Creativity and Fear: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert book is both a tribute to creativity and a practical guide to how to nurture your it.

Misconceptions are aplenty about what a creative life should look like, but you don’t have to quit your job, and spend a your days as a aquarelle painter, to live creativity.

Everyone is creative!

Everyone is more or less creative! Maybe you doodle on a children’s book before going to bed or rise early to go figure skating before work, without intention to ever be the best, but just because that’s what you do.

Fear is the enemy

Creativity’s biggest enemy is fear and fear is always triggered when you try to create or innovate. Why? Because these activities always brings uncertain outcomes. And fear hates uncertainty!

Video Review of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert:

What holds us back from living a more creative life?

Fear of:

• – Having no talent.
• – Rejection, criticism, ridiculed, misunderstood or ignored.
• – There is no market for your creativity, and therefore no point in pursuing it.
• – We are afraid someone else already did it better.
• – Someone will steal your idea.
• – Not to be taken seriously.
• – That your dreams are embarrassing – To look back at your endeavors as a waste of time, energy & money.
• – You don’t have the right kind of discipline or financial freedom, free time.
• – You’re afraid your too fat.
• – To be exposed as a joke or narcissist.
• – What your family will think.
• – Too old/young to start.
• – My best time is over.

Notes and Highlights

📝 People don’t care what you do! They are too caught up with their own lives. Realize this as soon as possible!

📝 “Perfectionism is fear in fancy shoes”

📝 Originality vs. authenticity. You don’t have to be original, being authentic is what’s important. A lot of thing have been done before. But not by you!

📝 You don’t have to save the world! You can create something unimportant! It’s ok!

⭐️ TAKEAWAY:

Freedom from outcome. Look how a child puts all their focus into a thing, only to discard it and move on to the next thing. We can learn from this! Put all you have into the work at hand but remain detached from the outcome of that work.

⚖️ VERDICT:

Wonderfully written book about creativity that I warmly recommend! A great motivation for someone who’s ready to take a leap of creative faith and start a youtube channel, publish a book, or share your music with the world!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

Further reading:

If you enjoyed Big Magic then you might be interested in these books:

Women Who Run With the Wolves – Clarissa Pinkola Estes
The War of Art – Steven Pressfield
Turning Pro – Steven Pressfield
Transcend – Scott Kaufmann
Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Find more great reads on my book reviews page and the Great Books List
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