Everyday Big Magic

Last week I referenced a favourite book of mine, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Gilbert speaks about creative living as a choice. Not a career path. Not a personality type. A choice. She invites us to live with curiosity rather than fear, to follow what interests us instead of constantly asking whether we are qualified, talented or ready.

One of the stories that lingers is about her friend who returned to figure skating in her forties. She had loved skating as a child. Then life happened. Work, responsibilities, adulthood. Years passed. One day she decided to get her skates on, literally.

She was not training for competition. She was not trying to turn it into a side hustle. She simply missed skating.

She practised alongside teenagers. She fell. She bruised. She felt awkward. And she felt more alive than she had in years.

That decision was bold. Not because it was dramatic, but because it required her to be seen trying. To risk looking foolish. To move through discomfort. Most of us abandon creative impulses at the first hint of embarrassment.

Gilbert is honest about fear. She says fear will always come along when you attempt something meaningful. The goal is not to eliminate fear. The goal is to refuse to let it make your decisions.

She also presents a striking idea. Ideas are alive. They visit us. They knock. And if we ignore them long enough, they move on to someone else willing to act.

It is confronting to think about how many ideas we have dismissed. The event we thought about hosting. The class we nearly enrolled in. The book we imagined writing. The business concept that would not quite leave us alone.

Everyday Big Magic is about responding to those nudges. It is about acting before you feel entirely prepared.

It might be small. Ten minutes of journalling before the day begins. Joining a local choir. Picking up a paintbrush. Planting a garden. Starting a book club. Sending the email.

Creative living does not demand perfection. It demands participation.

We live in a world obsessed with productivity and outcomes. Creativity can seem indulgent unless it generates income or applause. Gilbert dismantles that thinking. She reminds us that creative expression enhances our lives regardless of external validation. When we create, we reconnect with ourselves. We build resilience. We cultivate joy.

There is something powerful about moving from consumer to creator. Even in small ways.

Being bold does not always mean making sweeping life changes. Sometimes it means quietly beginning. Signing up. Showing up. Continuing.

So here is the question for this week. What idea has been gently tapping you on the shoulder?

Not the practical one. The slightly inconvenient one. The one that makes you nervous and excited at the same time.

Everyday Big Magic is choosing to answer that knock.

Because a life regenerated is not built by waiting for confidence. It is built by acting before you have it.

There really is big magic to be found within these pages. I highly recommend reading Big Magic or listening to the audiobook. Let it challenge you. Let it remind you that courage and creativity are available right now.

Sometimes the boldest thing we can do is simply begin.