Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Gilbert describes her family history, particularly her father’s individualism. He built a suggestion box on orders from his captain in the Navy, then offered a suggestion to remove it. Her dad taught her to live her life the way she wanted. Her mother was also individualistic. This prompted Gilbert to become a writer, which her parents supported.

Gilbert encourages people to find ancestors who were creators and to view them as their roots. She also encourages people to just create, citing how created items throughout history vary in quality and importance, and were created because people enjoy the process. Creativity is part of being human. Everyone is creative, and even though gatekeepers try to make it exclusive, people don’t need permission to create.

Gilbert relates a story about a neighbor who views her tattoos as temporary because her body is temporary. The neighbor “decorates” herself, an idea Gilbert relates to decorating one’s life through creativity. Feeling the freedom to be creative, Gilbert argues, requires “believing that you are allowed to be here, and that—merely by being here, you are allowed to have a voice and vision of your own” (92). Poet David Whyte calls it “the arrogance of belonging” (92).