The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

Pressfield explores the forces that he feels help creative people find inspiration and finish projects. He claims that one can think of these forces as objective and impersonal, or as embodied beings such as “angels” or “muses” (106). If this concept makes the reader uncomfortable, Pressfield encourages them to consider this force as a “talent” that humans have evolved as part of cognition (106). However the reader chooses to view these forces, Pressfield considers them an “ally” to creative people, and therefore the opposite of Resistance (108). He claims that artists’ allies of angels, muses, or raw talent are most likely to help the creative person if they dedicate themselves to working each day. The artist should remain humble and consider themselves a servant to creativity, rather than operate from the Ego.

Pressfield reminisces about trying to finish his first novel in his late twenties. Living in a small, rented house in northern California, he worked fulltime on his writing, shutting out all other distractions such as TV and newspapers. His neighbor, Paul Rink, gave him a typed copy of Homer’s prayer, “The Invocation of the Muse” from the Odyssey. Pressfield still has that copy, which he continues to say aloud each day before he writes. He recalls the pain he caused himself and others due to his “compulsion to self-destruct” and give up on his creative pursuits (112). While Pressfield’s novel was never published, and he didn’t receive a paycheck for any written work for another 10 years, he felt relieved and triumphant to have finished his first book.

Pressfield ponders where creative inspiration comes from, and suggests that different cultures intuitively know that there is a higher plane of reality with gods or other supernatural forces. He discusses the William Blake quote, “Eternity is in love with creations of time,” claiming that Blake means that deities or incorporeal beings have an awareness and interest in “time,” or the human dimension (163). Pressfield argues that these beings may prompt us to create certain things, using our bodies to bring their inventions into the material world. He admits that he believes in literal angels, and that they exist to help us evolve. He believes that when artists have the courage to start a project these angels are more likely to help them.

Pressfield reveals that after his daily scheduled writing time he takes a recorder on a walk, so when he suddenly has a new revision or insight he can record it. He ponders the origin of these unexpected, subconscious insights, wondering whether this is some inherent aspect of the human psyche, or the work of angels or muses. Pressfield shares two dreams that inspired him to take control of his life, and to respect the lessons he learned from dreams and meditative visions. He argues that angels or other forces could be responsible for using our subconscious to send people visions, since they are insightful and speak to people’s needs.

Pressfield then explores the role of the Ego and the Self in people’s lives and creative pursuits. The Ego is our conscious, thinking brain, while the Self is our more intuitive and unconscious brain. Using a Jungian model, Pressfield claims that most people spend their lives operating from their Ego, but when faced with the prospect of death often shift to living from the Self. Pressfield wonders if living from the Self can be healing for people with serious illnesses. He cites cancer patients who recover after pursuing their true passions after being diagnosed.

Pressfield connects this discussion to his argument about Resistance, which he claims is an aspect of the Ego, while angels “make their home in the Self” (136). Feeling threatened by change and connectedness to others, the Ego diminishes artists’ ability to produce their work. He explains: “The Ego hates it because it knows that these souls are awakening to a call, and that that call comes from a plane nobler than the material one and from a source deeper and more powerful than the physical” (140).

Pressfield reiterates that Resistance and fear are inherently linked. He acknowledges that some fears are very valid, such as fear of poverty, failure, feeling selfish, or neglecting other responsibilities. However, he claims that, subconsciously, people are most afraid of success, since this will change their life and identity and transform their known social dynamics into something new. He says that successful people cope with significant life changes, which include losing family or friends who they no longer feel connected to or supported by. Pressfield insists that the reader will forge better relationships should these changes happen in their lives. He argues that each person is born with a “highly refined and individuated soul,” and a particular destiny to fulfill on earth (146). He points to children’s different personalities as proof that no one is a “blank slate,” but has a calling that requires them to use their personal gifts (145).

People and animals can define themselves in two ways: their place in a hierarchy of other people, or their ownership of a territory, such as a craft. Pressfield laments that many people continue to try to create their identity hierarchically, even though this simply doesn’t work in large, anonymous societies. In the case of a tribe or small town, people can feel secure knowing their position in relation to other people, but Pressfield insists that in modern culture people feel “overwhelmed, anonymous” (148). When the artist tries to operate hierarchically, it corrupts their art, since they will try to compete and worry too much about what others think. Pressfield points to the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh as an example of a great artist who continued creating even though he did not find buyers or supporters in his lifetime.

For these reasons, artists should make their identity about connection to a territory—their craft. Pressfield argues that in doing so, artists maintain a genuine connection to their craft and create art that derives from their interests and inspiration, rather than their perception of what will perform well in the market. If artists are anxious about being liked and validated by others, they are operating hierarchically. If they pursue their craft even if no one else ever sees it, they are functioning territorially.

In the ancient Hindu scripture the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna tells the warrior Arjuna that he only has a right to do his work, but not to the rewards of that work. Pressfield interprets this to mean that artists have to perform “work for its own sake, not for fortune, or attention, or applause” (161). He reiterates that people are “agents of the mystery” and are “sustained by God” (162). Artists must behave like warriors: They must be ready to confront challenges with humility, always serving a force greater than themselves. This humility stands in contrast to the Ego, which is the origin of Resistance.

Pressfield concludes his work by insisting that the reader must act on their creative impulses, as whatever they create will benefit them and the world. He warns that repressing their creative gifts hurts themselves and others, and disrespects the angels or deities that gave them their talents. He urges the reader to see their abilities as a “gift to the world,” and to get working on their craft (165).