Dear Elizabeth,
Can I call you Liz? I feel like I should be calling you Liz after having you in my head and world for the past few months. But seriously, didn’t you write BIG MAGIC for me? I know my name wasn’t on the dedication page, or in the thank you’s at the end, but come on! This book was a look into my life and heart and head. I know it was as much about me as for me, so for whatever sneaky process you took to find out all of this info, I won’t hold it against you. This book rocked!
I started this book with the hope that it would help me with a creativity workshop series I’m leading this winter at the library where I work, but the minute I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. It said everything I was feeling, and pronounced my fears about ALL of the creative processes in my life in a language that was my very own. I loved this book in so many ways, I can’t even begin to tell you. (Or rather, I will, because leaving book reviews is the best way to celebrate an author, isn’t it? My Goodreads review can be found here.)
I’ve always been a creator, from the fashion girls I used to draw in any notebook I could get my hands on, to my journey in music through to my degree, to my current career as a children’s librarian. I create every day. Every single day. And the minute I stop creating, I become this terrible, whiny, miserable, depressed force that no one needs to be around. (Trust me, my husband knows when it’s time for me to find a new project to work on. He pays for it in spades, the poor man.) I just never knew there was a voice or a reason behind needing to create, and I truly believe BIG MAGIC summed it up in ways I’ve never heard before, but in every way that was truth to me. Thank you for that.
My favourite moments in BIG MAGIC?
- “Done is better than good.”
- “If greatness should ever accidentally stumble upon you, let it catch you hard at work.”
- “Remove the suggestion box.”
- “Declare your intent. YOU must be the one to start the conversation, and you must feel entitled to stay in the conversation.”
That last one blew my mind.
I can’t wait to share this book with my creativity workshop participants. I want them to not only see into my life, but to see into their own, and find their way through to a genuinely happy creative spot in their lives. Honestly, I wish I could read this book every day. I need to read this book every day. It got me up off the couch, got me to finish a project I was working on for more than two years, and it got me inspired to keep going.
So, thank you for this wonderful gift. Really, thank you isn’t enough. I should be sending you baked goods.
Love,
