12 Inspiring Quotes from Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Have you read Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert yet? The full title is Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. It’s fantastic and it’s not just for artists. It’s for anyone who wants to live a more creative life. I bought the audio book, which I have listened to a couple times straight through. I also like to pop in my ear buds and set the sleep timer to have her beautiful words help me off to sleep on nights my brain won’t shut off.

My biggest takeaway from the book was to just make things. Create for the sake of creating! Create for the fun of it. Not everything you create has to be a perfected masterpiece. It’s impossible to work to that standard. Not everything you create has to be for profit. As a creative entrepreneur, it’s sometimes hard to step away from the “can I scale and sell this” mentality. Also, as a creative entrepreneur you’re always working. Even when I’m doing the dishes I’m imagining design concepts for clients. I obsessively think about my work because I love it and I want to do my work as well as possible. I take art and design very seriously, and so I don’t often create for the pure joy of it, which is kind of a shame! I’m a graphic designer by trade, but I want to paint and build things and I need to take the time to do that. Being a graphic designer who only works on projects for other people, but never creates for the sake of creating, isn’t really living a creative life, is it?

I could go on for hours about all the wonderful jewels in this book… Instead I’ll share my favorite quotes from, Liz. I know I don’t know her for real, but I feel like if we met she would want me to call her Liz. One more bonus, if you’re a podcast lover check out the continuation of the spirit of the book with Magic Lessons podcast.

My Top Dozen favorite quotes from Big Magic:

1. The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.

2. If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.

3. All I know for certain is that this is how I want to spend my life—collaborating to the best of my ability with forces of inspiration that I can neither see, nor prove, nor command, nor understand. It’s a strange line of work, admittedly. I cannot think of a better way to pass my days.

4. The guardians of high culture will try to convince you that the arts belong only to a chosen few, but they are wrong and they are also annoying.

5. Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.

6. I don’t want to be afraid of bright colors, or new sounds, or big love, or risky decisions, or strange experiences, or weird endeavors, or sudden changes, or even failure.

7. Perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat.

8. You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.

9. Be the weirdo who dares to enjoy.

10. My creative expression must be the most important thing in the world to me (if I am to live artistically) and it also must not matter at all ( if I am to live sanely).

11. Whatever you do, try not to dwell too long on your failures. You don't need to conduct autopsies on your disasters.

12. Pure creativity is something better than a necessity; it’s a gift. It’s the frosting. Our creativity is a wild and unexpected bonus from the universe.

Pretty great, right? I thought I better stop at 12, because if I listed all my favorites I would probably type out most of the book and that feels a little excessive. If you haven’t read Big Magic yet, I highly recommend it. If you have, I would love to hear your favorite quote in the comments! PS - The graphics are all sized to be phone wallpaper friendly, so feel free to save and use!

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Beauty is everywhere.