This book claims to be about "creative living" in general, but since Elizabeth Gilbert is a writer and writing is what she knows best, that's what it's really about. And as such, it had a lot of relevance for me. 
 I am currently struggling to write fiction, and the fact that I phrase it that way is proof that I needed this book. Big Magic happens when you do what you do for the sake of love, not because your creativity torments you, Gilbert argues. Be dedicated to your craft but don't take it so damn seriously. Don't quit your day job, and don't worry about getting a master's degree. It's going to work out better for you if you do what you do with a light heart and not get yourself into financial trouble over it. 
 I find it interesting that this is the new message artists are starting to hear. For years now I've been hearing all of this insistence that you have to take a leap of financial faith in order to ever create anything of value. And since I recently decided that quitting my job to write is not in fact what I wish to do, it was a big relief to hear some assurance that that's a perfectly good decision and my art will not in fact suffer for it. 
 I had to do some soul-searching after I finished this book, because I'm honestly not sure if I love writing fiction. I'm new enough to it and bad enough at it that I have gotten almost zero satisfaction from my efforts. And Gilbert says that mountains of self-doubt and frustration are part of the craft, but she also says that you should only do it if you love doing it. So I found that puzzling. I think the bottom line is that I need an attitude adjustment. Her main point is that it's important that everyone live a creative life, but it's not so monumentally Important that we create perfect things that we should torment ourselves over it. Just create! Isn't it a privilege and a wonder that we have the ability to create at all? Isn't it our birthright? And isn't the world going to keep on turning whether or not what we create is super brilliant?