{"id":523,"date":"2024-01-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/?p=523"},"modified":"2024-01-20T22:19:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T03:19:09","slug":"read-with-steph-week-1-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/?p=523","title":{"rendered":"Week One Reflections: A Garden of Consciousness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Week One Worksheet (Free!)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I reread the first sixteen pages of The War of Art, I was pulled in by Pressfield\u2019s experiential descriptions of the Resistance. From the first page, where he recounts what a day of writing is like for him, through declaration that we feed Resistance with our fear on page sixteen, the tangible imagery grabs hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know, of course, that we\u2019re talking about mental processes here. Any writer or creative knows at least to some extent that creative blocks happen, and these things are inside our head. But things that happen inside our heads shape our consciousness, our focus, and our experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Flow, Mihaly Csizentmihalyi defines consciousness as \u201cthe result of biological processes. It exists only because of the incredibly complex architecture of our nervous system, which in turn is built up according to instructions contained in the protein molecules of our chromosomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people are able to better understand their own innate nature and potential through those molecules, our bodily processes, hormones, and brain chemistry. As someone with an autoimmune disorder, I have deep respect for those people because I absolutely need medication to compensate, and it has made a world of difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Csizentmihalyi and Pressfield focus on a form of analysis that speaks to my nature as a storyteller. Their writings deal \u201cdirectly with events\u2013phenomena\u2013as we experience and interpret them, rather than focusing on anatomical structures, neurochemical processes, or unconscious purposes that make these events possible\u201d (Csizentmihalyi 25-26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressfield\u2019s writing leans to the dramatic, and Csizentmihalyi to the scientific, but both both speak to me, which is why I\u2019ll be putting them in conversation with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pressfield describes innate genius in the forward as \u201can inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling,\u201d it speaks to me. Pair that with Csizentmihalyi\u2019s description of attention: \u201cAttention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work it is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we invest this energy. Memories, thoughts, and feelings are all shaped by how we use it.\u201d So, genius is more than a whisper of potential. Genius, consciousness, our inner self, grows from how we use our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And consciousness only has so much space. We can\u2019t be constantly aware of everything. We\u2019re human, so we have to spend the energy of attention carefully and wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pressfield declares \u201cI looked everywhere for the enemy and failed to see it right in front of my face\u201d I thought I knew exactly what he meant. I\u2019ve spent enough time blaming myself for my problems and creative blocks, kicking myself when I\u2019m down, and it\u2019s so incredibly easy for me to say that I\u2019m the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the thing I\u2019ve found, both by reading through this book and in my own experience: Self-blame is just another mask of the Resistance, and Resistance \u201ccannot be reasoned with. It understands nothing but power\u201d (10). As much as Resistance is inside of me, inside of all of us, it is not us, and it\u2019s not our fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least, not exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our lovely human consciousness is constantly bombarded with \u201cinformation that conflicts with existing intentions, or distracts us from carrying them out\u201d (Csikszentmihalyi 36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I intend to sit down to get some writing done, but my dog keeps pawing at my leg. Now I have to figure out what my sweet little fussy Fox wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, I go down to the basement to grab a reference book and discover that the basement has partially flooded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, I\u2019m hounding myself with negative self-talk because I\u2019m not living up to my greatest potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small daily experiences like these, large crises and life-altering revelations, or every experience with a magnitude between those two extremes contribute to disorder in our thoughts. We lose focus. Our attention gets pulled in too many directions, we spend all our energy, and these things can become \u201cpsychic entropy, a disorganization of the self that impairs its effectiveness\u201d (Csikszentmihalyi 37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resistance is psychic entropy. It\u2019s a deterioration of focus, spending our attentive energy on too many different things, never quite managing to come back to our own self, our genius. And, this psychic entropy is like the laundry, dishes, and all the other chores in our lives. It\u2019s pretty much inevitable. Every day, we gain new experiences. Every day we have to figure out what to do with them. Csizentmihalyi writes: \u201cEvery piece of information we process gets evaluated for its bearing on the self. Does it threaten our goals, does it support them, or is it neutral? \u2026 A new piece of information will either create disorder in consciousness, by getting us all worked up to face the threat, or it will reinforce our goals, thereby freeing up psychic energy\u201d (39).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single experience gets filtered through our minds, and we experience so much day after day. Pressfield writes, \u201cThe warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day\u201d (14). It\u2019s an ongoing process. We\u2019ll never reach some plateau where creativity filters purely down from heaven. Rather, like every other human being, we\u2019ll have good days, average days, bad days. We\u2019ll do our best to set ourselves up for success where we can, and roll with shifting tides of this war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If terminology like \u201cResistance\u201d and \u201cthe enemy within\u201d (10) get you to pay attention to these forces within you and build your confidence to face them, hold on to it. Let it free up some psychic energy as it becomes shorthand for the new information you\u2019re developing as you solidify your understanding of the shape of things inside of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if it\u2019s perpetuating negative self-talk, call it entropy or mental laundry and remember that it does not define you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another image that might help:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Our consciousness is a garden. We cultivate that garden through attention. We can cultivate our gardens in ways that embrace our own innate nature, our values, our strengths, and our faults. Cultivation takes work. Understanding our garden means understanding not only its beautiful flora and fauna, but also the weeds and the pests. When you know those faults and accept them as part of you, then learn the processes that work for you in dealing with them, you slowly free up psychic energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know this. Depression used to take a great deal more out of my mind and heart. I\u2019ve still got bad days and rough patches, but the effort I\u2019ve put into cultivating depression as a factor in my existence has made it easier to spot warning signs, avoid pitfalls, and use the safety nets I\u2019ve built for myself. Depression isn\u2019t psychic entropy\u2013but its presence does mean I have to take care before I ruminate myself into a state of psychic entropy and stagnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That happens. Sometimes, our mental gardens grow wild with weeds and pests. Often it\u2019s because there is too much going on in the world around us to take any time to care for ourselves, or because something has happened that totally shattered our self-image. When a relationship you\u2019ve cultivated for years comes to an end unexpectedly, when that creative project is constantly met with apathy from everyone around you, when your enthusiasm is answered with disdain, it wears you down. One thorny weed you just don\u2019t have the energy to pull becomes twenty. A sprig of something green you thought would be lovely in your garden turns out to be kudzu that blankets your garden and denies all other plantlife access to sunlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to say it\u2019s a choice to tend to our consciousness\u2013because, technically, it is. We\u2019ve also got to make choices about financial stability, physical safety, and how we act in the world around us. And we\u2019ve got to deal with the consequences of other people\u2019s choices. Those impact us, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re the one that\u2019s in the depths of psychic entropy or someone else is, remember: \u201cEveryone who has a body experiences Resistance\u201d (13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we\u2019re all in this thing together. We don\u2019t know everyone\u2019s exact experiences, but we can also choose to meet others and ourselves with empathy rather than judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t restore a garden by complaining about the weeds. You can\u2019t win a war with friendly fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have that chance to breathe, you start from where you\u2019re at. Assess the situation. Accept it for what it is. Then, do one tiny thing to make it better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our next week\u2019s reading, we\u2019ll look at the allies and symptoms of Resistance, reading pages 17 through 28. As a head\u2019s up, pages 26 through 28 contain potentially triggering views on medication, medical diagnoses, and victimhood. For me, it\u2019s an opportunity to roll my eyes real hard, but please feel free to skip those pages. You know yourself best.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressfield, Steven. The War of Art. Black Irish Entertainment, 2002. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I reread the first sixteen pages of The War of Art, I was pulled in by Pressfield\u2019s experiential descriptions of the Resistance. From the first page, where he recounts what a day of writing is like for him, through declaration that we feed Resistance with our fear on page sixteen, the tangible imagery grabs hold.<\/p>\n

I know, of course, that we\u2019re talking about mental processes here. Any writer or creative knows at least to some extent that creative blocks happen, and these things are inside our head. But things that happen inside our heads shape our consciousness, our focus, and our experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[19,18,20],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readalong","tag-steven-pressfield","tag-the-war-of-art","tag-writing-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":539,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions\/539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephweavestales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}