Shane Shennan’s Neighborhood

(25 December, 2009)

      In talking about procrastination, the author says, “it can become a habit.” (p. 22) He continues, to say, “Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work.” (p. 22)

      Pressfield even says that having sex can be a form of resistance. He says that it's a quick fix that can distract us from getting down to work. He says that not all sex is a form resistance takes, but, “The more empty you feel [after sex], the more certain you can be that your true motivation was not love or even lust but Resistance.” (p. 23)

      Acting like a victim is also a form of resistance, too, Pressfield says. He says it's “a form of passive aggression.” (p. 27) He says, “[being a victim] seeks to achieve gratification not by honest work or by a contribution made out of one's experience or insight or love, but by the manipulation of others through silent (and not-so-silent) threat.” (p. 27)

      One very interesting form of Resistance is the choice of a mate who “has or is successfully overcoming Resistance.” (p. 29) Pressfield questions, however, if this is really love or just a need to be with someone who has done something we have not yet done (ie. conquer Resistance). He says that when we are with a partner because they have conquered Resistance and we have not, love is disfigured.

      Pressfield asks, “What does Resistance feel like? First, unhappiness. We feel like hell. A low-grade misery pervades everything. We're bored, we're restless. We can't get no satisfaction. There's guilt but we can't put our finger on the source. We want to go back to bed; we want to get up and party. We feel unloved and unlovable. We're disgusted. We hate our lives. We hate ourselves.” He talks about how companies have realized this feeling that we have when we face this form of Resistance. He indicates that they market products to us to make money off our misery with ourselves. Pressfield says, “We unplug ourselves from the grid [of consumer culture] by recognizing that we will never cure our restlessness by contributing our disposable income to the bottom line of Bullshit, Inc., but only by doing our work.” (p. 32)

      In a more scholarly discussion, Pressfield talks about Resistance and fundamentalism. He talks about the difference between the fundamentalist and the humanist/artist. He says, “The artist is grounded in freedom.” (p. 34) He says, “The difference is that while the one [the artist] looks forward, hoping to create a better world, the other [the fundamentalist] looks backward, seeking to return to a purer world from which he and all have fallen.” (p. 36) He says, “Fundamentalism is the philosophy of the powerless, the conquered, the displaced and the dispossessed.” (p. 34) A bit later, he talks about how fundamentalism is rooted in despair. He says, “It is the despair of freedom.” (p. 34) “The fundamentalist...cannot stand freedom. He cannot find his way into the future, so he retreats into the past.” (p. 35)

(24 December, 2009)

      This evening, I just started reading The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. I read about it in Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Miller says, “[The War of Art] is about writing, about the process of getting words onto an empty page.” (p. 115) I just thought I'd share some quotations from The War of Art that might help other people.

      In the beginning of his book, in a section called “What I Do,” Pressfield discusses what he does as a writer. He writes for as long as he can before he starts making typos (a sign that he's tired). He doesn't care how many pages he's written or if they are even any good. He says, “All that matters is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.” He says that resistance is the force that tries to prevent an author from sitting down and writing.

      In a section called “The Unlived Life,” Pressfield talks about how resistance is not something that only writers experience. He indicates that if we have some kind of dream we would like to achieve, whether it's becoming a mother, reaching spiritual goals, reaching artistic goals such as writing or painting—whatever it is that we want to achieve, we are all vulnerable to being attacked by resistance.

      In book one of The War of Art, Pressfield lists some actions that bring about resistance. In short, doing “any action that rejects immediate gratification in favour of long-term growth, health, or integrity” will cause us to feel resistance. (p. 6)

      In the section entitled, “Resistance is Infallible,” Pressfield says, “Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” (p. 12)

      “Resistance's goal is not to wound or disable. Resistance aims to kill. It's target is the epicenter of our being: our genius, our soul, the unique and priceless gift we were put on earth to give and that no one else has but us. Resistance means business. When we fight it, we are in a war to the death.” (p. 15)

      “The danger is greatest when the finish line is in sight. At this point, Resistance knows we're about to beat it. It hits the panic button. It marshals one last assault and slams us with everything it's got.” (p. 18)

      Pressfield says that when a writer starts working, he will be subjected to resistance from other people...mostly from the people to whom he is closest. “They may become moody or sullen, they may get sick; they may accuse the awakening writer of 'changing,' of 'not being the person she was.” (p. 19) Pressfield says about this resistance from other people,“The reason is that they are struggling, consciously or unconsciously, against their own Resistance. The awakening writer's success becomes a reproach to them. If she can beat those demons, why can't they?” (p. 19) He continues, indicating that the writer cannot join another author or friend when that author or friend has gotten detained by resistance. He says, “The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.” (p. 20)

     How are we forced to do something to make life a better story for us? It takes an “inciting incident.” Miller's friend Jordan said, “The inciting incident is how you get [the character] to do something...It's the doorway through which they can't return, you know. The story takes care of the rest.” (p. 104)

      Donald Miller talks about how a person can meet with opposition when trying to create a better story for himself. He refers to what Steven Pressfield, the author of a book called The War of Art, says about writers having to write even when they don't feel like it. Miller paraphrases Pressfield, when he says that “resistance, a kind of feeling that comes against you when you point toward a distant horizon, is a sure sign that you are supposed to do the thing in the first place. The harder the resistance, the more important the task must be...” (p. 115)

      Later in the book, Miller talks about how, when you do something in life, you become like the character you're trying to be (p. 155) Basically, he's saying that you are what you do. He says, “The truth is, we are all living out the character of the roles we have played in our stories.” (p 167)

      Miller talks about what he learned from a lecture on story. The speaker, Robert McKee, said, “it's conflict that changes a person.” (p. 180) He said, “You put your characters through hell. You put them through hell. That's the only way we change.” (p. 180)

      Later, the author talks about what happens when we don't have a story in our lives. He says, “You can't go on without a story any longer than you can read a book about nothing.” (p. 192)

      Miller talks about what perspective to take in living out our own stories. He indicates that each of us are trees in a forest, and that “the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree.” (p. 198)

Miller says, “A good movie has memorable scenes, and so does a good life.” (p. 212) He talks about building “altars” in our lives...memorable scenes that “punctuate the existing rise and fall of a narrative.” (He talks about how a story has “both positive and negative turns” (p. 119) in a previous chapter, and that a character in a story “doesn't give up when he encounters a setback” (p. 119) because he knows this fact.)

Miller says, "Humans are designed to seek comfort and order, and so if they have comfort and order, they tend to plant themselves, even if their comfort isn't all that comfortable.  And even if they secretly want for something better." (p. 100)  He indicates that we, just like characters in a story, don't get up and take action unless we are forced to do so.  

     In the next section of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Miller talks about how, in a story, "a character [has] to face his greatest fears." (p. 66)  He realized that he was going to have to face one of his greatest fears: meeting his father, the father who wasn't there for him during his childhood.  This was a "better story" for him to follow.  Miller says, "And once you know what it takes to live a better story, you don't have a choice.  Not living a better story would be like deciding to die, deciding to walk around numb until you die, and it's not natural to want to die." (p. 66)

     In the following chapter, Miller talks about the purpose of life: transformation.  He says, "if story is just a condensed version of life, then life itself may be designed to change us, so that we evolve from one kind of person to another." (p.68)

     Furthermore, life is like a story because God is like the writer of your life and you are the character, either playing out what God, the author, wants, or you are making your own decisions about how to live your life.  Miller talks about how, in the process of story writing, characters don't tend to do what you want them to...even though they are imaginary, an author finds that they take on a life of their own and do what they like rather than what the author wants them to do.  The same applies to humankind.  We can be rebellious characters in our own story, not listening to God's voice in our lives.  This voice is not necessarily the one belonging to your pastor or parents or religious ideals, but a still small voice, a deep inner knowing of what the Author wants you to do.  When you, as the main character in your own story, start listening to that quiet voice inside you, you become a better character, and Miller says, "when you are a better character, your story gets better too." (p. 88)

     I just finished reading a great book in the wee hours this morning.  It's by the same author who wrote Blue Like Jazz, for those of you who know about or have read that great book.  I just wanted to highlight some of the core ideas of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years so that others might be inspired to read the book, or, if you don't have time to read it or whatever, you can glean inspiration from the main points Donald Miller makes in the book.  I'm also writing this "book report" for myself...so that I can go back and read this when I want to remember Miller's key points and why they inspired me.

     I liked A Million Miles in a Thousand Years so much that I finished it in less than forty-eight hours.  This is quite an accomplishment for me, as I'm not usually a big reader...I rarely finish reading a book.  In short, this book was so good because the writer has what I would consider a unique style.  He doesn't use cliches to describe things, but comes up with his own way of saying them.  Another reason I liked the book was because his main point was continued throughout it.  I fell in love with one of Miller's other books, Blue Like Jazz, a few years ago and it was the best book on the Christian life that I had read since I'd read C. S. Lewis'  Mere Christianity in high school years ago.  Miller's main point was more obscure, however, in Blue Like Jazz than the point he made in his more recent book.  It was still immensely enjoyable, but was more like a collection of experiences that Miller had, and those experiences did not really attempt to point to one specific main idea.  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, though, is specifically centered upon one idea: that "the elements that made a story meaningful were the same that made a life meaningful." (p. 39)

     What I found interesting initially, was the fact that I had written a poem over a month ago where I talked about my own life as a story.  I said, "Well, now it's my turn / to.../ Take each page I'm given and write a sentence on it each day, / a part of a story / that will unfold a day at a time, / step by step."  This was basically the initial clue I had that this book was one I really should be reading at this point in my life.

     The part in the book where things really started to happen was when Miller got a call from a director who wanted to make a film about his life, based on Blue Like Jazz.  In the process of writing the screenplay with the director and cinematographer, Miller learned that writing the story for a movie was different than writing a book.  The director, Steve, put it this way: " 'While you've written a good book, thoughts don't translate onto the screen very well.  The audience can't get inside your head like they can in a book.  They will be restless.  They won't engage.  Trying to be true to the book is like asking people to read your mind.  A story has to move in real life and real time.  It's all about action.' " (p. 20)  

     Donald Miller had trouble with the idea of events in the movie being different than what actually happened in his life story.  The director and cinematographer wanted to make the movie different than what had actually happened in his life because, as the cinematographer explained to him, his "real life is boring." (p. 25)

     Two chapters later,  Miller talks about his uncle who died.  He painted a picture of a man's life that was not boring, but meaningful...someone who had made a difference in his sphere of influence.  Miller says, "My uncle told a good story with his life." (p. 38)  It was not a life that was boring like Miller's own life.  In the following chapter, right at the beginning, he introduces the main point of the book, that "the elements that made a story meaningful were the same that made a life meaningful." (p. 39)  In the next paragraph, he wonders "if life could be lived more like a good story in the first place.  I wondered whether a person could plan a story for his life and live it intentionally." (p. 39)

     The author goes to a seminar by Robert McKee, a guy who talks about the concept of "story" and has a seminar about it in Los Angeles and New York.  After going to the seminar, Miller still didn't think that he'd learned what the definition of a story was.  His friend, Jordan, summed it up for him simply when he said, "A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it." (p. 48)

     Miller talks about a friend, Jason, who had a 13-year old daughter.  The girl was dating a guy who didn't seem like a good choice for her.  Jason's wife had found marijuana hidden in the girl's closet and Jason thought that the boy she was seeing was the reason the girl had pot in her room.  While this man was talking to Donald Miller, Miller said that "his daughter was living a terrible story." (p. 50)  This got Jason's attention and he seemed intrigued by the concept.  Later, Jason told Miller that his daughter was doing better: Jason had given his family a "better story."  Jason said that his daughter was "not a bad girl...She was just choosing the best story available to her." (p. 51)  This was because, as Miller says in the book, "people can't live without a story, without a role to play." (p. 51)  What had happened was that Jason decided that his family would make sacrifices on things they normally spent money on and save enough money to build an orphanage somewhere else in the world through this organization he discovered.  Jason said, "...the truth is, we don't have the money.  I mean we just took out a second mortgage.  But I knew if we were going to tell a good story, it would have to involve risk." (p. 52)

I've been reading this new book I got recently...it's by Donald Miller (the guy who wrote Blue Like Jazz).  I used the title of the book for my title of this blog entry.
I got into the book and have read it so fast...just a few more chapters to go.
I just wanted to share some of the highlights of his book so other people can be inspired like I have been.
It's interesting b/c he's talking about "story" in this book, and I wrote a poem in November (before I bought the book) that talked about my life as a story.

"...the elements that made a story meaningful were the same that made a life meaningful." (p. 39)

"And once you know what it takes to live a better story, you don't have a choice.  Not living a better story would be like deciding to die, deciding to walk around numb until you die, and it's not natural to want to die." (p. 66)

" Robert McKee talks about character revelation in his book: 'Beneath the surface of characterization,' he says, 'regardless of appearances, who is this person?  at the heart of his humanity, what will we find?  Is he loving or cruel?  Generous or selfish?  Strong or weak?  Truthful or a liar?  Courageous or cowardly?  The only way to know the truth is to witness him make choices under pressure, to take one action or another in the pursuit of his desire.' " (p. 74)

" 'Characters [in a story] don't really choose to move.  They have to be forced.' " (p 101)

" 'The inciting incident is how you get them to do something,' Ben said.  'It's the doorway through which they can't return, you know.  The story takes care of the rest.' " (p. 104)

-

I've been thinking about what I want to go back to school for.  I was thinking dietitian, educational assistant, or esthetician.  But I've been thinking lately about office administration (secretary).
I'm hoping I can get in at Niagara College...I applied there once years ago and didn't get in for some reason.  I need to find out if I can get accepted if I try for another field of study this time.
I think I'd like doing office administration because I can type (only about 65 w.p.m. though), and even though I would have to deal with people, too, it's more of a paperwork kind of job.

Today I am going for my interview at Elmwood Kitchens at 1:00 pm.  I will write more after :)

30 July, 2009 (Thursday)

     Yesterday something great happened!  Eric used the phone here, and when he was done, he said there was a message on the phone.  I checked it and...it was a guy from Elmwood Kitchens calling to ask if I wanted an interview!  He'd had my resume for a couple months or so, and I'd given up on getting called by them.  I figured if you didn't get called in soon after you dropped off your resume, the chances you were going to ever get called were pretty low.  But I got a call!  So I called him back and left a couple messages on his machine, then he got back to me and I have an interview for tomorrow at 1 pm!