So Ari at 3TwentySix hipped me to the Magic Lessons podcast by the wonderful Elizabeth Gilbert.
When Eat, Pray, Love was big, but not so big they changed the paperback cover to feature Julia Roberts, I bought no less than 7 copies of the book to pass out to people. It was like “y’all. Read this book, just keep my copy and I’ll get another one.” Or “So I went by Half Price and cleaned out their EPL selection so take one of these.”
It’s just one of those things I felt people need. Magic Lessons is where Liz calls up these people (I’m 5 episodes in and so far they have all been ladies) that are stuck in a creative rut. They have a story or song (or general need to create) in them and the weight of adulting and responsibility gets to you and you just can’t get it out. Liz takes 20 minutes to talk to you about it. Then calls one of her equal awesome friends for 20 minutes to give you more in depth advice about your funk and how to get out of it.
There’s 12 podcasts so I’ll be done this week. Then I took myself to Half Price and got a used hardback of Big Magic (the book that spawned the podcast, even though the podcast came first).
The website describes it as.
With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives
I’ll dole out copies come paperback. But I love this is coming up (for me) right before NaNoWriMo and right in the middle of my creative funk.
I had no idea you loved Eat, Pray, Love that much… I've never read it! Your bridal pic is even better now that I know.
OMG I’M BUYING YOU A COPY
I just downloaded the episodes, but the premise of the book reminds me of a book my therapist reccommended : The Artist's Way. I haven't delved into it just yet (getting ready to move and what not), but the intro speaks to the need for all of us to create, and that's often why, whether we consider ourselves traditional artists (e.g. Writers, painters, dancers, etc.) or not…if we make sure we create, and pursue what we love to create…we'll be better for it. I'm excited to dig into the podcasts, cuz obviously Liz is the shit. Lol.
PLUS it’s just 20 minutes at a time so I can knock out 2-3 depending on how bad traffic is. I haven’t done an audiobook yet cause I want to highlight but then I also always think about Annette Benning in American Beauty. (I’m not going to get mad if you don’t know the reference. Just, disappointed)
I'm on episode 6, and I'm loving it. She's so intuitive with these ladies' blocks. I'm not the traditional artist, but I'm loving the advice and I'm inspired to do something creative. And I totally get the Annette Benning reference. Great movie!!!!! I'll grab the book this weekend, but I've just started In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.
Ahh, just saw this! So freaking glad you looked into the podcast. I laughed my ass off and really liked what Liz and the famous guests had to say. I'm still not done with the book but that's cause I'm a procrastinator lol