Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert
Contributed by Darcey Schwenk
Part 1 Courage
Summary

Gilbert introduces the concept of bravery through a story of an elusive poet who, despite being received exceptionally well in the literary world for his poetry, decided to forgo fame and live in obscurity. The poet, Jack Gilbert, preferred this manner of living not because he found fame to be immoral, but because he wished for more variety in his life. Later on in life, as a professor, he encouraged his students to live rich and satisfying lives by being brave. Gilbert then directly asks the reader whether or not he or she has the courage to live their desired life and to find the treasures that the universe has hidden for them.

Gilbert defines the act of searching for the hidden treasures of the universe as “creative living.” She exemplifies this kind of life through a friend named Susan who decided to pursue figure skating, a childhood passion, at the age of forty. The figure skating reinvigorated Susan’s life and made her a more alive and passionate human being. Gilbert explains that creative pursuits amplify life, making it richer and far more satisfying no matter the scale of the craft that is being pursued (Gilbert, 2015).

Following Susan’s story, Gilbert acknowledges that living creatively is a challenge for most people due to fear. She lists many reasons as to why someone may be afraid of pursuing their creative interests and then backs up her knowledge with a personal story. She writes of her childhood and how she feared everything. She explains how she overcame her fears from being pushed by her mother to face them to eventually understanding her fear as boring. She relates her boredom of fear to Jack Gilbert’s boredom of fame as it made her life monotonous and without change. After coming to this conclusion, she started to embrace her originality and pursue her interests despite her fears.

Gilbert then makes a point that fear is not useless, but essential for doing something courageous. The fear of the unknown commonly surfaces in the face of creativity, but it is not as big and scary as it may seem. To deal with the fear, Gilbert acknowledges its presence and works with it. She writes about how she welcomes it into her life and speaks to it. In her conversation with fear, Gilbert kindly tells it the rules and how she expects it to behave during her creative journey. She ends the chapter reiterating that fear will always be a constant presence, but that it is not uncontrollable. The work, faith, and focus needed to conquer fear are worth it so that the little gems hidden in the universe can be found.

Analysis

In the first chapter, Gilbert introduces the two major concepts of the book: creative living and fear. Creative living, according to Gilbert, is the pursuit of the hidden treasures that have been hidden in the universe to be found. These hidden treasures, or jewels, can manifest as anything from writing a novel to discovering a passion for figure skating. The point she makes is that creative living is not dependent on the size or shape of the pursuit, but on the process itself. That is why she writes, “The hunt to uncover those jewels—that’s creative living,” and thus acknowledging the journey as more important than the end product (Gilbert, 2015). However, the result is by no means unimportant. She states, “The often surprising results of that hunt—that’s what I call Big Magic,” relating the product of the journey to the title of the book (Gilbert, 2015).

Living creatively, however, does not occur without fear. Although the chapter is entitled “Courage,” it mainly focuses on what happens in its absence. Gilbert acknowledges fear as a constant companion to the creator and stresses the importance of overcoming it to be a creator. She states, “We all know that fear is a desolate boneyard where our dreams go to desiccate in the hot sun,” explicitly illustrating the stagnation of a creative mind in the presence of uncontrolled fear (Gilbert, 2015). Fortunately, fear is controllable, although it is not something that can be eliminated. Instead, it becomes a part of the process of creative living.

To control fear, one must have courage. From the very beginning, Gilbert is referencing bravery and its necessity in the journey to create. Fear is an emotion that arises when something threatening appears. However, the threat, especially in the realm of creativity, is miscalculated, showing the importance of having the courage to withstand those fears. Gilbert (2015) states, “Creativity is a path for the brave” and “Bravery means doing something scary” to show its significance. As long as someone is willing to be brave, the inspiration and ideas are open for them to seize and use. To prod the reader into considering this idea more, she poses an essential question on which creative living depends: “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” (Gilbert, 2015).

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