Sometimes a book appears in your life right when you need it. I absolutely needed something like Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert and there it was! I had been pondering my social media habits and how they had started affecting my creativity – I had stopped staging much because sometimes it felt like a chore. I had tried over and over to align my Instagram with my blog but that was turning out to be a limiting factor in itself. I was feeling disheartened and vulnerable and this book acknowledged all my fears and hopes. It gave me the strength to in turn acknowledge and identify my fear and ego and deal with them better. Take a look at the synopsis below and then read on for my thoughts and inspirational quotes from this book!
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Gilbert offers insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.
Thoughts on Big Magic
For as long as I can remember, I have always pursued some form of creativity. In junior high and high school, I was a poet. During my Computing Science undergrad, I was a writer and blogger. During my Masters degrees I was a researcher and now, I do pursue creativity in my day job through coding, while in my free time, I read, stage, make art and bullet journal. These things bring me immense pleasure and joy and I love when I share them with other people, for example, sharing reading with Ariel and our reading hours have been a highlight since we met!
Big Magic is a wonderful reminder of why we pursue the things we do. It talks about the drive that lets us hone these creative outlets time and time again. It puts into perspective where our work as creators ends and the audience takes on its own role. In discussions with my best friend, Lauren, we have reflected on this book multiple times (they read it first and recommended it to me!) and the power that social media and online sharing seems to have on us creators.
On the Value of our Joy
She loved it even more than ever, perhaps, because now, as an adult, she finally had the perspective to appreciate the value of her own joy.
Big Magic, Pg 11
We have some agency as kids in what we pursue but I don’t think we ever sit and think as a 15 year old “why do I want to compose a poem?” I remember my time writing hundreds of poems (I was told to stop counting by a dear friend when I reached 500 and I followed through on that). I never realized how much joy and cathartic release writing brought me. It is only now when I have had time to reflect on my good and bad times that I know that spending time in my bullet journal is a major highlight of my day and it is a kind of pleasure and joy that no promotion at work can ever replace. There is something to be said about these feelings.
Big Magic taught me to be grateful for many things but most importantly, it reminded me to be thankful that I can connect with something called “inspiration” and make something whether it is a piece of art or a beautiful spread in my journal. It reminded me that completing a project has a huge value itself.
On External Validation
Our childhood has a huge effect on how we see the world and how we see ourselves, and there are lessons to be learned from that and brought into our adult life. We used to just create things and once something was done, we would move onto the next project. We didn’t come back to the things we created, didn’t critique them, didn’t expect a round of applause. We just did them because that’s what we wanted to do.
As I mentioned in the introduction, I have struggled with social media, Instagram in particular recently. If you have been following the blog for a few years, you might remember my article on switching off likes on the blog. That was a huge step for me and I have been looking for something like that to help me separate how a post of mine is received on Instagram from the joy that I experienced in creating it.
While reading Big Magic, I had many revelations. My main one was that I want to be authentic. But part of being authentic for me is not playing the system. To not try any harder to be seen. I just want to exist for who I am and not shout any louder or make anyone see me as if I am holding them to it. Big Magic helped me find the strength to get started on that path. To share without expectation and to see my fear, ego and creativity as distinct parts of me.
You made it; you get to put it out there. Never apologize for it, never explain it away, never be ashamed of it. You did your best with what you knew, and you worked with what you had, in the time you were given. You were invited, and you showed up, and you simply cannot do more than that.
Big Magic, Pg 263
So whether someone reads the blog post I wrote or likes the art I made, my work is done already. I owed it to inspiration, to my creative side, to realize that idea and I did. Now I get to share what I made. But there is no feedback. There is only the next thing to make and enjoy making.
Just Quotes
I could write a long post about Big Magic but I actually want to leave with a few more quotes that resonated with me. Since I have been focusing on my journal a lot, I wrote down all my highlights and side notes and that was 7 pages! Yes, you can guess how much I loved this book.
Creativity is a gift to the creator, not just a gift to the audience.
Big Magic, Pg 72
If you’re working on your craft every day on your own, with steady discipline and love, then you are already for real as a creator.
Big Magic, Pg 103
If greatness should ever accidentally stumble upon you, let it catch you hard at work.
Big Magic, Pg 174
What is scared is the time you spent working on the project, and what that time does to expand your imagination, and what that expanded imagination does to transform your time.
Big Magic, Pg 232
Reading Experience Summary for Big Magic
Big Magic is about creative living which nowadays I pursue a number of creative outlets – blogging, staging, bullet journalling, art. My content doesn’t always reach everyone. Those who see it, don’t always engage with it. I’m learning to be grateful for the inspiration I get and the things I make. I am learning to enjoy my creative journey and this book has brought it to a whole other level.
Big Magic isn’t just full of quotes. It is also about experiences that the author has had, the struggles she has faced as a writer and what she has learned from other creators out there. It felt so good to see behind-the-scene of a bestselling author and to relate to her as a person. If you are curious about Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey or think this is a book that might inspire you too, do check it out.
Now after all this, will you pick up this book?
Big Magic is available in stores. I got my copy from my local library so check out your too.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
About the Author
Bio and author photo from Goodreads.
Elizabeth Gilbert is an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Her short story collection Pilgrims was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award, and her novel Stern Men was a New York Times notable book. Her 2002 book The Last American Man was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award.
Her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, spent 57 weeks in the #1 spot on the New York Times paperback bestseller list. It has shipped over 6 million copies in the US and has been published in over thirty languages. A film adaptation of the book was released by Columbia Pictures with an all star cast: Julia Roberts as Gilbert, Javier Bardem as Felipe, James Franco as David, Billy Crudup as her ex-husband and Richard Jenkins as Richard from Texas.
The credit for her profile picture belongs to Jennifer Schatten.
Thank you for reading this post. 🙂
Cover image: Photo by salvatore ventura on Unsplash
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