One of my friends I met through Instagram got me the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and although it took me a while to get through it (I moved and started a new job in the middle of reading it), let me just tell you… it was AH-MAZING.
Like, life changing (if you let it be).
Ever since I started pursuing this photography thing about two and a half years ago, I have felt all the scary feelings… afraid of putting myself out there and failing, afraid of never being good enough, afraid of not being taken seriously because I had a “day job” that I intended to keep.
And so many things in Big Magic simply resonated somewhere deep inside me. It spoke to those fears and it made me feel less alone in those fears.
Because pursuing our passions can sometimes be a very lonely place, especially if we are pursuing them in those stolen moments between our “day jobs”, our relationships, and our other daily demands. But the author made some great points about this, saying that she chose to keep her “day jobs” long after her first book got published, long after she was deemed “successful” because it allowed her to not place so much stress on her creativity and therefore risk losing the love she has for her passion. It allowed her art (writing, in her case) to truly be authentic and not be forced just because she needs it to pay the bills.
She also mentioned that we have nothing to lose by putting our art out in the world. Does it make us happy? Then that’s what matters, that’s why we do it. We have no control over what happens once we release it, we have no control over other’s reactions and our worth is not determined by these things.
I recently went out of my comfort zone in my photography and did not receive the reaction I was hoping for… and for a while, it felt pretty devastating. But at the end of the day, I’m proud of what I created, I’m proud I pushed myself to create it, and I’m grateful for the opportunity… and that’s what matters.
As I read this book, I found myself highlighting, underlining, making notes in the margins because I just didn’t want to forget or lose sight of what the author was clearly saying directly to me. And even if you’re reading this thinking, “that’s great, but I don’t really have a creative side or a hobby or anything” well… to that I say READ IT ANYWAY.
To put it simply, Big Magic is a powerful book with amazing insights behind how we choose to live our lives and spend our time.
But beware… it might make you think.
What is creative living? Any life that is driven more by curiosity than by fear.
-Elizabeth Gilbert
