We review Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert and show why we think this is such an inspiring and necessary read for any aspiring creatives. The book is available for purchase here.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2015 book Big Magic offers her take on creativity – musing on the source of her inspirations for her creative projects and the expectations both internally and externally on living a creative life. The book truly is a ‘magical’ take on creativity that will inspire creatives and non-creatives alike and truly feels like a necessary read. Doubtless it would not have got the attention that it did if it had not been for the tremendous success of Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love and it is this that gives Gilbert the gravitas for her musings. Broken into five sections – Courage, Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust, Divinity – Big Magic reads as a framework upon which to embark on a creative life, some are immensely palatable, opening minds to possibility, but some of the chapters feel tenuous at best, without a completely coherent thesis or idea to follow. Perhaps though that is the very point of Big Magic, Gilbert herself says that in order to live a creative life, you can not live for criticism or even for success, but live a truly authentically creative life that is not bound by material accomplishment. The book in this lens feels liberating, yet it is without doubt a rambling meditation that feels at points slightly indulgent – the book should be read as creatively and freely as it is written, without expectation.
Big Magic is available for purchase now here.
