The Ides of March

Lots going on in the office. I'm excited as the Ides of March are passing. A lot coming down today: friends finding out where they placed for residency, a PhD student defends her thesis, an event this evening places old friends together after many years, and the trees are blooming in Seattle. An interesting time. It's definitely pre-spring.

I reread Steven Pressfield's War of Art last night and am amazed how his book rings true in my life. I am moving up to another level of professionalism and aspiration and the Resistance this week has been pretty incredible.

I didn't know the universe, (the devil) had so many ways to try and snatch progress out of your hands. It has ranged from potential clients upset at me because I won't get them a job with another client I already have and have had for five years, colleagues who disparage my progress and talk about the good old days when no one accomplished anything and we were all the same, and clients who cross their wires and ask me to re-copyedit a learning guide for fifth graders because they realized the writer sent them the wrong version to begin with. By yesterday, it was humorous and I was laughing.

Because, in place of the Resistance, I choose to focus on my query challenge team who have encouraged me (thanks again, Leah Ingram and team one!) to dig deep and keep at it, the clients who work with me to solve an email communication problem and offer me more work, which I had to turn down to my dismay, and the colleague who writes me emails to tell me to keep at it to beat the other query team! Who cares about that! Howeber, I realized I have a lot to resist the Resistance with in my hands already. Not even mentioning my amazing sister and mom, who both talked me out of my Resistance pothole on Tuesday night and thus, helped me do my work yesterday with aplomb.

If you're getting Resistance to a dream you're trying to reach, don't forget Gratitude. Gratitude is more from The Secret than War of Art; I'm mixing metaphors again, so I'll talk tomorrow about the main contraindication for Resistance. It's amazing and will blow your mind. Tiger Woods uses it and it works! He wins the Masters using this tactic.

Happy writing!