I’m participating in the #AtoZ April Blogging Challenge 2025 and this will be my third year of joining the vibrant community that loves this one-of-a-kind creative challenge.
This year, my theme is—BOOKS THAT HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE—which means I’m not only going to write about my favourite books, but also about the deep and lasting impact they’ve had on my personal growth and my work and creative life, until this day. And, that’s not all—I’m also blogging on my other blog—’TheSkyGirlMusings‘ and my theme there is THE A TO Z OF SELF CARE. If that sounds interesting, and you might like to check it out, please click on the link and if youre not already following, please do follow me there.
Before you leave, please do share your blog link, so I can visit your blog and follow you back too. Thank you! 🙂
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B – Big Magic
On the book
In Big Magic, Gilbert advises the reader to embrace the fears that come in the way of living a creative life—not let it hold us back—instead, let courage be our key to unlocking our creative potential. She shares her belief that the universe buries jewels within us, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The book contains plenty of stories from Gilbert’s own life, as well as those from her friends and the people that have inspired her. She challenges the reader to embrace their curiosity, reminding them why it is essential to give up the fear of judgement and instead, enjoy the process of creating.
The style of writing is lucid and the narration flows easily, like most of Gilbert’s other books. The only other book by her that I had previously read was her famous memoir—Eat, Pray and Love, that chronicled her travels around the world after her divorce. This one, came to me at a time when I was at my lowest, riddled with self doubts and struggling to balance my creative pursuits, alongside work and personal life, nearly on the verge of giving it all up. The impact was powerful and it helped me find my feet again.
It’s Impact on Me
According to Elizabeth Gilbert, “If you’re alive, you’re a creative person,“—this, felt like a warm invitation to explore my creative world, without the weight of how the world perceived me. I loved the fact that here was someone who reminded the world that creativity was not just for the writers and the artists. It was for all. Perfect for those of us who are afflicted by the ‘imposter syndrome‘ every now and then!
Big Magic was also instrumental in pushing me to venture into uncharted territories through my art and writing, which did make me feel extremely vulnerable at the time. Fear has always been there but, thankfully, one has made peace with it over time, and thankfully, it is no longer the only emotion that guides me now. In the book, Gilbert also makes us realise that fear forces us to live the same life we’ve always had, with the same limitations and it is far more honourable to stay in the game—even if we’re failing, than to excuse ourselves from participation, just because we are afraid.
Not letting fear cripple me was a great start to begin with. Gilbert’s words resound through the book, as she nudges the reader—
“Just create. Push those fears aside. Sometimes inspiration will strike and sometimes it won’t. Sometimes you’ll find flow and things will come easily, and sometimes creativity will cause you frustration and will be challenging. Regardless, create.”
As I find myself writing for the #AtoZ challenge, this month, I know where I find my strength and inspiration from. It’s a commitment to show up every day and it isn’t easy, but now, there’s no looking back. What’s there to lose, anyway?
Besides this, another important take away from the book has been welcoming the ideas that come to us every day—no matter how small or insignificant they be, every idea must be welcomed, lest they find another home elsewhere. This seemingly simple thing has changed my perspective on how many of my projects are conceived now. Countless questions come up in my mind. Like, for instance:
Am I allowing myself to be a vessel for these ideas or am I shutting them out? Am I allowing inspiration to work through me or am I rejecting it?
In the initial years of my blogging journey, one of the things that would plague me very often was the concept of authenticity. In ‘Big Magic’, Gilbert reminds us that most things have already been done—even if, not by us. She tells us:
“Share whatever you are driven to share. If it’s authentic, it will feel original. Everything reminds us of something, but once you put your own expression and passion behind an idea, that idea becomes yours.”
Of course, there were many more things that I learnt from this book, that would be too elaborate to describe here, but to sum up, I can say that the book left a deep impact on me, and my creative process. More than anything, I’ve learnt to treasure every single idea that comes to my mind now, to work on it, lest it runs away elsewhere!
Big Magic is a wonderful book—a truly magical one—that I would highly recommend to anyone seeking to enrich their own creative journey! If you’ve read it, I’d love to know how you found it. If you haven’t read it yet, please go pick it up right now. You” come back to thank me later.
