The Paradox of Resistance

As creatives, we can find a lot of resources intended to help us overcome “resistance.” In this context, it is our own resistance to creative expression that gets the most attention. We typically understand such resistance as the fears and anxieties that disrupt flow; an immersion in the creative process.

• In organizational development, overcoming resistance focuses on converting the mindset of those who create barriers in response to change.
• In social justice movements, resistance is about obstructing harmful forces and active refusal to accept oppressive norms.
• In physics, resistance is defined as the hindrance to the flow of charge.

Most of us likely understand these contexts for defining resistance. In every context, resistance creates friction. Friction is almost universally understood to be unpleasant, even if it is considered necessary.

We seem to diverge from here concerning our response to friction. We are seeing a lot of friction in our democracy today. Those who are resisting oppressive norms view the resulting friction as absolutely necessary to disrupt the acceptance of those norms. Those who are resisting change are putting in place barriers that disrupt the flow of new energy and ideas. The former group experiences friction as a sign of progress; the latter group experiences that same friction as a sign of failure.

As creatives, we understand our internal friction as necessary to the creative process. Friction creates energy. For creatives, It starts with a gut-check. It is the moment we clarify our intentions and make the deliberate choice to persist beyond our own doubts and insecurities. In those moments we determine that the process is too valuable to abandon and believe the outcome will be worth it, regardless. We value process over product. We become emboldened to meet external sources of friction clear-eyed and with pure hearts. We begin our immersion in creation.

There are two ways we define the opposite of resistance. In social circles, it is defined as acceptance. In physics, it is defined as conductivity. The creative process converts friction into energy through both acceptance and conductivity. We accept resistance and friction, and we in turn use the creative process as conduit to convert friction into creation.

Isn’t that what democracy is/was supposed to be? To me, democracy is a form of creative process. It is not the opposite or absence of friction – it is the antidote to friction. When we resist a democracy that has gone off the rails, the resulting and necessary friction is an opportunity to conduct this energy into new creation that makes us stronger together. Our democracy is built for the reconciliation of opposing viewpoints, as friction is both extremely potent and corrosive.

Instead of accepting this friction that calls us to create a more perfect union, those in power seem so terrified of the potential result they are resisting the very mechanisms we need to convert all of this heat and energy into something useful and beneficial to all of us. Is it because their hearts are not pure when it comes to the true meaning of democracy? Is it because their faith in the democratic process is contingent only upon achieving their desired result? From the perspective of a creative, that mindset is a non-starter. It is the opposite of creation. It is literally destruction.

With the passing of so many luminaries of social justice and democracy this year and all else we are facing, I’m struggling to meet this moment. I know I am not alone. The great consolation is that I believe we are all creators, and we were all created equally as creators. In that lies great potential for us all, if we can summon trust in the process and find courage to persist nonetheless.