The Artist's Journey - Steven Pressfield
3-Sentence Summary:
The hero’s journey is the archetypical story seen across cultures where you are called to action from the ordinary world to the extraordinary world and into the belly of the beast, where you experience trials and tribulations, after which you come back home with the gift of your experience and the lessons learnt, to give back to the people.
The artist’s journey comes after the hero’s journey, and is like the hero’s journey, but can be seen as your true calling, where your gift to the people this time is your works.
The artist’s journey is a journey of self-discovery as much as self-expression, and will ultimately provide meaning to your life.
Notes:
The hero’s journey is the archetypical story seen across cultures where you are called to action from the ordinary world to the extraordinary world and into the belly of the beast, where you experience trials and tribulations, after which you come back home with the gift of your experience and the lessons learnt, to give back to the people.
This hero’s journey is a formative experience, which is ultimately preparing us for the next phase, that artist’s journey.
The artist’s journey is like the hero’s journey, but is more about expressing your ‘true self’. The gift you give to the people in this case is your works.
The artist’s work has a theme and a subject, but this is revealed along the way as a result of following your interests, rather than something you decide from the beginning.
An artist has a medium, point of view, a style, and is in touch with the times.
“What is personal to the artist is universal to the rest of us.
The artist’s journey is more about self-discovery than self-expression.
Every piece of work is a hero’s journey. Resistance is a mini refusal to the call.
The artist learns how to start, how to keep going, and how to finish.
The artist’s job is to make the unconscious conscious. It is also the recognition of beauty and the articulation of empathy for others.
The meaning of your life will be contained within your artist’s journey.
If you enjoyed this summary, you’ll probably enjoy the full book. Get it here: LINK TO BOOK (AMAZON)
Or get it for free on audiobook when you sign up for an Audible account: LINK TO AUDIOBOOK (AMAZON)
(This website uses amazon referral links as part of the Amazon Associates program.)