January’s business book was Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. I have seen this book on so many photographers pages, artists pages, and every other page under the sun. I knew I wanted to read it, but sometimes you just have to wait for the season before it’s time. It was time this past month. And WOW, this book did not disappoint at all. It was amazing, wonderful and so much more.
Creatives like myself always seem to struggle with the ideas of creative living. To all of us, we see it as a dream of being full-time. But there is more than just quitting your job. Gilbert pointed out that you need to learn to travel comfortably with your fear. “Make space for fear. If I relax, fear relaxes. If I want creativity in my life (and I do) then I have to make space for fear.” She doesn’t mean letting run your life but recognize that it is here for the ride.
She talked about us waiting for permission to live a creative life. We don’t need anyone’s permission to live a creative life she said. Gilbert said that self-absorption is something that keeps you from creative living. “You are already creatively legitimate by nature of your mere existence here among us.”
“Stop treating your creativity like a tired, unhappy marriage. Start regarding it as with fresh eyes of a passionate lover.” Man, I love that! Sometimes you just need to be kicked in the face to understand it.
There were so many aspects of this book that I loved. It is definitely going to become one of those books that are reread yearly… I would definitely recommend that you guys check it out.