Reading theWarofArt has had many effects on me. I spent a little less than a week absorbing Pressfield's opinion-laced wisdom. It has been a long time since a book has so captivated me. The concepts, questions, and ideas presented in this book of roughly 170 pages have reshaped how I will come to view myself - as a person and as an artist. Most specifically as a writer. I do not recommend reading it unless you want your life to be radically restructured.
I am at the beginning of that restructuring process. But I gladly report that Pressfield's writing is not solely to blame. If it were, I might have to seek him out to personally thank him - or worse. That it began even before this book found its way into my hands only makes his ideas resonate with me that much more. One of the passages that struck me as I was finishing yesterday afternoon I wish to share so you might benefit from it as well.
The Authentic Self
Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we
imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.
If we were born to paint, it's our job to become a painter.
If we were born to raise and nurture children, it's our job to become a mother.
If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance and injustice of the world, it's our job to realize it and get down to business.
theWarofArt, Pressfield, pg 146
Back in college, in 2004 when blogging was hardly even a thing yet, I was here. Blogging before blogging meant anything to anyone. You can look in the archives for my past writings, but it was much more like a journal in the past. When we started fundraising, I messed around with the idea of launching something new for this new phase of our journey but actually hated that idea. I am a sum of all of my life and so much of it is here already. So I'm keeping it here. At least for now.
My main focus these days is blogging about our newest journey into the bizarre and wonderful world of gestational surrogacy. Posts dated 2013 and forward will trend heavily toward that journey. I don't promise everything I write will be about though. There might be other things that sneak in occasionally.
Please come along our journey with us. As the saying goes, "The more, the merrier!"
1 comment:
Hey Kate - way cool thoughts to share. Sounds like an interesting book, I may have to check it out some time. Your quote reminded me of another one that goes along the lines of the importance of "becoming" in our lives:
"When we die and go to heaven, our maker is not going to say, why didn't you discover the cure for such and such? The only thing we're going to be asked at that precious moment is why didn't you become you?"
- Elie Wiesel
Here's to becoming, be sure to enjoy the journey!
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