Reflections on the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Oh, this book. Like a cool drink of water, soothing to my throat, or a deep breath that fills my yearning lungs, this book reaches into some wounded places I didn’t know I had and fills my heart with warm healing.

Truly.

I’m a writer. First and foremost, that has always been my greatest love. And yet, for many years now, I’ve been struggling to complete my novel, though I have a darn good manuscript with thousands of words ready to go.

In Big Magic, Liz lays it out nice + easy. There’s only one thing stopping us from our greatest work: FEAR.

Days before starting this book, my honey and I were driving in the car and he asked me what I think is stopping me from getting my writing done. I went on and on about how writing is hard and finding the time, and being disciplined, and meeting my inner-most self.

And then, I said it: What if it’s shit? What if I pour my heart into my life’s greatest work and people are like…”That’s what you’ve been working on?” “That’s all you’ve got?”

He said, “That’s it. It’s not all that other stuff- it’s that- fear of failure.”

And I knew he was right.

And then, Liz said it too.

Yet, in this book, she made me see that I’m not alone. These are the thoughts that keep so many of us from finishing our work. And she shares what I’ve heard elsewhere recently too…

Done is better than perfect. 

Oh, the beauty with which she takes us through the convoluted process that we’ve turned into creativity and she distills it down to light-hearted, funny truths…that we can just get that shit out of us, and do it as best we can and then be done with it.

When she was writing Eat, Pray, Love she thought it was crap. And there were lots of places she wanted to tweak or cut or tend to. And in the end, she just let it go and it was a best seller and changed her life and many of our lives, too.

No one has ever laid out the process of creativity so eloquently or potently for me before. And inside of her words I found myself + healing + lots of juicy reasons to finish my writing.

What if creativity loves us too? What if our writing loves us? What if we are being met with ideas + inspiration because they too wish to dance with us and together we get to create something wonderful that could never otherwise be?

We’re all creative beings. We all have fear. Many of us get stuck on trying to polish it perfect. If you have a deep desire in your heart to produce those poems, or that book, or to paint that picture and something stops you…get this book. I promise. It will change your life.

All my love,

xo

Rachel Claire