Fighting the Dragon
There is a force that waylays us at times. It stalls us. That is putting it mildly, it is out to get us, to eat our souls. It is a force that every creative person knows but most of us never knew it’s name. We just know it is there, like some dark specter looking over our shoulders waiting for us to commit to a creative challenge or venture. Up till now, I never knew its name. But today its has a name. It name is Resistance. Sounds odd and innocuous for something so hideous. It’s Steven Pressfield‘s name. He named it in his book “the War of Art.” I always thought it was several demons; procrastination, self doubt, the Tyranny of the Urgent and more. But Pressfield makes it clear, the enemy is Resistance for it is many.
I see it like a dragon that I must slay. I have been fighting it this past few month. You know it. You have seen it’s shadow over me. It’s breath has hung on me heavy like a chain on my neck. A drug that dulls my creative senses. The dragon whispered in my ear, your are too busy to write. You have no time to shoot. What do you have to offer anyway. You the reader, you knew, you saw it’s shadow and you called out to me. Yet I was dulled by the dragons breath, a stupor of sorts. It was not depression, not this time. True, I have been tiered, but tiered because I have been busy with good and righteous things. Things that count. Even things that have an eternal value. But the creative side of me has been slowly wilting. Slowly fading away. I need it to live as much as I need breath. Things that are of value are of paramount, but if I wither and dry up like a leaf at the end of autumn then what good are those valuable things? I see it now. Pressfield helped me see the dragon. He named it. Anything that has a name, is less scary, less powerful. Because it is identifiable, it can no longer hide. I don’t know yet how to kill it. But I know I can strike back and I will. This is just a start. A breath. Just to write these few lines has been a victory over the beast. His face today is guilt over all the work I need to do. I don’t get paid to write a blog. But it waters my soul. It is fresh air and I breathe again. It is a short breath but it is sweet.
Have you seen your dragon? I know his name. His name is Resistance.
I’m there with you, brother. Keep fighting the good fight. We’ll get there 😉
Thanks Bro, I know you are.
Resistance? What resistance? I’m up at 3am writing and I…oh, look a new post on Matt’s blog.
Darn resistance.
🙂
I have MISSED your blog! You are what I strive to be…which is a better artist. You give inspiration to those who seldom say it, and quietly follow your blog for the faces we want to see even when we didn’t know it ourselves. You go places we may never go and you see things we may never see.
So, SLAY THAT DRAGON! We are waiting….
Seen him? I can feel his fiery breath on the back of my neck. I can feel his eyes look into my soul in search of weakness. I can see his tail about to strike my legs to topple me. Oh, I can see him alright, and he’s not pretty. But now that we know his name we can stand up and tell him that we’re fighting back. Hey, Resistance, I hope that you have friends because you’re not passing this line in the sand. I dare you to try. Oh, but if you prefer to try to pass Matt’s line first that’s OK with me. 🙂
Thanks for being so brave Jeffrey and feeding me to my dragon. But, I think you have your own dragon and you will, unfortunately, have to deal with it personally. But the cool thing is, I don’t think we have to deal with them alone.
Thanks Dana for your kind and encouraging words. I have bad news though, you never really slay it. You just wound it for a while. It always returns and and is ready to strike. Nasty little buggers.
We don’t create because we are too busy. We don’t create because we are afraid.
Thanks for putting some light on the subject. It is sometimes easier to slay the dragons when you do it together. Thank God for social media!
Matt, thanks for the kind words re “War of Art.” If it makes you feel any better, Resistance continues to kick my butt too. In fact I’m avoiding work right now by sending this note to you. Keep truckin’, partner. You’re putting out great work. I salute you!
Oh a post after my own heart. Do you know the whole dragon slaying metaphor has a long proud tradition? I stumbled on an excellent metaphor by Nietzsche and you are spot on…once you name a dragon, that sucker goes down much easier. I started watching my clients play with the metaphor (I’m a life coach, but I promise not a lame one, and I’m not looking to promote myself here, I just want to give a thumbs up on the insight you had). The difference just naming those dragons makes is transformative. Sometimes you even learn to laugh at them (while they torture you and make you cry). They are dragons, not salamanders, after all. Expect a fight if your dragon is worth its scales. Besides, when you take its head in victory, you want to be able to show it off, yeah?
For those of you wanting the metaphor without having to read Thus Spoke Zarathustra, here’s the lowdown (explained in the context of finding one’s life purpose). Enjoy!
Okay so I am up at 5:00am to do some blogging before work…. but instead of doing anything remotely related to blogging I am reading through emails, googling to check the weather and London tube closures this weekend and, oh look, reading about Dragons on Matt’s blog! Resistance? moi? Oh yeah, I have been battling that sucker (I guess I have always identified it as procrastination) my whole life. In fact I am pretty sure I majored in it at uni and got a HD 😉
So, Matt, you ain’t alone in the resistance fight- you got a lot of us waving our swords around madly, right along with you 🙂
Matt, I recognise the beast – it sure gets around!!
But hey, you have the power to fight it back into its den. From previous posts, when you spoke of having been to an NGO workshop, you referred to learning from experience, taking the positives from a situation and using that experience to guide and steer you in the future.
And here is one such experience, you hit a block, you froze for a while, but then you reached into yourself and wrote an excellent post. Result- positive feedback and support from your readers, many of who also recognise and have experienced similar symptoms.
Now next time this, or something similar happens,look back at this experience and take the learning fom it to guide you in overcoming the problem.
Great to see you back
DT
Son, It has done been a while since I hollered atchee. Where I growed up they said resistance is futile, and now you’re sayin’ it’s a dragon. I hope you cut that feller up and eat him for bar be cue and I’ll be askin accordinly.
Fantastic post. Stumbled this way from Steven Pressfield’s twitter page @spressfiel. I’m a bit of a dragon fan over here but I understand the metaphor and I think you’re spot on. For me, Resistance does not take the form of a dragon. Instead, it takes the form of a shadowy doppleganger or wraith, always mutable. Sometimes taking the faces of loved ones and honored ideas. It continually attacks from different angles. It’s inspiring to see someone standing their ground firmly and dealing with it!
And, dude, amazing photos! Thanks for sharing!