What I've Heard- Big Magic

After hearing so many rave reviews from friends about Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, I was excited to listen to it myself. Gilbert reads for the audio version and I always feel like that is a plus. Hearing the author read their own words ensures that everything receives exactly the intended emphasis and importance. In this book of advice and inspiration for creativity, Gilbert encourages us all to reach for whatever kind of art or craft we pursue whether that be visual art, music, or writing. Once we have reached out for that creativity, she challenges us to own and develop it.

I particularly enjoyed the story she told of having a book idea, planning it out, preparing to write it, and then life got in the way so she put it on hold. As she tells it, the idea couldn't wait and went on to another writer. She makes no claim that the idea was stolen, but fully acknowledges that ideas need to be nurtured or they will go somewhere else. And that's okay. I really liked the direction she gives about being open to ideas and all the Big Magic out in the world. 

I would have liked if the book had been a little more instructional than just inspirational, but it serves well as a little boost of motivation. One important tip that she does give is "Don't quit your day job." She spends a fair amount of time talking about how some people think if they are going to really commit to their art they should quit everything else and put it all on the line for creativity. Gilbert says there is no reason at all you can't create, in whatever form that takes for you, in your spare time, of which we all have plenty if we can arrange our priorities. Sure, you may have to go to an office 8-9 hours a day to pay the bills, but the rest of the 15-16 hours of each day are available to be used however you choose. Choose wisely.

Overall, I liked this book, but didn't love it. It has a few good rah-rah moments and is probably good for a little motivation. The audio version is a great way to go because it doesn't require a lot of time investment. I listened to it on morning walks and it only took a few days. Borrow this one from the library and just pop it in when you have time. 

You Are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero

You Are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero is a tiny little daily devotional book to help you stay on the high-frequency path you discovered while reading her first book, You Are a Badass. The idea behind it is that each day you select a page to meditate on and keep yourself heading in the direction of your goals. Sure, it sounds cheesy when I say it that way, but if you've been able to overcome the cheese you thought you would feel while reading the original, this little blue book will be icing on the cake. While it is meant to be read a little each day, I borrowed it from the library to see if I would like it and ended up plowing through the whole thing. I will shortly be purchasing my own copy.

Yes, I know I sound like I've been suckered into throwing all my money at some self-help fake guru, but hey, at least I checked it out for free from the library first!

Read it for yourself and you might find you really like it, too.

What I've Heard- You Are a Badass

Oh, my gosh, you guys! Self-help books are SO LAME! I mean, come on- what is this going to be:

I'm good enough; I'm smart enough; and gosh darn it, people like me? Give me a break. But, a friend picked You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero for a reunion of an old book club, so I said, "Fine. I'll read it. I won't like it, but I'll read it." Actually, in an effort to waste the least amount of time possible, I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Cheese Fest, here we come.

[Turns on audiobook. Listens for a little while.]

Holy crap, you guys! This book is amazing! Okay, I'll try not to sound like I was just completely brainwashed through my earbuds, but really, this book far exceeded my expectations. At the beginning I did a LOT of eye rolling- there was a lot of You're awesome! You're amazing! You are the only YOU there will ever be! It was just so cheesy! And then I started to wonder "how would I feel if this was directed at my daughter?" Well, I think my daughter is awesome and amazing and all of those wonderful things and I really want her to feel that way about herself. Why can't I feel that way about myself? Why do we have such a hard time seeing our own awesome?

Sincero admits that she herself used to feel that the self-help genre was "unforgivably cheesy: it reeked of desperation, rah-rah churchiness and unwanted hugs from unappealing strangers." And yet, before I was half a dozen chapters into this obligation read, I was laughing, nodding along, saying "huh" a lot, and at least once having the breath knocked out of me. 

Or how about all that If you can dream it, you can do it baloney? There's plenty of that nonsense floating around in the world and I don't really need more of it. And yet...

I listened to the audio version of this book, but I also checked out the print version, you know, so I wouldn't look like a jerk when I showed up for the book club reunion. I got to the point that I had the book nearby while I listened just so I could put little sticky tabs on the good points. And SmartGirls, this book I thought was going to be so cheesy and dumb- well, I have almost thirty tabs sticking out of it right now! Here are just a few, chosen at random:

 During our little sojourn here on earth, we need our bodies more than they need us. Say nice things about your body; dress it up, and take it out. Give it hot sex, luxurious baths, and massages. Move it, stretch it, nourish it, hydrate it, pay attention to it- The better our bodies feel, the happier and more productive we are.

If you had an unlimited supply of cash, what would you spend your life doing? Our fantasies are the most revealing peepholes into who we are and what we think is awesome. No matter how out-there and ridiculous they may seem, they mean something to us, and usually represent our biggest and best versions of ourselves.

There is nothing as unstoppable as a freight train full of fuck-yeah.

If I kept going, I'd have to transcribe the whole book here. Just go out and get your own copy. Or at least borrow it from the library. The audio version is great (it's read by Sincero herself), but I recommend a print version as well. This is one of those books you're going to want to underline and make notes in the margins and refer back to over and over again.
...At least that's what the brainwashing is telling me! Ha!

Either way, this book is worth your time because you, SmartGirl, really are a badass!