"The Artist's Life" (from Pressfield's "The War of Art")

"The Artist's Life" from Pressfield's The War of Art - 

"Are you a born writer? Were you put on this earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end, the question can only be answered by action.

Do it or don't do it.

It may help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don't do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.

You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God.

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every human being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got."

"The Fruits of Our Labor" from "The War of Art"

The Fruits of Our Labor

"When Krishna instructed Arjuna that we have a right to our labor but not to the fruits of our labor, he was counseling the warrior to act territorially, not hierarchically. We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.

But there's the third way offered by the Lord of Discipline, which is beyond both hierarchy and territory. That is to do the work and give it to Him. Do it as an offering to God.

Give the act to me.
Purged of hope and ego,
Fix your attention on the soul.
Act and do for me.

The work comes from heaven anyway. Why not give it back?

To labor in this way, the Bhagavad-Gita tells us, is a form of meditation and a supreme species of spiritual devotion. It also, I believe, conforms most closely to Higher Reality. In fact, we are servants of the Mystery. We were put here on earth to act as agents of the Infinite, to bring into existence that which is not yet, but will be, through us."

"We all become what we pretend to be."

From Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day One:

     "It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story." ~ Bast

"The Supreme Virtue" (from "The War of Art")

From Steven Pressfield's The War of Art:

"Someone once asked the Spartan king Leonidas to identify the supreme warrior virtue from which all others flowed. He replied: 'Contempt for death.'

For us as artists, read 'failure.' Contempt for failure is our cardinal virtue. By confining our attention territorially to our own thoughts and actions - in other words, to the work and its demands - we cut the earth from beneath the blue-painted, shield-banging, spear-brandishing foe."

"The First Duty"

      "The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thoughts, words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and to bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage."
 - Xenophon, The Cavalry Commander (as quoted in Pressfield's The War of Art)

The Qualities of Professionals (from Pressfield's "The War of Art")

     In Pressfield's The War of Art, he discusses the concept of "going pro." He's mostly writing about art and being an artist. But as he points out, the same applies to any endeavor of the soul - if you don't approach it with the attitude of a professional, chances are that Resistance will beat you and you'll fail. So as a note to myself: the qualities of a professional:

1. We show up every day.
2. We show up no matter what.
3. We stay on the job all day.
4. We are committed over the long haul.
5. The stakes for us are high and real.
6. We accept remuneration for our labor.
7. We do not overidentify with our jobs.
8. We master the techniques of our jobs.
9. We have a sense of humor about our jobs.
10. We receive praise or blame in the real world.

Damn straight.

Fitness Regimen: Week Three, Day 17: Carrying On . . .

Today's Exercises:
* 4 sets of 15 Standing Kickbacks with 15 lb. weights
* 4 sets of 15 Dumbbell Bicep Curls with 15 lb. weights
Today's Music: "Caught in a Mosh" (Anthrax), "Among the Living" (Anthrax), "I Am The Law" (Anthrax)