5 Ways Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic Changed My Approach to Creativity

These mindset shifts got results.

I was in one of the river towns along the Delaware in New Jersey a few weeks ago when my eyes were drawn to a vibrant-looking woman standing at a parking meter. What immediately came to mind were three words:

I know her!

I quickly scanned my brain to determine how. Who is this woman? She looked happy and kind. Hmm… Did I know her from church? One of the kids’ schools? Nope.

Suddenly I knew. It was Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, City of Girls, and Big Magic. I took it as a sign it was time for me to reread Big Magic. It turned out to be just the book I needed at that moment.

I’d struggled to finish my writing projects for the past few months. Rereading Big Magic helped me quickly change my mindset regarding creativity in 5 important ways that allowed me to complete projects again, and have a more enjoyable time doing so.

1) You can measure success by your engagement with creativity

I admit that usually, I’ve measured the success of my creative efforts through their reception by others. If something I wrote was well-received, I regarded my abilities and even status as a writer favorably. If my writing was ignored, I felt like a failure and even had trouble calling myself a writer at all.

It’s easy to see why this is problematic. I was putting the question of my identity as a writer in the hands (or minds) of other people.

Gilbert has a much better idea:

“You can measure your worth by your dedication to the path, not by your successes or failures.”

This is a better measure than the “success” of your creativity because it’s within your control.

Of course, we write or paint or act or knit hoping to connect with or affect other people. But how our creative work is received, whether it’s ignored or adored, is out of our hands and therefore is not something we should put ourselves at the mercy of.

Instead, we should use our engagement with our creative pursuits as the yardstick. Now, if I write, I am a writer. It’s that simple. This attitude also helps me focus on my enjoyment of the process itself.

Remembering to focus on producing and forgetting about what others think is very freeing and has enabled me to write more since rereading Big Magic.

2) Authenticity is more important than originality

You can drive yourself crazy trying to think of something that has never been said or done before. Sometimes in our efforts to be “original” things can turn out pretty contrived and, ironically, inauthentic.

When we try so hard to be different we can forget to be ourselves.

I don’t know about you, but this kind of approach is easy to spot a mile away. And not in a good way.

Gilbert stresses that it’s more important to be authentic than original. This is good news because being original is a much taller order and in most cases may be impossible. Many of the same themes and storylines have been explored by artists and writers for centuries, and it turns out there is nothing wrong with that.

Gilbert has a much better way of looking at originality:

“Everything reminds us of something. But once you put your own expression and passion behind an idea, that idea becomes yours.”

To do this, you have to be authentic to who you are: your perspective, your experiences, and your sensibilities. This is not only easier to do than being 100% original, it’s also a lot more fun.

All you have to do is write, sculpt, paint, or craft honestly. This can even mean being inspired by another person’s creative work and responding with your own. You don’t have to just look inside yourself for ideas, you can search the whole world!

This notion freed me of the pressure to be original.

3) Creativity is something you engage with, not something inside you

When your creative endeavors feel like they are something you’re trying to force to happen or that you have to pull out of yourself, it isn’t fun. And when you can’t seem to pull anything out, you can feel like a failure, or that you are incapable.

Instead, Gilbert has a much better suggestion for how to think about such times:

“The most important thing to understand about eudaimonia, though — about that exhilarating encounter between a human being and diving creative inspiration — is that you can not expect it to be there for you all the time.

It will come and go, and you must let it come and go.”

It’s tempting when the words or paint are not flowing to complain about it. Gilbert cautions against that though because it can scare inspiration away. Your job during these times is to simply keep working on your craft, without placing demands on it.

She also suggested you could woo creativity back. She sometimes gets dressed up and puts on lipstick.

I decided I needed to encourage creativity to get back into conversation with me by letting it know I was seriously interested in listening to what it had to say. So, to signal my interest, I put little notebooks and pens in the pockets of all of my coats and one on my nightstand. Then instead of ignoring the ideas I became aware of (or thinking I’ll remember them later when I am seated at my computer) I started paying attention and writing them down.

It sounds simple, but it made a huge difference.

Gilbert points out the Roman belief that people have genius, but are not geniuses themselves. I love this idea, as it relieves the pressure to be great. Instead, I can accept that inspiration and flow will come and go and I must let it. Even when I can’t access it, I can be patient and keep working, confident that it will return.

And this helps me keep paying attention.

4) Finishing is more important than perfection

Most people don’t finish the creative projects they start. Sadly, some never even begin. Their ideas remain vague notions in their minds. This is because they’re intimidated by the idea that what they produce needs to be perfect.

Gilbert cautions about pursuing perfection. Instead, she says to forget about trying to produce something perfect, and just keep showing up and engaging in your craft.

As an example, she shares this about writing her first novel:

“The only reason I was able to persist in completing my first novel was that I allowed it to be stupendously imperfect. I pushed myself to continue writing it, even though I strongly disapproved of what I was producing. That book was so far from perfect, it drove me nuts.”

It would be easy, and perhaps understandable, to think someone who has reached Gilbert’s monumental level of success had always had an easy time writing. But in this and other examples she gives in the book, she dispels this dangerous myth.

It hasn’t always been easy for her, and in fact, still isn’t. And that’s okay. It’s part of the process.

The important thing is to not give up and to see things through.

Finish your creative projects. Then let them go and move on to the next one. I love this way of thinking because it changes each project into a stepping stone on your creative journey, instead of putting so much pressure on each one to be groundbreaking and perfect.

I’ve also found that finishing projects helps build a certain level of confidence that’s useful. When the next project is difficult, you can know that you’ll be able to finish it if you just keep at it, because you have finished others.

5) The fear will never go away, and it doesn’t have to

It’s scary to put creative work out there into the world. For a long time, I thought it was only fearless artists who succeeded. I hoped one day I’d become fearless too.

It never happened.

If you’re waiting around to feel fearless before creating something, you’re going to have a very long wait. That’s because fear is always going to be a part of the process.

As Gilbert says:

“Your fear will always be triggered by creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome.”

We can’t get rid of the fear and it turns out that that’s okay! This is such a relief. We can even see the presence of fear as a sign we are actively engaging with creativity when we notice that fear is present.

This changed the way I perceived fear. It’s less of a foe and more of a marker that I’m engaged in the creative life. In this way, I find it useful, instead of an obstacle.

I’m so glad I noticed Elizabeth Gilbert on the sidewalk that day. Engaging in creative pursuits helps me feel whole and like myself — unstifled and interested in life. When I have trouble seeing them through, my life feels less satisfying and incomplete.

Big Magic is one of those books that offers you different takeaways each time you read it. Rereading it this time helped me get back into the right mindset to engage with creativity without feeling pressured, inadequate, or like I was doing it “wrong” through these mindset shifts.

And that does feel pretty magical.