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finesilkflower's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Inspiring pep talk on creative mindset applying to all sorts of creative endeavors (writing, art, and other forms of making); including attracting inspiration, following your curiosity, overcoming fear, giving yourself permission to express yourself, getting the work done in all its beautiful imperfection, and putting it out there without worrying about the outcome. A bit woo-woo for me in parts but overall very invigorating and applicable to all sorts of creative things in my life. Elizabeth Gilbert has an approachable, readable style and this book feels just like she is talking to you. She is clearly familiar enough with creative blocks, impostor syndrome, and fear to write about it intimately yet she is bracing and direct in her message. A great read if you're trying to work up the courage to make your thing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug abuse, Transphobia, and Suicide
A few passing references to self-destructive behaviors in the name of creativity (including su***de and drug abuse), in order to make the point that it's a shame our society normalizes this, and to assure you that you can be creative without them. Usually I CW 'transphobia' meaning the book deals with transphobia as a topic, and this one doesn't; there is a brief moment where I found the content itself to be unintentionally but still painfully transphobic. It's in an otherwise great passage where Gilbert is urging you to approach creativity with the attitude of the archetypical Trickster. Gilbert writes, "Trickster energy is light, sly, transgender, transgressive, animist, seditious, primal, and endlessly shape-shifting." As a trans person, this left a bad taste in my mouth because of its suggestion (intentional or not) that trans people are fraudulent or deceptive. Without that word in this list, I would probably have finished that passage feeling excited to cultivate the fun, clever, adaptable attitude of the Trickster in my art, but instead I left with a feeling of insecurity that should I become more like a Trickster, I will be seen as faking my gender, or as playing into false stereotypes about trans people. Gilbert means the Trickster attributes to be positive, but there's a difference between choosing to a be a rebel or a boundary-crosser, vs. being slotted into the category because of an inherent trait. It's rare that a single word drops down a book an entire star rating, but this is how hurt and blindsided I was by this single moment in an otherwise lovely book.
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