How to live creatively with Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert’s approach to creativity
Becoming a creative is challenging until you finally say, “I am a Creative.” Elizabeth Gilbert shares ideas that will help you to live creatively in her book, Big Magic.
Let curiosity lead your life, not fear
Living a creative life means finding inspiration in the world and allowing curiosity to guide you without fear standing in your way. Identify what excites your curiosity and give yourself permission to create. You’re entitled to live creatively for others and most importantly, for yourself. Discover what excites your curiosity and don’t let fear hold you back from pursuing your ideas. Be open to ideas that come to you and work on bringing them into reality. Good ideas have a habit of boomeranging, whether you build on them, or someone else does.
Get comfortable with your fears and learn to co-exist with them because they will never fully go away, but you can mitigate risk to reassure some of your fears. For example, don’t force your art to pay your rent. It’s okay to keep your day job to support your creative pursuits and build a safe environment to experiment and take your time to fully explore your creativity.
Free yourself from perfection
Trust in your craft and creative process without obsessing over the small details. Your output is not rigid and in reality, it doesn’t matter which version you end up creating because it will still make an impact. Take the creative process lightly and don’t torture yourself or suffer for your art.
If you’re struggling with an aspect of your creative process or imposter syndrome is kicking in, it can be tempting to stop creating and find a course or seek an academic qualification. However, when it comes to creativity, there’s no such thing as right or wrong, and there are multiple ways to do everything. You can’t be told exactly what or how to create by someone else – only your life experience and practice can help you. Find your inspiration and answers in the world.
Live your life with curiosity instead of letting fear hold you back and give yourself permission to be a creative, whether it’s your profession that pays the bills or not. Choose flexibility over perfection and seek inspiration from life experience. Then, grab the ideas that come flooding in with both hands.
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