Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-help book on living creatively is organised in six parts: Courage; Enchantment; Permission; Persistence; Trust; and Divinity.
Courage
Gilbert summarises her thesis:
Creative living is the hunt to uncover the jewels the universe has hidden inside each of us.
Only the courageous begin the hunt.
The outcome of the hunt is ‘big magic’.
Many people don’t pursue their hidden jewels from the fear that accompanies creativity. Recognise and respect your fear, but don’t follow its suggestions.
Enchantment
Gilbert believes creativity is magic and magical. The world is filled with ideas, ‘disembodied, energetic lifeforms’ with consciousness and will, who desire to be manifested through collaboration with a person.
When an idea approaches you, you can say no. If you say yes, you’ve entered a contract with inspiration. If you break the contract, the idea will move on to the next available collaborator.
Sometimes writing is fairy dust, but mostly it’s hard labour. The fairy dust is eudaemonia, flow, or being in the zone. We should stop talking about a creative people being a genius, and instead speak of a creative person having a genius. The genius sometimes visits, sometimes doesn’t. This would take a lot of the pressure off.
Permission
‘You don’t need anyone’s permission to live a creative life.’ People have been creative forever; creativity is not the possession of an elite few. To live creatively you have to feel entitled to belong here. Your creativity doesn’t have to be original or important. Your reasons for creating are good enough.
Don’t go into debt to legitimate your creativity, because ‘debt will always be the abattoir of creative dreams . . . There is no job security in creativity, and there never will be.’
Stop complaining about your creativity. Try telling yourself, and others, how much you enjoy it.
People will pigeonhole you and criticise you. Let them, and get on with your work. And remember, creativity is inessential. Well, most people’s creativity is inessential. Relax, have some fun, don’t take it too seriously. The central paradox of art is that it matters and it doesn’t matter.
Persistence
Make a commitment to learn your creative art and your creative process, and stick at it. It takes ten years to become an expert. Learning to endure disappointment and failure is part of the creative process. Don’t put pressure on your creativity to support you. You can work and create at the same time, and most people will have to do that their whole life. The circumstances of your life will pull you all over the place, and you will have to find time to create even so. If you’re in a slump, take a shower, dress nicely, and clear your creative space to attract better ideas.
Perfectionism is a trap. Better to be disciplined half-arse. Treat the outcome as unimportant, just keep working. Bring out the creativity in you, or go crazy. Nobody will notice what you do anyway, and that’s freedom. Finished is better than good.
You can’t do it for the success, because success is more about chance than talent or discipline. You have to do it for love.
Trust
Your relationship with your creativity doesn’t have to be sick. Creativity doesn’t require you to suffer. Creativity can be hampered during periods of suffering. Since we all live lives of delusion, choose a delusion which allows for creativity without pain. Choose to trust that the work wants to be made by you. The work is not your baby — thinking of it that way will cause you pain. It is not a sacred relic, and your dignity is not always your friend.
For those who don’t have a passion to follow, follow your curiosity. Passion will burn out, curiosity will keep you going.
You will fail sometimes. Learn what you can and move on to the next project. If it’s not working for you right now, go do something else for a while. Inspiration is drawn to motion. Trust that inspiration will come back to you.
Divinity
Creativity blurs the (western) divide between sacred and profane. It is both sacred and not sacred, serious and playful, and what we make matters and doesn’t matter at all.
For Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk, follow this link.
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