Big Magic part 4 of 6 (Persistence)

For this chapter was revelation that my art/creativity does not need to save the world, and does not need to support me. Once I released these two ideas my art/creativity has begun to help me financially and people are telling me their experiences in creativity and how it has helped them! I had been putting to much pressure on creativity on those two thoughts, I was feeling frustrated and down, and that I was not good enough. My confidence is slowly growing.

This section of the book was also a reminder and reaffirming the emphasis on creativity as a process and not a focus on the end result. Perfection is a killer of creativity. When we create for perfection or the end result we are likely creating for someone else (known or unknown), that acceptance in creating something beautiful-but that is not what it is about. Creativity is allowed to be ugly.

The best way to learn is through imitating. Elizabeth Gilbert writes we imitate before we innovate! I also beat myself up about this all the time too-what is my style, when will I find it, I am just looking like everyone else's work-that inner critic is a loud one at times.

It also made me think about my favourite Sh...crap sandwich. That thing "you are passionate enough about to endure the most disgusting aspects of the work"(-Mark Manson). And for me that is creating and sharing.

I love how Elizabeth says she didn't want to burden her work with the responsibility of paying for her life.

When it comes to not having enough time she points out that no artist feels they have enough time, and that everything feels as if it is created in stolen moments. If you love it and it matters to you enough you will find the time and for me that could be in 5-10 minute chunks while dinner cooks.

The emphasis on the process is so huge to me. That paintings (or any creation) are souvenirs of journeys of transformative time or just forgetting yourself for a moment. I still have a paintng I was working on when I got the phone call my grandfather had died, there are tears in that painting now, even though it ended up being a happy painting of a colourful daisy-it always brings me back to that moment.

So persistence-don't give up, don't let perfection stop or scare you, it's ok to imitate, don't worry about what others will think of your work-because most likely they are just thinking of themselves, take a wild leap, and just put it out there with out any expectations, use it as a way to process your story.