Big Magic ! by Surekha Chandrasekhar

One book which got me so excited recently while reading I highlighted almost every page feeling like a kid in a candy store: The Big Magic.

I got this title’’ The Big Magic ‘’from an Author’s recommendation on my Kindle. A must-read for everyone working in the creative fields. Magic is not new to me, I am spending most of my time in the mystical world of alchemists, and wizards (read Chefs, writers, photographers, and all sorts of artists) weaving magic all the time with their creative works. Elizabeth Gilbert is also the author of one of my all-time favorite books ‘’Eat Pray Love’’.

When I read ‘’ The Big Magic’’ the resonance was so much I had to stop reading many times, close the page, and just meditate on her words mentally exclaiming, ‘’I love this lady’’ ‘’I love her’’.

So with my limited word power, I am trying to review this book that made me feel the Magic recently.

The book begins with this question

Q; What is creativity?

A: The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration.

This mystery is unveiled in six parts in the book as

1. Courage

2. Enchantment

3. Permission

4. Persistence

5. Trust

6. Divinity.

The book revolves around finding answers to the central question ‘’ Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you ?’’ She tells us how she pursued her passion for writing from a very young age initially without finding any success and fame.

She says fear is boring.

‘’The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them’’

‘’ I am talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear’’

One of my favorite paragraphs :

‘’ Dearest fear : Craetivity and I are about to go on a road trip together. I understand you will be joining us because you always do. I acknowledge that you believe you have an important job to to do in my life, and you take your job seriously. Apparently your job is to induce complete panic whenever I am about to do anything interesting- and, may I say , you are superb at your job.,. So by all means keep doing your job , if you feel you must. But I will also be doing my job on this road trip , which is to work hard and stay focused. ‘’

And in another chapter ‘’ Why it’s worth It ‘’ she says

‘’ And you have treasures hidden within you-extraordinary treasures-and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small’’

I loved this chapter ‘’Enchantment’’ in which she explains the mystical arrival of ‘’Ideas’’. If we don’t receive the idea that is visiting us and take action on it eventually it goes away to another host where it is welcomed. This may sound quite mystical but she gives a real-life example as to how an idea of a book left because she couldn’t do it and found its outlet through another author who becomes her best friend some years later.

She says

‘’And when I refer to magic here, I mean it literally . Like, in the Hogwarts sense. I am referring to the supernatural, the mystical, the inexplicable, the surreal, the divine, the transcendent, the otherworldly. Because the truth is, I believe that creativity is a force of enchantment –not entirely human in its origins.’’

Isn’t it inspiring enough to give it a read? I can assure you an enchanting read in The Big Magic.

I give it five stars.

Get your copy <a href="https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00SHCSU64/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8