At the behest of my perpetually prudent partner in this great journey (my wife), I recently devoured an incredible book on creativity entitled Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth has two TED talks to her name, both of which I included at the bottom of this post for your purview.  Each contain different ideas from the book, but each centered on the idea of how to live a creative life and embrace the magnificence of creativity which she calls Big Magic.

I was so amazed by the myriad insightful ideas woven together with such captivating storytelling that I wanted to share the most resonating ideas, applicable to any discipline.

The book starts with a simple Q&A, and toward the end of the first part is succinct explanation of why embracing fear is always worth it.

Q: What is creativity?  A: The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration.

Why It’s Worth It . . . It isn’t always comfortable or easy — carrying your fear around with you on your great and ambitious road trip, I mean — but it’s always worth it, because if you can’t learn to travel comfortably alongside your fear, then you’ll never be able to go anywhere interesting or do anything interesting.  And that would be a pity, because your life is short and rare and amazing and miraculous, and you want to do really interesting things and make really interesting things while you’re still here. . . And you have treasures hidden within you — extraordinary treasures . . .

 

There are a very few salient ideas that appear italicized for the reader:

You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life.

The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you. 

It’s all just a game.

 

The remaining pearls of wisdom are sprinkled throughout, so I thought I would share them roughly in the order that they appear in the book.

Originality vs. Authenticity . . . Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir . . .

The Central Paradox . . . My creative expression must be the most important things in the world to me (if I am to live artistically), and it also must not matter at all (if I am to live sanely)

Nobody’s Thinking About You . . . Create whatever you want to create — and let it be stupendously imperfect, because it’s exceedingly likely that nobody will even notice. And that’s awesome.

Done is Better Than Good . . . If you can just complete something — merely complete it!

Lighten Up . . . The more lightly you can pass [the time you spend working on a project], the brighter your existence becomes.

Devotion to Inquisitiveness . . . Following that scavenger hunt of curiosity can lead you to amazing, unexpected places . . . you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you passed your entire existence in devotion to the noble human virtue of inquisitiveness.

That’s Interesting . . . Don’t let go of your courage the moment things stop being easy or rewarding. Because that moment? That’s the moment when interesting begins.

 

As I mentioned, the ideas presented in this book are appropriate for any artistic or creative endeavor.  In general, I am encouraged and empowered to be curious, experiment, embrace change, and look for the creative spirit whatever it might live. Only with a lightness and curiosity can I find Big Magic.

 

Until the Next Iteration . . .

Jason

 

TED Talks by Elizabeth Gilbert