Working Notes: a commonplace notebook for recording & exploring ideas.
Home. Site Map. Subscribe. More at expLog. — Kunal

The War of Art

A fairly famous book, to help me follow my own nose for projects without constantly second guessing myself.

The basic thesis, as I understood it:

we're wired to satisfy the tribe, and charting our own path is somewhat new in evolutionary terms
this comes with a lot of negative pressure for various reasons, perhaps our ego, perhaps fear
the main way through this is to expect the resistance, and have systems to work through it
do the work, don't make it personal; show up every day and follow the craft
deciding to follow through builds momentum and things start going your way

Quotes I particularly liked

that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery.

While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.

The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven.

The professional cannot allow the actions of others to define his reality.

Overall, there's a lot of stoicism wrapped in here: and references to the Gita on only having a right to do the work, not to care about the reward.

I enjoyed this book, and finished it fairly quickly; this is one of those I suspect I'll enjoy differently whenever I return to it.

We fear [that we can truly steer our ship, plant our flag, reach our Promised Land] because, if it’s true, then we become estranged from all we know. We pass through a membrane. We become monsters and monstrous.