The magic of true fulfillment is not easy to come by without tapping into the deepest, darkest crevices in the soul. This place may look scary and even ugly, but when we touch it, it can transform beautifully. That is where the magic resides – BIG magic.
That is what Elizabeth Gilbert explains in her book Big Magic. In fact, she was a writer for many years and even published several books before making it big with Eat, Pray, Love. In fact, she says she wrote Eat, Pray, Love for herself. Basically, she hit a low point in her life and took a hiatus. It was through her journey and writing, that Eat, Pray, Love was born and picked up by so many to cherish, respect, and love.
Elizabeth explains in Big Magic that when people feel something, they are drawn in. When we speak, write and express our deepest heart level emotion, magic happens. This is where the magic resides. Not in the hustle and bustle of everyday life or even in the “laughing out loud” moments. It’s in the growth points, deep in the crevices of the raw emotion. It is initially felt as dark and ugly yet as it comes into the light, it transforms into pure goodness.
Whether you write fairytale, murder mystery, or humor, magic starts with the dark places as you witness it transform into the light. Elizabeth does this in Eat, Pray, Love. She found magic in the necessities of life (namely, eating, praying, and loving), only after she finds herself on her bathroom floor crying hysterically over her life.
People can relate to Elizabeth’s pain and want to live vicariously through her journey of awakening because they too are unhappy. Most will not make a big move as she did and find their bliss. But for the duration of the book, they will be taken on a journey, Elizabeth’s journey, to feel some of this magic. And a few will make their own journey through the inspiration they feel from the author.
Whether you are a writer trying to touch others through your expression, or if you are someone that just wants to find more fulfillment in life, it’s found in the crevices. Go there. Do not fear the darkness. There it will be, true bliss, after you muck through the ugly darkness to see clarity surface.
If you are a writer, write for you. What needs to be on the pages for you to move forward? Your readers are no different. The connection will be made there – in the crevices and in the emerging of you.
Linda J. Curry author of Pebbles of Gold, has been inspired by seasoned authors like Elizabeth Gilbert. Linda takes her readers through a journey of her transformational growth dropping pebbles of gold along the way for the readers to ingest.