Big magic: a Book Review

Hello WordPress, recently I have been reading a book written by Elizabeth Gilbert called “Big Magic.” There are hundreds of reasons why I would recommend this book to an artist but I want to talk about the few reasons why I would recommend it to anyone.

Reason #1.

• Elizabeth Gilbert helps frame fulfillment.

The first reason why I would recommend this book is because It helps me frame and understand the concept of fulfillment. Elizabeth Gilbert talks about how she decides that she wants to dedicate her life to writing and creativity. She claims that creating things brings her the most joy and fulfillment. Her writing is more for herself than anything else and she warns that there is a great chance that nobody will care about the thing that you create and care for. Fulfillment stems from weather or not the thing you care about brings you true happiness and fulfillment.

Reason #2.

• She offers a valuable perspective on dedication.

The second reason why I would recommend this book is because Elizabeth Gilbert does a fantastic job of explaining that dedication is not all sacrifice. She paints this portrait of a starving artist; being someone whose best creative works come from moments of addiction, sorrow, depression and stress. She warns that too many people pursue a dream and then end up significantly damaging themselves through tunnel vision. It is important to remain mindful when working towards your dreams because often times as humans we tend to become irrational whenever we grow passionate about something.

Reason #3.

• She talks about the utilities of failure.

The third reason why I would recommend this book is so that readers can acknowledge how Elizabeth views failure. Elizabeth Gilbert’s resolve remains static throughout the whole book because she knows that her success stems from commitment. She talks about books that she finished and never published and how she would immediately move onto her next project rather than grieving over the time “wasted.” The trick within the statement is that Gilbert doesn’t view this time as wasted but rather as time spent training. Prior to reading these parts of Big Magic, I would worry that any time spent not writing was time wasted. If I wasn’t being productive I would worry about my well-being. I recognize this as the path of the starving artist. Perhaps the most important takeaway for me is that I should never strive to become a starving artist. I want to build a mutually beneficial relationship with creativity and I want our relationship to remain healthy. All in all, Big Magic is now one of my favorite reads and I am incredibly grateful to have read it.

Deconstructing Self-Improvement.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Polish Before You Shine.

Hello WordPress, today I want to talk about why I think that the term self-improvement is over saturated. A thought crossed my mind today about creative collaboration. It stems out of a twitter post I saw that showed a picture of some writers from The Simpsons collaborating with each other over fast food and soft drinks. Now, if you were to take away the context of all these people being writers from the Simpsons– you would almost feel sorry for them. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were writing for a major TV show, they would seem like they were quite mundane or rather ordinary. My point is, is that any one of these people could have been doing something else, but instead they decided to create one of the most popular cartoons over burgers and soda. This is a task that would have been much much harder for any single writer to accomplish on their own.

Strength Lies Within the Numbers.

There are tasks in this world that are simply easier to accomplish with more than one person. For example, take a look at the stock market. It doesn’t matter if you are the Houdini of picking stocks if you don’t have the capital to invest. That is the exact reason why these investment firms are combining their capital together in order to invest into a larger payout based on the gross percentage of profit earned among all of the people who shared their capital.

If that example doesn’t work for you, try this one. Imagine that you are Dwayne The Rock Johnson and you really want to fight and defeat a Silverback Gorilla in an all out brawl. There are no weapons involved and you would be fighting the gorilla in an open field. It would be naive to think that you could simply approach the gorilla in a 1v1 head on match-up because the gorilla is simply stronger. But… if there were lets say 5 Dwayne The Rock Johnsons, it would be a different scenario. It would still be a close drawn out battle but I am confident that the squadron of “Rocks” would be able to conquer the king of the jungle.

In conclusion, there is strength within numbers and that is a relatively valid cliche. It is easy to go at things alone if you are a self-motivator like me, but it is smarter to go at it with friends, family and partners of every sort. Even a true adventurer like Link from the Legend of Zelda series needs a companion. Even if that companion is an annoying orb of light that talks and provides you with sub-par guidance throughout the entire game.

“It is dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

Old Man who gives Link a sword.

Shared-Improvement.

All in all, self-improvement comes second nature to those who show self-care. The real fulfilling nature of chasing your dreams lies within the idea of chasing those dreams together. To share your experience with others in order to reach towards something that is mutually beneficial to everyone is the greatest opportunity we have as humans. We are stronger together but the times drift us apart. This is a call to action for those who understand what it means to enhance the world around us. When times get tough and we fall short of our goals– we need to remember this. Everybody brings something brilliant to the table, everybody can create and everybody is unique. Learn together, create together, share together and most importantly– learn from one another.

Mindfulness. Empathy. Creativity.

Reminiscing On My First Written Poem

The Devil’s Advocate 

Written in March of 2017

He who does not withhold his wit nor demeanor.
His conversation travels a two-way road filled with intersections and roundabouts.
He understands that his words are not to be redeemed.

A man whose beliefs are strong and sure, but longs to walk on both sides of the path without crossing the dotted line. 
A jack of all trades who fears commitment, but was called upon to embrace his true purpose through mediation and moderation.

Nevertheless, communication is irreversible and concrete to its full intention. 
Open his eyes and see that contemporary conversation is much like wine that longs to be restored unto water.
For only water may be used to quench the thirst of those it has abandoned.

After stumbling across The Devil’s Advocate poem this morning, I instantly recognized a variety of things that I really liked about this piece. Upon further reading, I also found an assortment of things that I thought I could improve on.

To start it all off, the reason why I was searching through my old journal is because I have not been writing nearly as much as I feel I should be. Part of this situation roots itself in my new found hobby of editing pictures on GIMP. Nevertheless, I feel like I could use some writing momentum to jump right back into writing poetry. I have picked up a new book that serves as an introduction into poetry. As a result, I now realize that I have not been using any form of structure or prose within my writing. My mission now is to cover the fundamentals of poetry prior to my attempt at writing a collection.

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There are 2 main aspects of The Devil’s Advocate that I am proud of when observing in hindsight:

1. I am proud of the message and theme being addressed
2. I am proud of the subjective connotation that encourages the reader to look over the poem more than once.

At the time of writing, I was taking a Human Communication and Technology class at Texas State University. I was also reading a lot of books that revolved around mindfulness which paired well with the lessons being taught in class. I was really frustrated with how little people talked around campus and even more frustrated at the amount of students walking around staring at their phones. The Devil’s Advocate lays out this hope for a genuine conversation.

Finally, the two main points that I think I could have done better are:

1. The Poem is confusing and hard to follow along.
2. There is not nearly enough Imagery of the road. I think more imagery would allow the reader to better grasp the message underneath.

All in all, I feel more confident now that I have started learning the fundamentals of poetry, and I am excited to finish the Introductory book. Hopefully next time I post about a poem I will have already grasped the concept of rhythm and structure. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear your thoughts soon!

My Plans With Poetry

As you may know, I enjoy writing poetry just as much as I love reading it. Lately, I have been thinking about working towards publishing my very own collection. I need a lot more content then I have produced so far, but I believe that it is an achievable goal. Honestly, I believe that all goals are achievable but this one in particular I think that I can accomplish within a year of writing.

The Obstacles

I do work during the summer and I am enrolled in school during the fall, so the hardest part will be finding time to write. I know this seems like an easy task but I am working on being more of an organized person. I also need to find someone who can be honest with me and tell me if my poetry has potential. I believe that everybody has the ability to write poetry, but not every writer has the ability to connect with an audience. In a recent interview I conducted in one of my classes I asked my girlfriend what she thought poetry was and how it is taught in schools.

The Result

Besides the obvious benefit of self expression I would hope to somehow profit off of my creation. I am a Public Relations major and I have a core network of friends who would surely buy the collection out of support. All I have to do on my part is to deliver a quality collection that displays the potential I have to be a great writer. Stay tuned for what will come and thanks for reading.