Resistance & The Muse

No, not this Resistance or this Muse (see below), though I was amused to find this (no pun intended) while working on this post:

I first learned of the Resistance I’m writing about in 2013 in Steven Pressfield’s book “Do the Work”, and my perspective on getting things done radically changed.

While I’d diligently studied and applied many of the best techniques out there, I now had a category — a way of defining the nature of something I’d struggled with, but couldn’t understand or strategically deal with.

More recently, I kept hearing and reading about “The Muse” and wanted to understand more what or who this was.

If, like me, you’re curious about what is beyond the first few pages of Google results, and convinced that there is more out there of relevance to learn, this might be for you; because neither of these concepts are anywhere to be found in the first page of Google results. And unless you’ve had a Classical education, or a good memory for the smattering of it that many of us still received who are educated in the West, you may not have heard of The Muse in ancient Greek thought or the concept of Resistance.

I gave up after page 6 of Google results, so I’m confident that The Muse may be a new persona and Resistance a new concept for many.

Here are some reasons why you might want to read on:

• Are you struggling to create something to get your life’s work done?
• Dreaming of your side-gig becoming your main thing?
• Wish you knew how to go about doing your life’s work?
• Are you a left-brainer who wants to better understand why some say that “right-brainers will rule the future” and how to stay relevant?

Dan Pink in his book “A Whole New Mind”, which he wrote for those “uneasy in their careers”, writes about:

… the essential six essential aptitudes — what I call “the six senses” — on which professional success and personal satisfaction increasingly will depend. Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. These are fundamentally human abilities that everyone can master…

Here is why you should care about Resistance & the Muse:

To succeed in mastering these “six senses” and certainly to apply them in your work as you strive for meaningful success and satisfaction, you will encounter Resistance and need the assistance of the Muse.

You see, the Muse and Resistance are probably more familiar to the right-brainers — the creatives, the inventors, the musicians, the storytellers, the writers in your midst. [Side note: I’ve always found the best programmers are former and current musicians and the first programmer I ever hired was an English major.]

So what is RESISTANCE?

This is drawn largely from my first introduction to it (in Do the Work) and the best definition I can muster for now:

RESISTANCE is that invisible force that summarizes the fear, self-doubt, procrastination (and I would add akrasia), addiction, distraction, timidity, ego and narcissism, self-loathing (though I would say some of this can be healthy at times), perfectionism, etc. that keep you from doing the good work(s) you’ve been called to do.

And who is The MUSE?

Here is the definition from Google — when you include the word “definition”:

1. (in Greek and Roman mythology) each of nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences. synonyms: inspiration, creative influence, stimulus;
2. a woman, or a force personified as a woman, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist. synonyms: inspiration, creative influence, stimulus;

So the MUSE is that assistance, that inspiration, that influence we receive from outside ourselves to create. This gets pretty philosophical and spiritual doesn’t it? Regardless of what your perspective on spirituality or religion or theology leads you to call it, you’ve no doubt encountered the Muse somewhere along the way.

[Full Disclosure: I’m still learning about the Muse. As I gain more insights, I’m likely to update this blog. Suffice it to say I do believe in the Muse!! :-)]

Conclusion

Even if you’re content with being told “why” and “what” you need to do, and are blissfully content to exercise your expertise in “how” to get it done, and don’t ever plan on writing a book, starting a company, or creating a work of art, I hope being introduced to Resistance and the Muse helps explain your more creative colleagues and may even be helpful as you venture out into more creative endeavors w/in your field of work.

And if you came across this having been in the throes of the creative battles, I hope you can understand yourself and your struggle better, press on!

On the field of The Self stand a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon. — Steven Pressfield

And if you’re looking for inspiration to start on a more creative journey consider this:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. — W.H.Murray

Commit!

Resources

• Dan Pink talks about “broad forces in the economy that are putting a premium on a different approach to business…” and “the six senses” and how “smart individuals are putting them into practice” here.
• Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind” is here.
• Josh Kaufman on akrasia here.
• Pressfield’s “Do the Work” is here, as well as the more comprehensive “The War of Art” here.
• A much more comprehensive, but not book-length treatment of the muse here.
• And finally, it’s no coincidence that the word music the most powerful of the liber(ating) arts is derived from “Greek mousike (techne) “(art) of the Muses,” from fem. ofmousikos “pertaining to the Muses,” from Mousa “Muse” (see muse (n.))”. From perhaps one of the greatest works of art ever created, one of my favorites, along with it’s author’s clear attribution here.