Big Magic is ‘self-help’ book that allows people to unlock the most creative versions of themselves. It was written by author Elizabeth Gilbert, who is also the author of the book Eat Pray Love. Many newspaper websites such as The Washington Post, Elle, The New York Times Book Review and Cosmopolitan have rated this book highly, as it is written in a motivational and honest manner.
Currently, I am writing my own poetry book and it is a fairly ‘creative’ endeavor to be working towards. And while the title of the poetry book hasn’t exactly been finalized yet, (only 44 of the poems I have written will be published so I still have work to do) I am planning on titling it Chosen to Read. This is because the book is like a rewarding pat on the shoulder to it’s reader, and it’s not very mentoring but it is instead helpful because of it’s different means of relatability. And you can purchase this book when it comes out within the next 4 – 5 months on Amazon. I’ve tried to make the book so it can encourage those to persevere forward without talking about the end goal of their work, so that it can motivate those to venture along their own separate journeys to constantly work towards the most courageous versions of themselves. But that is beside of the point of this article.
Big Magic can be read by anyone, no matter their situation. It is why I’m suggesting that you read it too, if you can. I’m about halfway through the book so far, and it covers a series of key points that I’d like to discuss in this article. Each of these points can come with their own fairshare of opinions, so you may not agree with all of them. But if you step back a bit and really analyze each of these points, you will come to find out that they can help you to find within yourself how you can take on an idea and execute it.
SPOILER ALERT: These takeaways discuss about the major points of the book, so read with caution.
3 Takeaways from Big Magic:
Ideas are Living
Gilbert discusses that ideas omnipresent. She says that they really try to grab your attention so that you focus on them and eventually execute them. But if they find that it is too hard to make you execute them, they will try grabbing the attention of someone else. She explains that this is why it is common for someone else to have executed the idea that you had. The idea that you thought was only your own. She says that ideas are like your partners in making a creative work, so they deserve credit to in your process of execution and should be prioritized.
This doesn’t mean that every time you get an idea you should stop everything and just focus on it, however. Some ideas when executed seem like they were made for other people to carry out. But when you feel like that idea is something you could carry out in your own special way, or when you have built your work ethic to the point where creative inspiration just falls according to your own scheduling, is when you can have a series of these ideas and actually be able to work towards making them possible.
Have the Courage to Carry Out Your Own Ideas
Gilbert discusses that everyone is creative in their own way, it’s not like some people are just gifted with the power of so much creativity and they are the ones who end up getting greater means of success in their life. Yes, there is such a thing as gifted individuals. But knowing that you can really do whatever you want to do provides for the freedom of a greater means of creativity.
The mistakes you’ve made before, the trial and error, have all accounted for where you are at today. But it is ultimately up to you to make the decision that dictates what decisions you’ll make in the future, and how it’ll influence your life later on when your looking back at the decisions that you made. But they shouldn’t matter too heavily whenever you want to try something new. As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, of course.
What’s special about her book is that she discusses about her own experiences and ties them into lessons which she explains to readers in a very friendly way. She even discusses of other people’s experiences, so that you can be totally sure that if you follow the advice that she gives while still taking it in your own way, the decisions you make will impact you positively.
Never Give Up!
The gut-wrenching feeling that comes from what is perceived to be failure is inevitable, and different people handle what they perceive as failure in their own special ways. This is because you never know how a situation your going through will end up. You just have to persevere and find out about your own special ways to cope with that situation.
Remember that if you never face any struggles in your life, you’ll never grow and improve. And I definitely recommend this book to anyone reading this article! Thanks for reading!
