there.  Then, an instant later, you wish you could have been that person.  Not because of the money, or the fame, or the opportunities associated with it.  Like Shout to the Lord, Pressfield's book comes from a very good place, and you would just give your left hind leg to be in such a place.

Then, after these wistful thoughts, you realize that singing Shout to the Lord, from your heart, can take you to the place from which it sprang.  And it is the same when you take The War of Art into your heart - you end up in such a better place.

For my Christian friends, be forewarned - Pressfield does not write from a Christian viewpoint.  But his understanding of the Divine is nonetheless staggering - perhaps even more so - for this reason.  If you believe that you are a creative soul who is not living to your potential, please read the book.  If you believe that you are not a creative soul, please read the book immediately, frequently, and devotedly until you learn the truth about yourself.

God shaped you from birth, or even before, to fit a particular role in this world.  If you are not fulfilling that role, you are not only shortchanging yourself.  And you are not "merely" defying God.  You are blatantly denying all of us the fullness of all that God wants to pour into this world.

And I am just selfish enough to tell you to get off your ass and get busy filling this world with God-stuff.