Some of you may know that I’m an artist. When I’m not working, I’m painting. I picked up The War of Art the other day because I was talking to someone about procrastination and fear of success holding people back from putting their work out into the public eye. Somehow, the conversation led us to Seth Godin’s blog where he, that very day, blogged about resistance. I had the book on my shelf from Seth Godin’s altMBA that I attended a few years back, so I’ve been going through it again.

The idea of resistance is so intriguing. It resonates because I always know what I want to accomplish, but resistance is a much easier route. I’ll just quote Seth, because he says it so well:

In Steven Pressfield’s classic The War of Art, he introduces the idea of Resistance. It’s the internal force that keeps us from doing our most important creative work.

If an instinct, a habit or a feeling gets in the way of the work, it’s Pressfield’s Resistance. Things we would never choose to add to the flow of our days, but there they are.

Resistance keeps you from writing that book you always wanted to write, pulling together that pet project, or proposing an interesting idea at work. It keeps me from painting daily, submitting my art to juried art shows, or putting together an online shop to sell my work.

Recognizing and overcoming resistance is like an artist facing a blank canvas. Just as each brush stroke brings a painting to life, each small action defeats the resistance. I realize the power of taking that first step, however small. Whether submitting a single piece to a juried show (which I recently did and my work was accepted!!), sketching a rough draft, or adding a layer of paint to a work in progress, these actions represent triumphs over resistance. Ultimately, it’s not about the grand gestures but the consistent, deliberate efforts we make every day. Just as Pressman says, we keep on waging our personal battles against resistance, knowing that we win the war in each small act of defiance.

P.S. Here’s the art I submitted to a show. It will be part of the New Mexico Watercolor Society Southern Chapter show that’ll run from December 1-28 in Las Cruces, NM.