Big Magic Paperback – September 22, 2016

“Are you considering being a creative person? Too late, you already are one,” Gilbert asserts. In Big Magic, living a creative life means living a life driven by curiosity over fear and this life is accessible to all who seek it. She breaks down creativity into five essential ingredients: courage, enchantment, permission, persistence, and trust. Whether readers believe in a magical world or not, her description of ideas, why they choose us, and when and why they leave is inspiring to no end and her roadmap through the twists, turns, and potential pitfalls of creativity are applicable to all who dare to venture on their own creative journey.Gilbert tackles our biggest creative fears and inner demons head-on with delicious humor, wit, and grace. She allows fear a spacious spot in the car on our creative road trip, but never allows it to give us directions and certainly not take the driver’s seat. Time and again, she effectively and effortlessly silences our inner critic on such universal experiences as: worrying about what others think of us and our creations, bowing to perfectionism instead of completion, evaluating our art as low or high, as brilliant or a disaster, the struggle to declare ourselves worthy of living a creative life, the desire to be fearless or passionate when all we need is courage and curiosity, and much more. She also explores various paradoxes of creativity: the desire for permission and the fact that we never needed it to begin with, that creativity takes persistent hard work on our part and also moments of divine inspiration that come from something else entirely, that no creation is entirely original and yet authentic expressions are always original, and the ultimate paradox: that our creative expression must be the most important thing in the world and it also must not matter at all.Written in easy to digest, bite-size chapters, readers will feel as if they’re chatting over a glass of wine with their amusing and insightful bestie, Liz, as she masterfully weaves together numerous stories from her personal and professional life with hard-earned creative wisdom, always with an endearing self-awareness that at times borders on self-deprecation, and with a charm that is nearly flirtatious. The lessons are so powerful and relatable that if one were to learn this much about their creative life in a year of therapy, they could consider it a great investment. Big Magic ultimately provides readers with the necessary courage and inspiration to live bigger, happier, and more interesting lives, coaxing out of us our own unique hidden treasures.-- Lisa Blair, MA

We are all creators in one way or another, and Elizabeth Gilbert demystifies the process with joy, empathy and wit. Big Magic is a must-read for everyone wishing to live a more creative, inquisitive and fulfilling life. Don’t forget to buy an extra copy of the book for your favorite college or trade school graduate, the relative launching a business, or the friend in need of an emotional boost.

I quite enjoyed this. Conversational, practical, unashamed. This is Elizabeth Gilbert's approach to being a writer. The "Creative Living Beyond Fear" part of the title is a bit off, but I suppose one could apply that in the sense of "even if you're afraid, practice your art anyway."It doesn't feel like new-age schlock.Side note: I wasn't a fan of Eat, Pray, Love. I mostly enjoyed Italy. Then I got to India and realized it was the same thing in a different location. And then I got to Bali and stopped. Couldn't finish.On the order of being truly alive: From page 10: "She asked herself when was the last time she’d felt truly light, joyous, and— yes— creative in her own skin."Practical, from page 22: "If your goal in life is to become fearless, then I believe you’re already on the wrong path, because the only truly fearless people I’ve ever met were straight-up sociopaths and a few exceptionally reckless three-year-olds— and those aren’t good role models for anyone."Her theory on ideas, page 34-35: "I believe that our planet is inhabited not only by animals and plants and bacteria and viruses, but also by ideas. Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form. They are completely separate from us, but capable of interacting with us— albeit strangely. Ideas have no material body, but they do have consciousness, and they most certainly have will. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual."Grace, from page 75: "Whether I am touched by grace or not, I thank creativity for allowing me to engage with it at all."Authenticity, from pp. 97-98: "Anyhow, the older I get, the less impressed I become with originality. These days, I’m far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me. Just say what you want to say, then, and say it with all your heart. Share whatever you are driven to share."Higher education at incredible dollar cost with little return, from page 103: "But I worry that what students of the arts are often seeking in higher education is nothing more than proof of their own legitimacy— proof that they are for real as creative people, because their degree says so."Believing in yourself, from page 108: "So take your insecurities and your fears and hold them upside down by their ankles and shake yourself free of all your cumbersome ideas about what you require (and how much you need to pay) in order to become creatively legitimate. Because I’m telling you that you are already creatively legitimate, by nature of your mere existence here among us."On enjoying being an artist, from pp. 118-119: "I believe that enjoying your work with all your heart is the only truly subversive position left to take as a creative person these days."A reaction to the commentary on the pointlessness of art, from page 128: "The fact that I get to spend my life making objectively useless things means that I don’t live in a postapocalyptic dystopia. It means I am not exclusively chained to the grind of mere survival. It means we still have enough space left in our civilization for the luxuries of imagination and beauty and emotion— and even total frivolousness."The wholeness of our connection to the earth, from page 203: "Without that sense of relationship, Robin warns her students, they are missing out on something incredibly important: They are missing out on their potential to become cocreators of life. As Robin puts it, “The exchange of love between earth and people calls forth the creative gifts of both. The earth is not indifferent to us, but rather calling for our gifts in return for hers— the reciprocal nature of life and creativity.” Or, to put it more simply: Nature provides the seed; man provides the garden; each is grateful for the other’s help.And her sense of wonder, from pp. 250-251: "As long as I’m still moving in that direction— toward wonder— then I know I will always be fine in my soul, which is where it counts."

I generally find all Liz's talks on creativity rather inspirational. This book just combines all her views on the subject. I just warn you: her perception of the creative process is rather mystical.

I can't get enough of Liz Gilbert, this book was so fun to read, inspiring and empowering!

muy buen libro por si no sabes que hacer con tu vida o si estás pensando cambiar de profesión

One of the best books on inspiration and how to find it ne most important- how not to chase it away when it comes looking for you

It was a very nice book, very motivating and written in a nice and entertaining way.

This book is such an inspiration! I didn't expect it would be. I'm an artist, a ceramicist and a colleague recommended this book as she knows I like to read. I create ceramics but I'm also a teacher of ceramics, and also I write texts for my social media accounts. The book Big magic is an inspiration in all three.How I see this book:It's written in a simple down to earth conversational way and it is easy to read.It's a kind of musing on subject of the creativity and creative process .It's almost like a self help book for anyone doubting their ability to create or anyone needing a push to pursue their passion as a hobby.For me it is way more than all that. For me it's a way of returning back to when I first discovered clay and living that moment of being a novice, a beginner. I's valuable to be able to do that as now I'm teaching beginners and it's good to remind myself how it is to be in their skin.For me this book is also an inspiration on social media.There are nuggets of wisdom and original thinking intersperced throughout the book. I have underlined the parts I particularly enjoyed reading so I can read a sentence or two as an inspiration and to put me in the mood of writing a post for social media. Seriously and totally unexpectedly, a line or a word from Big Magic sparks a whole post.I have reccomened Big Magic in various art groups and I keep it on my bedside. I thourougly reccomend you buy it.