Rating: 4/5
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…
In her non-fiction essay on creating, Elizabeth Gilbert explores the need of creators to create, the obstacles they allow to stop them creating, and the balance necessary to create.
Gilbert opens with her theory that ideas are out there in the universe waiting to collaborate with us. She proposes that ideas want to be used, they want to take their final form as something we have created, but they also won't wait around forever. They come along, wanting to work with us, but we need to be ready to work with them too.
Whilst the rational side of me can't agree with Gilbert's theory of ideas as their own living entity, the creative side of me revels in the idea of creativity for the sake of creativity - or, to quote Oscar Wilde, 'art for art's sake'. I have always loved writing but I have many hang-ups about my ability or the worth of my writing. Gilbert unabashedly confronts these hang-ups, smashing down the walls creators have built for themselves with a big old dose of realism - or maybe it's a comforting form of existentialism. The reminder that what we create often doesn't matter is exactly the kind of reminder creators often need, freeing themselves from the constraints they make for themselves.
I found Big Magic to be incredibly motivational, not because Gilbert is telling me that I can achieve things and be the best, but because she makes it personal. She points out that the reason you probably started creating was for yourself, so why should that change? The principles of this book are simultaneously incredibly simple and utterly revolutionary.
Be ready, Gilbert says, because inspiration could strike at any moment. At the same time, don't wait around for inspiration, work hard and follow your curiosity because sometimes inspiration, too, needs a push.
The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars from me is because of the way it is broken up into so many small sections. The bitesize bits might be useful for someone reading on the go, but for me it felt a little too disconnected and made me to willing to put it down between titles as they are natural stopping points. I'll admit, it was also a struggle to get through the first section when I couldn't see the sense of ideas floating out in the universe, waiting for us to work with them. However, the joy of Big Magic, in my opinion, is that even if you don't believe in what Gilbert opens with, once you've powered through that section, there's so much more on offer. It's a bit of a kick in the ass telling you that you can create just as well as anybody else, so why the hell aren't you? This approach works wonderfully for me because the tone is energetic and joyful, but just sassy enough that the push is evident. Go create, she says, because you can.
Despite this being a pretty short review, I urgently recommend you read this book. Whether you're a creator struggling to create or someone who never thought of themselves as creative, I believe you will find something in this book that will motivate you, even if it's just in the delight Gilbert shares about the wonder inherent in our world.
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