Root to Flourish READS: ‘Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear' by Elizabeth Gilbert
"In [Gilbert’s] first foray into full on self-help [she] shares intimate glimpses into the life of a world-famous creative, complete with bouts of paralyzing fear and frustration, in an attempt to coax the rest of us into walking through the world just a little bit braver.”
-- Elle
This is a ‘Root to Flourish READS’ post, a monthly blog post feature offering a book recommendation. It’ll always be a book I’ve read and loved, and a book I believe can be beneficial in enhancing emotional wellbeing!
What’s it about?
Elizabeth Gilbert, of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ fame, with Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, invites us to “uncover the ‘strange jewels’ that are hidden within each of us.
It’s a book about allowing curiosity to fuel inspiration, and for then allowing that process to assist us in overcoming the fear that limits our lives.
Gilbert speaks of how our work - whatever that work may be for each of us (hint: it may not be your job) - wants and needs to be made … through us; and, of the barriers and challenges (like fear and perfectionism), that impede us in completing our work.
Why I love it
You, like me, might initially think, “I’m not creative … I don’t paint or write. I’m not an artist,” and therefore believe this book isn’t for you.
But, WAIT! Gilbert brilliantly expands the concept of creativity into how to live creatively. This expanded notion of creativity applies to each and every one of us. It may relate to how to live your life in the most full and meaningful way possible. It may connect to how to address the challenges arising in your work and in your relationships. It may assist you in finding a way to explore the dream you’ve been ignoring or putting off. Or, it may simply “infuse [your] everyday [life] with more mindfulness and passion.”
It’s inspiring.
It’s filled with wonder and joy.
It’s both spiritual and practical - a combination I adore and find extremely potent in effecting long-term change.
It’s truly a gem of a book.
How might it enhance emotional wellbeing?
Ultimately this book is about the power of curiosity, allowing inspiration to assist you in choosing a direction, and then having faith and trust to follow that path, not knowing where it might lead. It’s all about allowing, a concept we’ve been exploring all month.
It’s a formula for overcoming fear, not just in the realm of creativity, but as it applies to your entire life.
The book jacket suggests that Gilbert “shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear,” synonymously with so much of the work I am privileged to do with my clients.
What next?
I’m a GIANT fan of the public library, borrow the book today!
If you want to buy the book, you can find it here, on Bookshop.org, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. (I love Bookshop.org - it’s a site that allows you to buy books from independent bookstores!)
Or, if you’d rather listen to it, it’s on Audible, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.
As a follow-up, after you read the book, check out the podcast series created as a practical application of this book: Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert. Listen in on Gilbert chatting with people struggling with what’s interfering with them being able to live and work creatively, apply lessons from the book to their individual problem, and then follow up to see how they’ve got on.