I’m re-reading Steven Pressfield’s book “The War of Art” again for the about the 10th time. Y
Yesterday and today I’ve been thinking a lot about what he writes regarding “why” an Artist does his work and about what should be the utter essence of why I create.
It was a breakthrough. I cried a bit because I had to let go of some shit around this matter. Two points Pressfield wrote shook me up and I’m grateful to him for them: First, “What do I feel growing inside me? Let me bring that forth, if I can, for its own sake and not for what it can do for me or how it can advance my standing”. Second, “We must do our work for its own sake, not fortune or attention or applause. Then there’s the third way proffered by the Lord of Discipline (my notes: He’s referring to an instruction spoken by Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna), 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.
