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20 lessons in creativity from Elizabeth Gilbert's: Big Magic

Big Magic by Liz GilbertThis year I’ve been rediscovering my creative self via my YouTube channel: The Greeting Card Project. It’s got me thinking a lot about creativity.

I recently devoured a fantastic book on the subject. I found it refreshing, life affirming and incredibly inspiring. In fact, I loved Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert, so much that I thought I’d share my key learnings from it with you

Fear

There are many ways we can be afraid to live a creative life. You can be afraid that you have no talent. Afraid that there’s no market for your creativity. Afraid that other people are already better. Afraid that the greeting cards you create are not original. Afraid that you’ll embarrass yourself. Afraid that nobody will be interested in what you make. Afraid you’ll waste your time. The list is endless. It’s terrifying. Fear is boring. It stops you from living. You must be brave.

Courage

Being brave is not the same as being fearless. Being creative requires courage. The courage to bring forth the treasures within yourself. Acknowledge your fear and allow it to join creativity and you on your road trips. Just don’t allow it to make any decisions - and definitely don’t let it drive!

Magic

Creativity is a force of enchantment, like magic. Gilbert believes that the planet is inhabited by ideas that are disembodied, energetic life-forms looking for places to manifest by collaborating with a human partner. If you don’t pursue an idea it’ll leave and resurface somewhere else with someone else (I’ve seen this happen with card range ideas we never pursued).

Ownership

Ideas don’t belong to any one person. They are born out of collaboration with the creativity of people. Ideas can collaborate with more than one human and arrive in similar forms. This is an artistic form of multiple discovery - a term used in the scientific community whenever two scientists from different parts of the world come up with an idea at the same time. A common occurrence throughout history. In the end, it’s all just flowers seeking light.

Torment

You don’t have to be a tormented artist that brings forth ideas at a cost to your relationships and yourself. In the end it’s all about the work, not the suffering. A different way is to cooperate fully, humbly and joyfully with inspiration. You can support other’s creativity. Measure your worth by your dedication to your path of creating beautiful cards, not by successes or failures, wealth or fortune.

Genius

Unlike us, the Romans didn’t believe that a gifted person was a genius. They believe they had a genius. Like a sort of spirit guide. This psychological construct is useful to keep the artist’s ego in check by distancing them from taking the glory or blame for the work. That way they are not burdened by the reaction to anything they create. It’s useful to think of your creative talent as separate from you, so you don’t beat yourself up when your latest card range flops in the marketplace.

Making Space

You have to make space for the work. Setting aside time each day or week. Creative work is labour; like farming. It’s not a never ending series of enlightened moments. It’s hard. Forces of inspiration cannot be seen, proven, commanded nor understood. Yet they are relied upon in our industry as a way of generating income for tens of thousands of people. Be disciplined with regular design time.

Permission

You don’t need anyone’s permission to live a creative life. You don’t need to do a course or get a certificate. We are inherently creative beings. The earliest example of human art is 40,000 years ago, thirty thousand years before the earliest evidence of human agriculture. Which means we were more interested in creating than regularly feeding ourselves! Give yourself permission to create.

Originality

I remember my high school art teacher telling me that nothing is original. Try not to get hung up on this. Most things have already been done - but they have not been done yet by you. Say what you want to say with all your heart. If it’s authentic it will probably feel original.

Stop Complaining

The world is busy. Nobody wants to hear you complaining about being an artist or that it’s difficult. Get on with it. Stop getting in your own way. The commercial results of your work don’t have a lot to do with you as creator. Your job is to produce the work itself. That job is tough enough. This is where it helps to have a business partner who focuses on selling and marketing your greeting cards as a separate job. It’s tough doing both.

Child’s Play

Children make up things all the time. They aren’t burdened by being artists or by the work. They create and toss their creations out like paper airplanes. Relax. Enjoy creating your card designs. Be light. Have fun with it.

Criticism

What people see in your work has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. People make all sorts of connections and assumptions driven by their own emotional stories all the time. Don’t get caught up in this. Your focus is on the work.

The Paradox

Art is absolutely meaningless. It’s also incredibly meaningful. Sending someone a card is the same. It can be completely meaningless. It can be incredibly meaningful. It needs the freedom to be both. We need to be able to throw away what’s not working and start afresh when creating.

Suckage

Everything sucks, some of the time. What are you passionate enough about that you can endure the most disagreeable aspects of the work? Similarly, you will never find all the hours you need for your creativity. You have to find ways to fit it in.

Perfection

Don’t worry about what other people think either. Other people are mostly thinking about themselves and not you. Remember that done is better than good. I’ve found this with The Greeting Card Project, some videos are better than others. Twenty two videos done is better than trying to make one good video.

A Chore

Creativity is a chore. If it’s too painful, you may want to quit. Life is short and should be enjoyed. Take up a new hobby, travel, spend time with friends. After a while, if you find yourself drawn back towards creating because nothing in life brings you the same pleasure, then you will have no choice.

Playfulness

Be a trickster with your work , not a martyr. Have fun with it. Make it work for you. Be playful. Your work is not your baby. Let it go. If you have to cut it or adjust your new card range to make it happen in the world then do so.

Curiosity

Forget about your passion, follow your curiosity instead. Rather than waiting for passion to strike or deciding which passion to pursue, be inquisitive about things. It may lead you somewhere, it may not. Following it opens up things. The Greeting Card Project has definitely done this for me. I’ve learnt more about greeting cards this year than all my pervious years in the card industry.

Failure

You will fail. It sucks, but it’s true. Creative risks won’t always pan out. Sometimes your work fails on your own terms, sometimes it fails to connect with anyone when you put it out there. That’s the nature of creativity. Nobody simply designs a best selling range of greeting cards. It happens outside of them. Successes are rooted in the manure of failures. When you fail, let it go. Forgive yourself.

Top Dog

How do you top a best selling range of cards? This assumes that reaching the top and staying there is the only reason to create. If anything it’s a hindrance. The mysteries of inspiration do not operate on the limited human scale of commerce and reputation, of units sold and markets won. If you only have one designer in your business, it’s important to acknowledge the commercial limitations of this and not put pressure on your creativity.

Summary

Be sure to live a life driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear. A creative life is an amplified life, where Big Magic is to be found. Time marches on. Look within to unearth your creative treasures. We don't have the time anymore to think small.

Eight Ways to Deal with Failure

Freedom from Standard Thinking

How to create best selling greeting cards

Watch Liz Gilbert's TED talk on creativity by clicking on the image below: