TC 275: Cafe Book Club: Big Magic – Courage

In this episode of the Transformation Cafe podcast we launch our new Cafe Book Club! We discuss part I of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert.Part I - CourageIn this section Gilbert shares several stories about how people overcame their own fears and encouraged others to do the things that brought them joy.Main points:Creativity can be scary; your self-critic will come up with a hundred reasons why you shouldn't even try.The key is to feel the fear and do it anyway.Fear may be a constant companion, but that doesn't mean you have to let it have any control.Creative living is "a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than fear."Jack GilbertThe first story is about poet Jack Gilbert (no relation to Elizabeth). Jack "worked in steel mills as a young man, but was called from an early age to write poetry. He answered the call without hesitation. He became a poet the way other men become monks: as a devotional practice, as an act of love, as a lifelong commitment to the search for grace and transcendence.I think this is probably a very good way to become a poet. Or to become anything, really, that calls to your heart and brings you to life."Jack wrote "We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world."Later in life Jack was a visiting professor and writer-in-residence at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Elizabeth writes "He asked his students to be brave. Without bravery, he instructed, they would never be able to realize the vaulting scope of their own capacities."Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.- Jack Gilbert to an aspiring student writerThe hunt to uncover those hidden treasures is what Elizabeth calls creative living. "The often surprising results of that hunt--that's what I cal Big Magic."To learn more about Jack Gilbert and his work, check out the Jack Gilbert page on Poeticous. Below is a video of Jack reading some of his poems. Susan's StoryElizabeth recounts the story of her friend Susan, who took up figure skating when she was forty years old. When she turned forty "She was listless. She was restless. She felt drab and heavy. Then she did a little soul-searching, the way one does on the big birthdays. She asked herself when was the last time she'd felt truly light, joyous, and--yes--creative in her own skin." Susan was shocked to discover that the last time she felt that way was as a teenager back when she was still figure skating. "She was appalled to discover that she had denied herself this life-affirming pursuit for so long, and she was curious to see if she still loved it."She did. "She loved it even more than ever, perhaps, because now, as an adult, she finally had the perspective to appreciate the value of her own joy. Skating made her feel alive and ageless."Elizabeth notes that her friend did not quit her job, did not sell her home, did not sever all her relationships. She didn't win any medals. Susan "continues to skate several days a week--simply because skating is still the best way for her to unfold a certain beauty and transcendence within her life that she cannot seem to access in any other manner. And she would like to spend as much time in such a state of transcendence while she is hear on earth."