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shortstack1030's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
stephaniesteen73's review
4.0
There were a lot of thought-provoking ideas in this book which resonated with me. Her basic thesis is that life is a lot more meaningful if we allow our creative selves to create. It's fascinating to realize that humans have always been creative, and in fact cave paintings pre-date farming (paraphasing her - it was more essential to paint than to have a stable food supply!)
I do see that, as I have gotten older, I've often dismissed or tamped down my creativity as either not being good enough, not productive enough or not worthy of my time and effort. But we truly were all made to create and there is a joy that comes through the creative process itself regardless of outcome. I am going to try and allow those creative juices to flow however they will (cooking, gardening, scrapbooking, music, writing, the list is endless).
I find it very interesting how Gilbert uses so much "religious" language in this book but applies it all to the spirit of creativity or new age enlightenment talk. As a Christian, I support much of what she says, but I attribute it all to the true Creator: the one who endowed us each with creativity and is himself astoundingly creative.
I do see that, as I have gotten older, I've often dismissed or tamped down my creativity as either not being good enough, not productive enough or not worthy of my time and effort. But we truly were all made to create and there is a joy that comes through the creative process itself regardless of outcome. I am going to try and allow those creative juices to flow however they will (cooking, gardening, scrapbooking, music, writing, the list is endless).
I find it very interesting how Gilbert uses so much "religious" language in this book but applies it all to the spirit of creativity or new age enlightenment talk. As a Christian, I support much of what she says, but I attribute it all to the true Creator: the one who endowed us each with creativity and is himself astoundingly creative.
brisingr's review
3.0
It made me think - which I think is all we can ask from these kind of self-help books.
singsandreads's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
lynnannwalsh's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Really inspirational—have fun with your creativity and create space for inspiration, and it will work with you!
bhnmt61's review
4.0
Of course I’ve never met Elizabeth Gilbert but I still want to dislike her. The way she presents herself is (to me) annoyingly self-confident and unconflicted, and while I can go along with a fair amount of woo-woo, she is sometimes too much woo-woo for me. I like my mysticism grounded with a bit of snark and some common sense, thank you very much. I barely made it through Eat,pray,love, finding it more and more smug as it went along. BUT. She is also annoyingly wise, and good at putting that wisdom into words.
This book, Big Magic, a book about creativity, is just as annoyingly full of itself as Gilbert’s other work- it just astonishes me that she can write what amounts to an artistic self-help book and use herself as the example of all the good and right ways to approach creativity. Who does that? Aren’t you supposed to occasionally have problems with creativity? Shouldn’t you build camaraderie with your readers by showing how you share the same struggles they do? Apparently she doesn’t think so. According to this book, Gilbert has had a handle on how to be creative since she was about eight and made a vow to pursue her writing, and she is able to use herself as an example of all her recommended approaches to creativity. And you know what? It still works. Even given all these gripes about the book, even though I nearly put it down a couple of times, I learned a lot and I will probably even re-read it at some point. I don’t know how she does it. I’m really irritated at giving it four stars but I liked it that much, when I wasn’t rolling my eyes.
This book, Big Magic, a book about creativity, is just as annoyingly full of itself as Gilbert’s other work- it just astonishes me that she can write what amounts to an artistic self-help book and use herself as the example of all the good and right ways to approach creativity. Who does that? Aren’t you supposed to occasionally have problems with creativity? Shouldn’t you build camaraderie with your readers by showing how you share the same struggles they do? Apparently she doesn’t think so. According to this book, Gilbert has had a handle on how to be creative since she was about eight and made a vow to pursue her writing, and she is able to use herself as an example of all her recommended approaches to creativity. And you know what? It still works. Even given all these gripes about the book, even though I nearly put it down a couple of times, I learned a lot and I will probably even re-read it at some point. I don’t know how she does it. I’m really irritated at giving it four stars but I liked it that much, when I wasn’t rolling my eyes.