Key Points

  • Instead of “following your passions”, follow your curiosity. Living creatively is all about saying yes to your curiosity. 
  • Don’t force Big Magic. Inspiration comes and goes. However, you just can’t sit around and wait for inspiration to hit. You must keep steadily producing in order to convince your genius you’re worth its time.
  • As human beings, we are meant to create. 
  • If something makes you feel brave and bold, gives you butterflies in your tummy, and excites your curiosity, then you know you’re on the right creative path for you.
  • Stand up to your inner voice to get out of your creative rut. Get comfortable with your fears and let them join you on the road to creativity. They can be your ally, they can serve as a reminder for the things you care about.
  • Inspiration can be seen as a force that goes looking for the right creator to help bring an idea to life. You want to grab that inspiration before it’s too late. If you don’t, the creative idea will eventually float on to another person who is willing to make it a reality. 
  • Embrace the unknown. A creative life is always going to be an uncertain life
  • Let go of attachment to financial results. Forcing your art to pay for the bills will kill creativity. Instead, create for yourself. “Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
  • Take ongoing action to open the creative channel. Inspiration will always be drawn to motion.
  • You don’t need permission. No one is going to give you permission but yourself. You must believe that you are entitled to create, no matter the number of rejections or obstacles you face.
  • You're not required to save the world with your creativity. Your creative goal doesn’t have to be originality, authenticity works just as well.
  • Don't take creativity seriously. Creativity doesn't mean you have to become an artist or a designer, you also don't need to earn money from it, you just need to enjoy it. So rather than trying to prove yourself as a serious professional artist, be playful.
  • You will fail, therefore, measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures…
  • Quit your complaining. Complaining gets you nowhere. Just do the work.
  • Procrastination and perfection are just fear in disguise. “Perfection is fear dressed up in a mink coat and heels.“
  • Be a trickster, not a martyr. Too often creators fall into the trap of thinking they must suffer for their art. 
  • You must be willing to take risks if you want to live a creative existence. But if you’re going to gamble, know that you’re gambling.
  • It’s never too late to start creating. “if you're alive, you're a creative person.”
  • The Central Paradox: Art is absolutely meaningless, but also deeply meaningful and sacred. “Only when we’re at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us”
  • Handling frustration is fundamental for the creative process. “Frustration is not an interruption of the process, frustration is the process”

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The above is inspired from the bestselling book "Big Magic." by Elizabeth Gilbert.

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