A Joosr Guide to Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Tirelessly pursuing your inspirations keeps you occupied. If it isn’t kept busy, the human mind often goes down paths that are destructive to those around us. Our idle minds have a tendency to lash out, hurting those we care about and potentially putting our relationships at risk. Through relentlessly pursuing your inspirations, your mind will always have something worthwhile to occupy it, and those harmful paths will stay untrodden.

Your creative work should be just that: yours. You don’t need anyone’s permission to carry this out. If you feel that you do, simply remember that your own desire to create is permission enough.

People’s reactions to what you do only define them, not you. The thing that you wish to create should be your only focus, not the judgments of others.

You don’t need to have a specific reason to create something. It’s true that some things are made with an exact function in mind. However, humanity has a long history of making things for the sole purpose of making things. You don’t need any special objective, motivation or goal. You don’t need a license or specific training to be able to create. In other words, you don’t need anyone’s permission!

To be creative is to possess the courage to search within one’s self, seek the imaginative spark that lies dormant there, and then reveal it to the world.

Your ambition and artistic vision should guide your choices.

You don’t need to have a specific reason to create something.

You don’t force your friends to spend time with you, but when you are together, you value their company. Your friendship with your creativity will take work, and it may lead you through some difficult times—but it is worth the effort in the end.

A creative life is a vibrant, happy and curious life, but it’s not always easy

Key takeaways
Never seek another person’s permission to express yourself: create simply because you want to.
The perfect time to create is whenever inspiration strikes—never delay this work.
Embrace fear, refusing to let it stand in the way of your creative endeavors.
Refuse to foster a martyr’s mindset towards your work; instead choose to create from a place of love.