“the WAR of ART”, thanks JOSH!

When I was home in Indiana a few weeks ago, I met Josh.  He’s been dating my niece Melissa for well over a year.  I’ve heard many wonderful things about him and now I know they are all true and with reason.  It was a very warm night and we were eating pizza at a restaurant in Broad Ripple (a neighborhood in Indy).  We were sitting outside on the patio…Melissa and Josh; Laura and Mike and their 2 girls.  I was telling them about my “words and watercolors” and how I had just gotten an order from the store “The Playful Soul”.  In talking about my cards and this new path I’m on (entrepreneurship as opposed to Corporate Sales Queen) and the fear I have surrounding it, the ever perceptive Josh suddenly said “You’ve got to read this book!”.  He couldn’t think of the name of it so googled something into his phone, found the book and let me read the description of the book.  “Yep, I need to read that!” I said handing him back his phone.  The subtitle of the book: “Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” caught my eye.  Josh went on to say he had a copy for me as he had purchased extra copies of the book after reading it because it resonated with him so much.  You have GOT to love a guy that is so perceptive he can pick up on the perfect book for someone he barely knows and then has a copy to give her!  And the book was absolutely what I needed (and still do).  It’s a very easy read but with a profound message of battling the Resistance that plagues us all, especially us creative types who feel, if truth be told, that we are not that good at our craft and no one will care one whit if we do what we say we will.  The author, Steven Pressfield, explains, as only someone who has gone through this battle himself can, how Resistance will break us down every time if we let it…the resolve to be strong, disciplined, focused and committed comes through loud and clear.  I continue to struggle with thinking this “words and watercolors” business is nice but question if it can really sustain me???  I know I need to breathe more and TRUST!  No matter that I’ve received a number of compliments on my website and my work.  The compliments don’t pay the printing bills, I think in that negative way that creeps into my psyche if I let it.  When I shift my thinking to “this is what I came to this lifetime to do and what I must do”…I feel better and will slowly begin to believe that somehow the gods will smile on me, inspiration will come and I’ll find the way to make this the success I feel it can be.  Thanks for the book, Josh.  It was and is just what I needed.