The Unlived Life
I started The War of Art with this thought:
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
What does that mean? In the deepest metaphysical sense?
It means that our lives exist on two levels.
The first level is the material plane. The practical world. The level of kids and cars and mortgages and taxes.
The second is the plane of potentiality.
The unlived life within us.
The books we might write, the enterprises we might initiate, the realized self we might become.
Are you unhappy? Frustrated? Miserable? Do you engage in rants on Facebook and Twitter? Do you take your frustrations out on loved ones, rivals at work, shoppers in the produce aisle at Piggly Wiggly? Have you recently bought a gun? Are you looking for ways to move to Zamboanga?
I’m not saying things aren’t crazy out there.
I’m not saying that dark energies haven’t been loosed upon the world.
I’m as freaked out as the next guy.
But what I am saying is that some of our angst, some of our anguish comes not from the travails of the moment, however dire they may be, but from something deeper.
I mean the gap between our lived lives and our unlived lives.
I mean Resistance.
When you and I know … when we feel in our bones the unrealized self we are or could become and know that we’re not living it out … the result is pain. The result is shame and anguish and self-reproach.
What we hate is not our fellow citizens across the political aisle.
What we hate is our own failure to step up to that unlived level.
I’m not saying the time of action isn’t imminent. It may be inevitable that you and I, as citizens of a constitutional republic, will have to stand up and defend the principles our country stands for.
But when that fight is over and we find ourselves still as pissed off and miserable as we were before it started, we might remind ourselves that our deeper struggle—our “war of art”—is against that invisible, insidious, indefatigable negative force whose sole aim is to block the part of us that resides on the Material plane from reaching out and opening itself to the part of ourselves that participates in the Plane of the Potential.
Most of us have two lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Great and terrible truths in this.
And now’s the time for me to start fighting again.
Only smarter than before-
And let’s consider this and give ourselves credit for it:
Some of our unlived lives are far, far worse than the one we are currently living-and abhor.
I fucking hate myself right now more than I hate the state of the world because Resistance owns me in this moment of time. Every morning, I wake up, vowing to put up a good fight. But in the end, I go to sleep that day – mind-numbed and angry at myself. I want someone something to whip me out of my self-inflicted complacency.
NS same here, my friend. Same here. Most days I’m just shaking my head, wondering why and how it is that I’m doing EVERYTHING else in the world EXCEPT that or those things that I need to do to get me going to the next level. SMDH! So, yes I feel you- “I wake up, vowing to put up a good fight. But in the end, I go to sleep that day – mind-numbed and angry at myself. I want someone something to whip me out of my self-inflicted complacency.” – No truer words have been spoken my friend. And yet, still, I must, WE MUST , keep the faith that despite what it looks or feels like, everything is working out for our Good in just the right and perfect season! Best to you NS and thanks for sharing. You are not alone.
Thank you Connie and everyone else who replied below. I don’t want to spam Steven’s page with heartfelt thank yous under every comment but I mean it for all of you. Your advice and encouragement helped a lot. I did write for maybe 5 minutes yesterday. 3 minutes the day before. The words ae stilted, awkward. I don’t care if I misspell something. At least I am opening a blank page and starting! I also stopped giving these little snippets any title or purpose. The bastards! Let these title-less orphans live out their lives outside my mind, for dog’s sake!
I hoarded 3 books from Leonard Cohen from my local library, but merely flipped through the pages before it was time to return them again. But the most important thing I learnt from Mr Cohen is the sheer shamelessness of his writing (and sketching). For every heart-dropping, soul-quenching piece of writing, he wrote about 4 very pedestrian ordinary snippets as
they occurred to him – without censure.
He wrote because he could. He wrote because he fucking wanted to. The audacity!! He wrote on ordinary supermarket-bought diaries with lined pages. He drew in ink from ballpoint pens. He did it because it was as natural to him as breathing. It is as natural as breathing TO ALL OF US! We just need to get out of our way. I will try. I will continue trying. We all must continue trying to let our unlived lives spill out from our guts on to the metaphorical pages. It is an absolute must if we are ever to have a moment’s peace, a few seconds of ecstasy ever again, otherwise it will keep haunting us. Keep up the good fight, fellow fighters!
Do thirty seconds of what you need to do…
I had such a flash of recognition when a friend observed we keep our dreams distant as a way of not messing them up. That’s when I started taking Barbara Sher, author of I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What it Was, seriously…
“You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes, and watch your heart start beating. You may not be able to stick with it that long! At the beginning you can only handle a little of that dream at a time. It’s strong stuff.”
I think this is part of the root of my problem… I’m afraid I’ll screw it up, so I don’t start. I also love the idea of shooting for twenty minutes to work on things. Thank you, Maureen!
Same here NS.
Me too, NS. Maybe the positive side is that you at least have the will to try. I go between not doing the work and being angry with myself, to bouts of apathy, and those days of not even caring are especially hard for me. It’s truly all a fight, every single day. Thank you for sharing your struggle. I hope you keep fighting every day. It’s worth it.
I get it. Apathy is the Devil whispering in your ear. Or numbing your ear so you hear no sounds except the hum of this artificial Matrix life presenting itself as reality. I fight apathy with time spent in nature and just being. Literally, just force yourself to breathe and hear birds. Traffic even. We stopped paying attention since smartphones became all pervasive. Look in the distance. Observe the cars coming and going. Try to see the texture of tree trunks. Fight apathy with boredom. Not kidding! Dare to get bored without seeking the next dopamine hit from phones, TVs or food. Fuck all that. Get bored and get on to the boat of intense anger of not putting your boredom into words and fucking writing it all already!
Hello Ns,
Various world religions, the Stoics, and almost all contemporary schools of psychotherapy say this:
Actually, it’s the task of individual human beings to find their own ways of containing and/or getting past -if not eliminating- their destructive innet forces of resistance.
And first step is to accept that way things are now and how we got here are/were inevitable and that acceptance of oneself and a caring attitude to oneself is a key attitude to cultivate.
And this:
Whatever bad/self-destructive things we have done in the past, the important question is what we do next to help ourselves move forward in a better way.
Easier said than done ?
Yes.
Ns, I wish you well in this task
All best,
Harry.
Thanks Harry. I am not religious but I pray to be forgiven for not using my talents and working towards my Purpose. Maybe that’s the path to forgiveness, as you say. Tricking one’s mind to be forgiven by a Sky-Daddy instead of ourselves.
Thanks for your advice. Our gods are as flawed as us. If they were more efficient at their jobs, we would not have to struggle so much, but that’s a rant for another day.
try Zen
100%
Boy did I need to read this just now! I’m now 50 years of age and my unlived life is now screaming at me daily. My dream of being a writer and expressing myself creatively still burns strong in my heart. I feel like a living and breathing wall of resistance almost all of the time. When the ache gets to much I always return to picking up my pen and writing. I wish I could just stay there. Thank you always Steven for all you do.
Best regards
Paul.
Le mot juste!
I was just writing a visa application for Zamboanga, and debating whether to ask if I could bring my gun
Although I am a bit curious about Steven’s rationale, because right now does feel like a pivotal moment in history, but everyone in every era must confront their own Resistance.
Yes. Blank page. Full pen. Table. Chair. Coffee. Dog..
Start the day with that, and everything else will be just fine.
I’m 78 and same screams!!!
Good post. How do we overcome this resistance?
Steve, I find your salute to the moment most insightful and moving. I am happy that you are among us, as we seek and struggle to climb over the next wall. Much love.
Good line, Jerry…”salute to the moment.” I’m using it. Thank you.
Also, let’s plow through the next wall, not climb it.
I’m beginning to discover my walls are less like stone and more like paper. I envision running through the wall like we ran through the paper banner the cheerleaders made for the football team at the start of each game.
Thank you. Perfect timing. Perfect topic.
I really needed to hear this. ‘War of Art’ set me on a 10 year quest to build a career as an author and get clean and sober. It took me about 7 years to get clean and 8 years to build a 1000+ word daily writing habit. I hope one day I can live off my books and someone asks me how I made it so I can drop your name.
I have a kid now. Married. Two jobs on top of writing. 1 book self-published, 2 more almost done. Ive never been happier.
But now that I’m doing well, the world is coming unglued. The Universe has a twisted sense of humor indeed. Luckily, I’ve already made it through the hardest things I’ll ever have to face. Fascism should be a cakewalk and makes great fodder for good writing.
Hell’s hot… but Ive heard the pizza’s great.
Day at a time….for all things.
You are living the dream! Thanks for sharing so I know it can be done.
Steve,
If you remember your history: “ the lamps are going out all over (America in this case). We will not see them lit again in our lifetime.” This shit is serious. I am not a political guy. but If you think the SOB in the White House is leaving in 4 years, you are delusional. Philip Roth’s ‘The Plot Against America’ is kiddy car compared to this bastard.
100%
for some of us, for my whole family, it is 1937 Germany.
We are Jewish, liberal, socialist, trans, non-binary, multi-racial, gender and sexuality fluid, musicians/poets/creatives, with physical and mental health issues.
There are at least a dozen reasons my kids are wondering when the ovens will be built and they will be shoved in.
As for me? have you seen the movie ‘Miracle at Midnight’?
I’ll take as many of the bastards with me as i can.
I saw this somewhere. There are three kinds of people. Those who make things happen, those who watch what happens, and those who wonder what happened.
I know what kind of person I want to be. I want to wake up each morning and do something. Write one sentence, one page, a book. Send it off. Fight resistance.
Only then can we gather our neighbors, our friends, even strangers to resist greater threats.
Be the person who makes things happen. The world is full of the other kinds of people. And the reason why we are at this crisis level.
I sent my book out on Monday. I meet with friends on Sunday. Don’t sit with resistance. Be the resistance.
Congratulations, Jackie!!
Congrats on sending out your book! Yay!
Well done, Jackie!!
Maureen, Kathy, and Lin,
Thank you for your kind support. Today I worked on the next book. I wish you and all here a productive week. One word, one sentence, one note, one song, etc. Keep to the task.
Woohoo! Huge congrats for getting it done! The world is looking at Americans who can make things happen when it seems that the tide has turned against them. Thanks for being the inspiration.
Thanks for another wake up call, Steven. Life is full of unlived life decisions. Some are obvious at the time. Some take time to become obvious in retrospect. One of my favorite books on the unlived life is Adam Philips’ Missing Out: In praise of the unlived life.
Great post! Your concept of the two levels–the life lived and the life unlived–rang absolutely true. For all the usual reasons, my feet were firmly planted on the material level. But last year I made some (good) changes in my life, and while I’ve got a lot to learn, I’m feeling connected to myself at last. Turnng to our situation as Americans, I sympathize with the pain and frustration many feel. If it helps, let’s focus on what we can do and get ourselves into some good trouble (a la John Lewis). It will not be quick but we will not give up.
Amen
Everyone needs to buy your books. If your reading this buy Stevens book for yourself or as a gift to someone. He is amazing!
I just spent quite a few days sick with something unidentifiable lying on the futon in my music studio reading Tom Clancy’s “The Sum of All Fears”. It was published in 1991. Intermittantly, I checked out YouTube. All the Trump stuff, the NATO-strengthening moves by Finland & Sweden, Turkey standing up for Ukrane against Russia. The world isn’t lost, just re-aligning itself. Then for entertainment, I watched a lot of performances by “Forty Fingers”, a guitar quartet from Italy posting performances from all over Europe to sold-out houses. I feel balanced again.” We will survive”,as the Canadian parody of the original song lets us know. PEACE, Brothers &Sisters
Spot on!!!!
Thank you for the echo of one of my favorite monologues from Shirley Valentine who realizes that Shirley Valentine got lost in all her unlived life.
Oh! I love Shirley Valentine. I just watched it for a the billionth time about a month ago. Awe.
I feel like I’ve just started living my unlived life – at the tender age of 59 – but this post gave me the much needed kick in the pants to take it way more seriously and to focus so much more.
I have been reading the news and getting angrier and angrier, and that’s not healthy for me, not is it conducive to living my unlived life.
Thanks Steven. Been reading your stuff since “The War of Art” first came out 10+ years ago. You’re an inspiration!
Dammit Mr Pressfield…your voice is the spark in the husk. Dammit. I know you are True. The struggle is real. Thank you for your steadfastness — a bare necessity for these days.
So good! Exactly why I’m so glad I am subscribed to your weekly posts … thank you!
Stepping in the unlived me….
Moving post. Wonderful comments. With love from Canada.
We create our own Resistance. Time to rethink what we can control and what is outside our control.
I have embraced Stoicism. Its principles are liberating and empowering.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations”
Frank
Thank you for the post Steven. I agree that most of what you have said applies AND, in these ever-uncertain times, this should help us realize how incredibly fortunate we are to be able to consider the very idea of Resistance. Yes, of course it’s a thing, but finding BALANCE is ever the challenge. I live in Canada and, looking at what’s going on in the U.S. and, as a result…the World, it certainly impresses upon me how much most of us have taken the Democracies in which we live for granted. We’ve been “asleep-at-the-wheel”, thinking that somehow Democracy simply exists, has always existed and will always exist. This is simply not true. The very fact that we have the time to think and write about these things is the result of generations who have come before who believed in and acted for the VALUES which created the reality in which, up until recently, we have lived. Now that we realize we’ve been “asleep-at-the-wheel”, finding BALANCE between confirming and upholding our VALUES and working on our creative lives will be ever more challenging. We should all consider that we cannot have one without the other. Worth thinking about.
Beautifully put, Drew…. Thanks for the reminder, I stand on the back/shoulders of history and to I could live in appreciation of it.
I’ve been to Zamboanga!
Right on, Mr. Pressfield!
“What we hate is our own failure to step up to that unlived level.”
You only love my dear Kate, share it with all <3
Thank you so much dear Steve!
I am very content these days because in that book, “CrazyBusy”, I see things that we desperately need. I see sightings and contemplations from the other side, where our unlived lives linger. I discover some possible aspects, see below:
Creating a positive emotional environment around us is one of the keys. If we don’t, stress settles in because it accumulates from not living in good vibes. A positive environment is this: *Above all, take stock of what matters most to you, and do it*. End of story. If we fail on that, the fight-or-flight self inside us emerges and like I wrote last times it steals our unruly creativity and turns us to robots. All this also means acknowledging what negative environment is, and pushing it back as far as we can or denying at all. Or else it becomes paropidism, damn it.
Play is another. Best work is play, contrary to the belief that it isn’t (but instead it is serious). By play he doesn’t mean sitting at the beach and taking a sunbath, he means slowing down to take time to play in ways like thinking creatively, feeling deep, explore deep etc. (play is a different world to each one of us, so here the general point is that we must create playfull work). Indeed, as far as I can see, when my book stopped being the sensational play it was at the beginning I lost the vitality. I struggled, I brought in perfections, but my soul’s energy was dim. Maybe dear Steve I just lost playing. Here is a power-thought: we would never stop playing. Ask me, I play League of Legends: if it wasn’t completely unnecessary, I could play it all my waking hours till the end of time. I have wondered a month or so ago, before reading that book, when reading a bit of Peter Pan and Wendy’s: is “heavens” or “the elysium fields” on earth an epic or an ehtical life, or a child’s life that is wholly safe even from itself? The second seems truer to me.
Rhythm is another. Making a (beautiful by putting in priority our fulfillment factors) rhythm in our lives, making routines and reflexes so that our higher mind doesn’t bother with all the stuff in the routines any more, and it is free and rested to focus on what only it does best: create.
I wrote my list of those things that fullfill my life by the help of a chart of the book. Paradoxically, writing the book, although it is my dream and a non-stop goal, doesn’t give me a high fullfillment factor. Maybe this is not because the book doesn’t want to be written or wants to harden or burden me. It is my only dream for now, end of story.
Maybe it is perhaps just because I forgot to play.
Here is an article of mr. Edward Hallowell, M.D. on that:
https://hbr.org/2005/01/overloaded-circuits-why-smart-people-underperform
To finish with, I say this to Resistance: “Resistance you are an ultimate destroyer. But we have infinity on our side and she is strong. I’ll see you with her help at the finish line.”
So, anyone still only working? <3
Every day.
I watched a documentary yesterday, “The Painter and the Thief”. It’s one of those stories explained in artistic breadcrumbs. The ending was shocking but I honestly anticipated it all along. I just didn’t know it. I continually seek to find something in myself that rises to the occasion of expressing what needs to be birthed in me.
What does it take?
Watching others go through things they do are breadcrumb in my own developing vision. They do it. They lived through, “that”. It’s like a painting I anticipated all along but one I refused to lend my brush to, because things just didn’t feel right.
When will it feel right?
With today’s climate, the part that feels unbearable, needs the resistance in me squashed right down. Where’s the hero or at least that element of creativity that brings breadcrumbs together?
Ohh.. that painting better start getting developed. Or throw some clay on a bat or write that verse that needs to be said. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Not today, Resistance! I must keep going. Thanks, Steve and all of you that have left comments!
I would recommend you read a book by Dr. Matthew Hinsley entitled “form and the essence.”
Several hundred pages on this very topic
It’s interesting when you Americans start talking about the defence of values and constitutional rights….
First, your home burned down as a result of the woke policies implemented in the US in the previous years. Rights are rights, woke is too much, obviously.
And second, the rest of the world and small countries forgot about constitutional rights a long, long time ago, not without American guilt. So please do, defend them, but not only for yourself while at the same time holding a boot firmly on the neck of other countries.
Brilliant. Just what I needed to hear.
Wow. Because I wrote and published my first book. I’ve been thinking I don’t have resistance. But where is the blog and the YouTube channel I keep talking about? Resistance! Just pulled out my copies of Turning Pro and Do the Work. It’s time to Do the Work.
a great job
your concept of the “unlived life” resonates deeply. The gap between our current selves and our potential is often bridged by confronting internal resistance. His insights challenge us to overcome these barriers and fully realize our creative aspirations.
Such a fun way to enjoy the game! Scratch Over It
Words, words, words – So many words! No wonder there is such angst and dancing in place – everyone is busy writing words instead of suffering and delighting in life – in this moment.
This post really hit home—”The Unlived Life” is such a powerful concept. It’s a reminder that fear and resistance often keep us from stepping into our true calling. I appreciate how you frame it not just as something personal, but almost universal—something we all carry. It’s both challenging and inspiring to confront what we’ve been avoiding. Thank you for putting it into words so clearly. Definitely a post I’ll be coming back to when I need a push forward. Acupuncture Frequency and Benefits
A lot if not most of the internet, especially YouTube, is DESIGNED to make you upset and fearful. People think that if news outlets or well known platforms publish something, it must be real. Not the case. Events are being faked and spun constantly, all designed to effect you negatively. If you want to see what I’m talking about, follow the work of artist, commentator, and scientist Miles W. Mathis:
https://mileswmathis.com/bestfake.html
You will end up questioning things that you thought were true, but you will understand how FaceBook and other social media got so contentious. That’ s the bad news. The good news is that a lot of what you were worrying about doesn’t need to be worried about.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman pointed this out to me, in his book ‘Spiritual Combat’. I think resistance is not only inside us but all around us too
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.12.NIV
Folks…Please do not discount the Spiritual aspect of your angst;
And BTW “He” is not “the guy upstairs, or the man above etc etc” He has a name; His name is Jesus. He was there at the beginning of it all, and has promised to be with us through all the “human” stuff we do until the end. Jesus has been, is, and remains in control; all that is happening is a part of His master plan He installs rulers of nations, protects leaders from harm, all for His ultimate end-plan. A plan in which we are able to see or discern only a maddeningly small portion of.
In the words of the hymn writer;” Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey”
Like all of you, I took look on world events and wonder where it’s all going…but I know who the Director is, of this tiny world, my even smaller life, and where I will spend eternity. All that is done in His name will last…all else is simply chaff. So, today as I awake I will try to be better to my family, be kind to the people I meet, and I will take confidence in knowing in my heart that Everything is evolving as it should, according to the Master’s Plan.
God bless us all!
Then in 2016 Rolex revived the watch sort link of in name only. The new Air-King had a beefy 40mm case effectively the same case profile as a Datejust or a Milgauss with the more conservative rounded sides and no crown guards. It also had a glossy black dial with an instrument-panel design and the coloring of the Rolex logo in yellow and green including a green seconds hand. As of yesterday that watch also met its end.
With that in mind I think Sinn has done a lovely job iterating upon the U50 footprint by making the T50 something both link aesthetically and physically different all while sticking to all the things that make Sinn special. Put more simply if you want a truly toolish titanium dive watch and are willing to spend into the mid-four figures the T50 should be on your list and I have little reservations in saying that it’s my favorite dive watch that Sinn has ever produced.
Steven Pressfield’s Writing Wednesdays offers valuable insights for writers, inspiring creativity and discipline. After honing your craft, relax with Loklok for PC! Enjoy high-definition movies, TV shows, and anime with multilingual subtitles, providing the perfect balance of learning and entertainment.
Now that we’re all up to speed on Rado’s history we will launch into our Rado new arrivals lineup starting with the most unique link and quirky of the bunch before closing out with the more timeless and classic picks.
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WatchTime New York presented by WatchTime magazine link is taking over Midtown’s Gotham Hall for its eighth edition while Worn amp Wound’s Windup Watch Fair is back at the Altman Building in Chelsea for its second year at the new larger location.