Still from “An Otter Eating A Pumpkin”, Matt Schell 2017
Today I’m feeling a lot of resistance to write. The term resistance is one I find useful in terms of the creative process, as conceived by Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art” and “Do The Work”. Pressfield writes eloquently about the mental struggles of being creative, in his case from a writer’s perspective. He writes:
“Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.” – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
I feel that in fact most of the struggles and battles I experience in the creative process, and to a large extent the rest of life, are struggles with the enemy within. With fear, ego, self-doubt, inertia, loss of momentum. I know that I have the capacity to work, I believe that I have interesting things to say, but sometimes they are overcome by static and lost.
Momentum is a useful way for me to think about this. When I have momentum, when I’m being consistent, working and moving forward a kind of positive inertia can kick in. Yesterday it felt good to work and so tomorrow I look forward to working again. Today I’m tired and I can feel my momentum dip, but with the experience of years I know how important it is to expend effort to maintain it. To stick to my creative routine and pour energy into carrying the heavy canoe from one river to the next. If I don’t, I won’t get to the next smooth downstream flow. After doing this for a while it’s possible to build up hope and faith that easier times are in fact ahead, if we can just make it through this current patch of thorns.
