Excellent piece. I ought to look into finding my escape of the prisoner and differentiating that from the flight of the deserter. They can seem pretty similar during times of temptation.
"I ought to look into finding my escape of the prisoner and differentiating that from the flight of the deserter. They can seem pretty similar during times of temptation."--interesting! How so?
There are certain actions that can be either. Watching YouTube videos is the first example I can think of.
Sometimes it’s legit life giving and a great escape after a hard days works. Sometimes it’s me trying to avoid my problems by not thinking about them. Or I start watching things that are slowly leading me into other, more harmful habits.
That's a great insight. I struggle with some of the same things <3 Playing video games, for instance, can be a way for me to be with God or a way for me to hide from a problem, and I'm not always clear which is which even when I'm doing it.
Good and wise reflections. Have you read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art? He has similar views on the power and elusive nature of the Muse, but his real focus is on the corrosive (satanic?) influence of Resistance.
Is he the one who gets into the amateur vs professional mindset? Despite being a professional writer, I've never wanted to cultivate a professional mindset because I feel like I risk trying to wrestle control of the process from God back to me. Curious what you think he would say about that!
Why have I stressed professionalism so heavily in the preceding chapters? Because the most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Why is this so important? Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose. ... The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight.
Pressfield, Steven. The War of Art (p. 108). (Function). Kindle Edition.
To each their own, and if that works for you I'm happy for you <3
That mindset doesn't work for me, because it risks me trying to bump God out of the driver's seat of my life and into the passenger's seat. That is: sometimes when I sit down to write fiction, I'll pray, and I'll feel as though today's actually the wrong day to write fiction--that there's something else that God wants me to do instead. I heard someone once refer to this as God "calling an audible" and I want to always be on hand to hear those audibles rather than just assuming that I'm supposed to do the play I thought we were doing if that makes sense.
Excellent piece. I ought to look into finding my escape of the prisoner and differentiating that from the flight of the deserter. They can seem pretty similar during times of temptation.
"I ought to look into finding my escape of the prisoner and differentiating that from the flight of the deserter. They can seem pretty similar during times of temptation."--interesting! How so?
There are certain actions that can be either. Watching YouTube videos is the first example I can think of.
Sometimes it’s legit life giving and a great escape after a hard days works. Sometimes it’s me trying to avoid my problems by not thinking about them. Or I start watching things that are slowly leading me into other, more harmful habits.
Sorry for the slow reply!
That's a great insight. I struggle with some of the same things <3 Playing video games, for instance, can be a way for me to be with God or a way for me to hide from a problem, and I'm not always clear which is which even when I'm doing it.
Good and wise reflections. Have you read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art? He has similar views on the power and elusive nature of the Muse, but his real focus is on the corrosive (satanic?) influence of Resistance.
Thanks!
No I haven't. I'll check it out!
Is he the one who gets into the amateur vs professional mindset? Despite being a professional writer, I've never wanted to cultivate a professional mindset because I feel like I risk trying to wrestle control of the process from God back to me. Curious what you think he would say about that!
Why have I stressed professionalism so heavily in the preceding chapters? Because the most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Why is this so important? Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose. ... The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight.
Pressfield, Steven. The War of Art (p. 108). (Function). Kindle Edition.
That makes sense!
To each their own, and if that works for you I'm happy for you <3
That mindset doesn't work for me, because it risks me trying to bump God out of the driver's seat of my life and into the passenger's seat. That is: sometimes when I sit down to write fiction, I'll pray, and I'll feel as though today's actually the wrong day to write fiction--that there's something else that God wants me to do instead. I heard someone once refer to this as God "calling an audible" and I want to always be on hand to hear those audibles rather than just assuming that I'm supposed to do the play I thought we were doing if that makes sense.