Recently I have come under such a large amount of stress that I decided to read a book during the school year. For me, this is extremely unusual. Typically during the school year I never read books for fun because of the mass amount of work and stress I am under, but this time was different. I finally allowed myself some time to myself and read Big Magic. I have come to the conclusion that this book is actual magic.
I picked up this book not because of it's many amazing reviews, but literally just because the cover of it intrigued me. I now see that is just where the magic began.
While I aspire to be a writer, this book targets everyone as creative individuals to go out and live an actively creative life. In my stressed state, everything Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the book, had to say deeply resonated with me. One thing she said early on the book that stuck with me was that my fear is boring.
Wait, what? How can my fear be boring? Everyone is afraid of different things, so what makes my fear boring?
She brought up the concept of fear being boring along with the absurd fact that people defend their weaknesses. After meditating on this fact, I do defend my weaknesses, and for what reasons? I have no clue why I defend my weaknesses! Why would anyone want to hold onto the things that limit them? So often, people find themselves saying that can't do something simply because of a weakness they possess instead of fighting back and turning their weakness into a strength. And when people continually fight back against change and fears simply because of their limitations, they are stopping themselves from growing in any way.
One of the sayings she mentioned was, "Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them."
In no way would I want to keep any of my limitations, and I came to the same conclusion Gilbert did: My fear is horrendously boring.
It found that it's not a matter of being void of fear in general, but it is taking that fear is utilizing it to create strengths instead of limitations. Everyone has the same fears, especially when it comes to creative works. Everyone is scared to read a poem, submit a piece of fiction or perform a play, but it's doing it anyway that makes you live a creative life. I refuse to build my identity around my fears and limitations, and I happily welcome and embrace a creative way of life.
Am I still busy and a stressed? Of course. But am I happier in this wonderful, beautiful, creative life that I'm embarking on? Absolutely.
