Book Review | BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2

Description:

From the worldwide best-selling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: The path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.

People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent 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.

My Review:

This is a special book. I listened to it on Audible, where it’s narrated by Liz Gilbert herself. She weaves her points between stories of her life, emphasising how BIG MAGIC truly works.

I came away with a lot of precious nuggets:

> Let fear ride along side you.

> Be open to the universe and let creativity in. Don’t block it. If the idea is not for you, release it back into the world.

> Ask yourself why you create. Do you do it to make money (pfft)? Or, do you do it because it’s a part of you? That you don’t feel complete unless you are creating (hand raised here)?

> Do you love writing (Yes). Does writing love you? Now that question was an eye opener. I don’t love every part of writing –  rewriting/editing is a beast for me – but if I don’t allow the writing to love me, then what’s the point of writing? It’s part of it. There are ways for me to love it.  Then I thought of other ways I’m creative: Sewing. Painting. Drawing. I love those for the creativeness. To play. So why not treat writing that way?

> What other people think of you is none of your business. I loved this. Don’t worry whether someone is going to like what you create. Create it anyway.

There were some negatives in this book. She rambles. She repeats. And, she name drops (a lot). She is a bit woo-woo, but then so am I with this kind of stuff (hello –  I didn’t name my website the Crackpot Writer for nothing!).

And, to be honest, I love being called an artist. It’s just a word that conjures magical beauty.

You can find more about the book here:

Goodreads

Amazon

PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.