Books To Read :: When Creativity Kisses You Goodbye
February for me, is my January.
I mentioned before how my whole family got ill, starting January 1st. Not the best way to start off with a positive mindset, I’ll have to admit.
The first half of January was spent either under a duvet cover, trying to stay hydrated and regaining my voice. The latter part of the month consisted of some full-on family festivities [ahem: #bigfatindianwedding].
The crossover between those few weeks meant a slightly delirious and exhausted Ana. However, the time spent away from a screen for the most part (thank goodness for advance scheduling!) surprisingly resulted in some creative inspiration.
I put this down to my trusty sheep PJs….…and of course these 2.
We’re all creative souls.
Some of us however have suppressed that creativity convincing ourselves we’re not.
I’ll admit that even though I have an online space where it gives me joy to express my views or make sense of my thoughts, I know I haven’t fully shared 100% of my creativities yet. In addition to this, there have been moments stretching from days to months where I have felt inspiration kiss me goodbye and I have been left in a creative barren land.
These 2 books for me have been game-changers & I would highly recommend for anyone needing to kiss the life back into the creative passions.
The War of Art : Break Through The Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Is a big dose in tough love.
You want to be a writer? Do you write everyday?
If you wanted to write, paint, create – you’d be doing it every single day, because it brought you joy, regardless of the potential acclaim you hope to receive. Rather than letting perfectionism prevent you from even starting, you'd be constantly making imperfect masterpieces in order to improve your passion.
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I’ve revisted this book a fair few times & shared it with friends already.
It talks about the struggles of sitting down, and setting time every single day to CREATE YOUR ART.
Be it write. Cross-stitch. Sing.
A huge part of that is overcoming the Resistance. Not just overcoming it once and being done. But meeting resistance, acquainting yourself and realizing, you’ll have to move past the: I don’t have time. 5 mins on this first!
Tough love. For ALL.
and if you liked this one, you might like: Turning Pro
Big Magic : Creative Living Beyond Fear
I was waiting for something to follow Eat Pray Love and Committed...and then along came this Big Whopper : Big Magic.
Since then, I’ve realized that over on the blogosphere Big Magic has been doing the rounds a LOT.
But like anything, we all take away a different message from life.
Many similar themes come up in Big Magic but if you’re like me and you’re drawn to Gilbert’s way of writing through her own experience, you’d love this book.
Some hugely memorable takeaways for me:
1. Ideas are magic
Ideas are magic – and if you don’t act upon them or give them life, someone else will. But if and when they do, it doesn’t necessarily mean someone’s ‘stolen’ your idea; perhaps you were merely meant to transport or host the idea before transferring it to its rightful home.
2. Don't give up the day job just yet
Those wanting to pursue their closet passions often feel like they've not reached 'success' unless they're doing it full-time.
Enjoy being creative for just that, the joy of creating.
3....just don't blame the day job on why you're not creating!
There are so many people out there that have slogged away at a 'conventional' day job and worked unsociable shift jobs to pay the bills whilst pursuing their passions in their SPARE TIME. Be it the hours before and after their paid work.
Gilbert herself is one such inspiring example!
It's so SO easy to get disheartened when we see overnight success and wonder whether we'd ever be able to taste some of that pie. What we often forget though are the years of struggle, or commitment the individual has already gone through or devoted to their craft.
4. Befriend Fear
Don’t let fear stop you. Use it, befriend FEAR.
This resonates with me no-end. A lot of ‘self-help’ resources tell us to be ‘fearless’ which I actually truly disagree with. I understand the sentiment behind it: don’t let fear stop you but Gilbert’s description of Fear reminds me much of Pressfield’s depiction of Resistance:
We must befriend these two characters, allow them to sit in the backseat of the car, invite them on the journey with us but not let them take charge of the driving wheel. We’ll never be able to get rid of the fear; we only get better at taking charge ourselves regardless of their influence on the party or road-trip. You just have to let them ride with you.
In the same way you can’t vanish away sadness – you have to feel it, process it and only then can joy shine through. [Can anyone tell I’ve recently watched Inside Out – but that involves gushing for another day!]
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Do you have any books you turn to when you’ve run out of steam or are looking for creative inspiration? Let me know what books I should add to my list!
Until the next time,
Namaste, from Ananya
xo