"A victim act is a form of passive aggression. It seeks to achieve gratification not by honest work or 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. The victim compels others to come to his rescue or to behave as he wishes by holding them hostage to the prospect of his own further illness/meltdown/mental dissolution, or simply by threatening to make their lives so miserable that they do what he wants.
Casting yourself as a victim is the antithesis of doing your work."
Steven Pressfield in The War of Art
Joy Schultz I can find myself over and over and over again in these words. The Work is about recognizing how I react (complete exposure and recognition to every detail of the effect of believing a thought). I see these words as helpful in articulating that. Have you ever had someone else say words that resonated so clearly for you...you just never had those words before? I've done the work with many people who when asked what do you get for believing that thought have no idea, cannot find what they get by being a victim...or it is fairly limited awareness . I shared thispost not to be right, but because of the clarity it brings to me. It holds value and worth--this exposure. And I believe people who visit this page are interested in clarity and exposure. In my world its very personal. It calls me to closer examination and investigation, to see how I have manipulated people in my life. It's about self realization. yes. I have done this. Let me see all the times I have done this. let me look very closely. let me miss nothing. Where am i doing it now? Let me watch for it and see if I can catch myself playing the victim to any degree. And if i find it, let me admit it and make amends. Let me be as honest as I possibly can with myself and others. In my world this clarity is the ultimate compassion for myself and others.
Joy Schultz until i see it and admit it, i'm in denial
René Krömer Perhaps the compassion comes in when added that all of that is done in complete innocence.
Joy Schultz I have not Deborah. I've actually had this book The War of Art around for at least a year or two and never read it. I finally opened it last night. It's all about Resistance to our creative process. He was saying that 70-80% of visits to doctors has nothing to do with health...:-)Our "condition" becomes a work of art...and his theme is that this is just one of many many forms of Resistance to following that quiet inner guide. We'd rather d o anything than actually start the creative act. I'd rather be a victim... And again it's all about recognizing "the beast"--what's operating really under "my story".
Sara Burns Sounds like a great book for me to read. Thank you for sharing it.
Ron Alexander Interesting title: in THE ART OF WAR, I learned that the way to help subdue the "enemy" is to dehumanize them - call them names such as "gooks", "ragtops", "chinks" "savages". And of course, then it is easier to make them "victims". Tragic, however one needs to know how "war" works to help end it!
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