The Artist's Journey: The Wake of the Hero's Journey and the Lifelong Pursuit of Meaning
Product ID: 110603310
"No one's insights about the craft and journey of being an artist have guided me in the day-to-day struggle of this profession more than Steven Pressfield. Wherever you are, whatever you've been called to make, you need to read this book...and everything else he has written." — Ryan Holiday, Bestselling Author of Ego Is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is the Way YOU ARE AN ARTIST ... AND YOU HAVE AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY I have a theory about the Hero’s Journey. We all have one. We have many, in fact. But our primary hero’s journey is the passage we live out, in real life, before we find our calling. The hero’s journey ends when, like Odysseus, we return home to Ithaca, to the place from which we started. What then? The passage that comes next is The Artist’s Journey . On our artist’s journey, we move past Resistance and past self-sabotage. We discover our true selves and our authentic calling, and we produce the works we were born to create. You are an artist too—whether you realize it or not, whether you like it or not—and you have an artist’s journey. Will you live it out? Will you follow your Muse and do the work you were born to do? Ready or not, you are called. Review: The Path Carries Both Light & Darkness - "It is not an overstatement, I believe, to declare that the artist's role is to lead the human race back to Eden." --Steven Pressfield Ok, this one is a little more airy than Turning Pro or War of Art. If I had to put them in Order, I'd start with Turning Pro, then War of Art, then this. Artist's Journey is about the etherial & eternal challenges all artists have reaching into the metaphorical "box", pulling out something, putting their own effort & soul into it, & suffering what may come when they bring it into the world. Turning Pro is tactical, War of Art is strategic--but this is wholly philosophical. Three metaphors in the book stuck with me--this idea of returning people to their original state of innocence & understanding through the work. Think about fighting war to achieve peace--sounds like it shouldn't make sense, but there are those who gunwork & war is their art. The second metaphor is this idea of the two worlds an artist operates in: The material & immaterial. Artists grab inspiration & purity from one world, grounded it in this one for others to appreciate & enjoy. Finally--this idea of the inner daimon. The belief you have a calling, you've always had a calling. And you life running away from that is a distraction & danger. Ultimately, you have to submit to the daimon. Or you don't & you never live your life to it's fullest intent or extent. That's huge--but imagine the artists & the experts we venerate. Hitchcock was involved in creating over 60 movies. Elon Musk wants to end our dependence to oil & send us to Mars. But not the big names--my father taught middle school PE for 30 years. His devotion to education definitely led to my path in instructional design. We say those who face the journey are heroes. They're not--they're doing what they no other choice but to do. This book explains why spiritually & philosophically. Our work needs us as much as we need to bring it into the world. There's a great David Mamet quote on this too: The problem with any dramatist, especially ones doing it a long, long time, is you want to get these guys out of your head. You just want them to stop talking to you. Review: Spoke to my creative soul - Like many who have read this book, it felt like Steven was talking directly to me. I sometimes have a hard time balancing my desire for business success with my desire for artful success. I could not put this book down. I had to immediately purchase his other books. I started reading this book on the plane traveling to New York to see the US Open of Tennis. We were also going to be taking in some Broadway shows. Every Broadway show I see sparks my creative desires to be fully invested in creativity. I sometimes struggle with how to take up this path, which is why the book spoke to me at just the right time. If you have that burning desire in you, that desperate need to be on a creative quest, this book is a must read for you. I myself left my small upstate New York village of Caledonia and headed for Hollywood. I left my five-year career with the Livingston County Sheriff's Department, to head west and join the L.A. Sheriff's Department, knowing deep in my soul I needed to be in L.A. to fulfill my desires for success in comedy and acting. Now retired from the Sheriff's Department, I now need to hone my focus on my creative goals. Cop, writer, comedian, producer, actor, I find myself with too many targets, and not enough lifetimes to fulfill too many dreams. If this resonates with you in any way, you will have many questions answered in this book.
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T**R
The Path Carries Both Light & Darkness
"It is not an overstatement, I believe, to declare that the artist's role is to lead the human race back to Eden." --Steven Pressfield Ok, this one is a little more airy than Turning Pro or War of Art. If I had to put them in Order, I'd start with Turning Pro, then War of Art, then this. Artist's Journey is about the etherial & eternal challenges all artists have reaching into the metaphorical "box", pulling out something, putting their own effort & soul into it, & suffering what may come when they bring it into the world. Turning Pro is tactical, War of Art is strategic--but this is wholly philosophical. Three metaphors in the book stuck with me--this idea of returning people to their original state of innocence & understanding through the work. Think about fighting war to achieve peace--sounds like it shouldn't make sense, but there are those who gunwork & war is their art. The second metaphor is this idea of the two worlds an artist operates in: The material & immaterial. Artists grab inspiration & purity from one world, grounded it in this one for others to appreciate & enjoy. Finally--this idea of the inner daimon. The belief you have a calling, you've always had a calling. And you life running away from that is a distraction & danger. Ultimately, you have to submit to the daimon. Or you don't & you never live your life to it's fullest intent or extent. That's huge--but imagine the artists & the experts we venerate. Hitchcock was involved in creating over 60 movies. Elon Musk wants to end our dependence to oil & send us to Mars. But not the big names--my father taught middle school PE for 30 years. His devotion to education definitely led to my path in instructional design. We say those who face the journey are heroes. They're not--they're doing what they no other choice but to do. This book explains why spiritually & philosophically. Our work needs us as much as we need to bring it into the world. There's a great David Mamet quote on this too: The problem with any dramatist, especially ones doing it a long, long time, is you want to get these guys out of your head. You just want them to stop talking to you.
C**S
Spoke to my creative soul
Like many who have read this book, it felt like Steven was talking directly to me. I sometimes have a hard time balancing my desire for business success with my desire for artful success. I could not put this book down. I had to immediately purchase his other books. I started reading this book on the plane traveling to New York to see the US Open of Tennis. We were also going to be taking in some Broadway shows. Every Broadway show I see sparks my creative desires to be fully invested in creativity. I sometimes struggle with how to take up this path, which is why the book spoke to me at just the right time. If you have that burning desire in you, that desperate need to be on a creative quest, this book is a must read for you. I myself left my small upstate New York village of Caledonia and headed for Hollywood. I left my five-year career with the Livingston County Sheriff's Department, to head west and join the L.A. Sheriff's Department, knowing deep in my soul I needed to be in L.A. to fulfill my desires for success in comedy and acting. Now retired from the Sheriff's Department, I now need to hone my focus on my creative goals. Cop, writer, comedian, producer, actor, I find myself with too many targets, and not enough lifetimes to fulfill too many dreams. If this resonates with you in any way, you will have many questions answered in this book.
P**Y
The legacy continues
If you didn't get your start with The War of Art, then start there. This is the latest in a succession of "Pressfield inspires the artist within" tomes and it's excellent. It lacks the punch of War of Art – but also operates on a more personal and thoughtful level. Good stuff to read when you're in the dark night of the soul, trying to push through the hardest part of your work.
J**S
Another Great Book For All Artists
This book is the truth. Lately, I've been experiencing exactly what Steven describes in this book. I've been an artist all my life, spending a lot of time refusing the call and now helplessly committed to answering it. I thought I must be going a little crazy, but here it is in black and white and if it's crazy, I'm glad to know I'm not alone. Because like it or not (and I do), I'm on the journey. I loved the War of Art and Turning Pro and this book is similar but feels like we're much further down the path. I ate this book up, I love the bite-sized chapters and the concise style in which Steven writes. And at the end, when I read the thanks, I knew it was the end of the book but I turned the page somewhat hopeful anyway. When all I found was a blank page I thought, Oh no! I don't know what else could have been said but I was sorry the ride was over. Gonna take me a while to get over it. :)
C**E
This book is about LIVING not writing/painting/art product making
I'm on my 3rd read of this one. Bought the paperback after listening to the audiobook. Steven Pressfield is brilliant and it feels like he is just sitting across from you and having a conversation. He is not teaching the world how to become an "artist" but rather how to become a creator of life. Pairs well with The Creative Act by Rick Rubin.
J**K
A series of provacative meditations
If Pressfield’s 'Turning Pro' is your book for your Monday through Friday, when you put on your hardhat and pick up your pen or your brush or your chisel, 'The Artist’s Journey' is your book for your Sabbath, when you set down the tools of your trade and reflect, not on the How, but the Why. This Why comes not from you (even through it may seem to) but from a Source beyond you. You will be reminded of what you did not know but had suspected, in a hopeful moment—that to make art is a sacred act, yes because it connects the artist with the divine but also because it connects other to Other. And if all that sounds too esoteric or complex, take the more straightforward admonition from Pressfield: “Put your ass where your heart wants to be.”
T**N
Transformational IF you're ready.
I'm grateful for Pressfield's book finding me at this moment in my journey! If you're ready to hear its message, it can be at once validating, explanatory, clarifying, healing, strengthening, AND instructive and uplifting... I wish I could give you more context for you - but this is the kind of book that will speak to your soul in a way only YOU can glean. You will intuitively know if you need to hear what The Artist's Journey has to say. As for the writing style: it's dynamic, bold, instructive but kind. Non-condescending. Expertly minimalist while explicitly clarifying. Thank you Mr. Pressfield for putting out this expression of your spirit.
C**Y
Steven Pressfield
I love this guy, Pressfield. This one gets a little esoteric. I highly recommend The War of Art by Pressfield. It is his Magnum Opus.
E**E
Important read
Not just for artists, but for anyone with a meaningful pursuit they keep procrastinating on!
A**E
it‘s the brick you need to hit resistance on the head
As an artist, I was going back and forth, contemplating whether I was one or not. I know I am. And every time I was sure I was, my nagging voice appeared, trying to talk me out of being one. Resistance. I don't know where I picked up Pressfield's book, but it fell into my lap out of nowhere. This is the last of three reads. I recommend them all; they made me daydream less and get off my ass.
A**R
muy bueno
Cuando acaba el viaje del héroe empieza el viaje del artista. Ya con esta premisa el autor deja claro el tema. Un excelente compendio a su otro libro El arte de la Guerra. Se retoman los mismos temas pero ampliando el campo y es muy placentera su lectura.
A**N
"Writers writes" someone clever. Disappointing and too vague and empty.
Feels faked and made light enough to present well without saying much, starts strong with a few good ideas. But other books do what this book tries to do much better and without half empty pages. The cover is lovely, great marketing and how it important it's. Do not buy this book full price you'll be smarter for it. Still a few good ideas there and there.
A**M
Love this book
I bought this book after reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, as I'm a big fan of that book. I have to say, I'm really enjoying it so far, and its key messages around finding your calling and doing the work you were meant to do are resonating with me. I would highly recommend.
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