"Big Magic" (part 1/2)

"Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of the sensational memoir "Eat, Pray, Love")
Non-fiction, self-help, motivational
(c) 2015

Here are my favorite lessons from the first three chapters of Liz Gilbert's inspiring book:

I. COURAGE

• The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover those jewels--that's CREATIVE LIVING. The courage to go on the hunt is what separates a mundane existence from a more ENCHANTED one. The often surprising result of that hunt is the BIG MAGIC.
• "Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them." 
• Creativity is a path for the BRAVE but it's not a path for the FEARLESS.

II. ENCHANTMENT

• While the TORMENTED ARTIST throws a temper tantrum, the MUSE sits quietly  in a corner of the studio, patiently waiting for him to calm down and sober up so everyone can get back to work. 
• Ideas are alive. Ideas seek the most available human collaborator. Ideas have a conscious will. Ideas do move from soul to soul. Ideas will always try to seek the swiftest and most efficient conduit to the earth.
• An Idea is stubborn. It refuses to stop searching until it has found an equally stubborn collaborator. 
• If you show up for work day after day, you just might get lucky enough some random morning to burst right into bloom. 
• The Romans believed that an exceptionally gifted person WAS NOT a genuis but HAD a genius. It's a subtle but important distinction (being vs.having). This way, the vulnerable human ego is protected from the corrupting influence of praise and from the corrosive effects of shame. 
• "Just write anything and put it out there with reckless abandon" - Ralph Ellison

III. PERMISSION

• Golden Rule in the Gilbert household: If you're supporting yourself financially and you're not bothering anyone else, then you're free to do whatever you want with your life.
• You want to write a book? Make a song? Direct a movie? Decorate pottery? Learn a dance? Explore a new land? Do it. Who cares? It's your birthright as a human being, so do it with a cheerful heart. Let inspiration lead you wherever it wants to lead you. For most of history, people just made things, and they didn't make such a big freaking deal out of it. 
• I'll tell you who I am. I am a child of God, just like anyone else. I am a constituent of this universe. I have a right to be here. I have a right to my own voice and a right to my own vision. I have a right to collaborate with creativity, because I myself am a product and consequence of Creation. I'm on a mission of artistic liberation.
• If you're working on your craft every day on your own, with steady discipline and love, then you are already for real as a creator. You don't need to pay anybody to affirm that for you.
• Editors could reject me all they wanted but I wasn't going anywhere. I plan to stick around. 
• Smile sweetly and suggest--as politely as you possible can--that they go make their own fucking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.

I'm currently in the fifth chapter of the book. I'll share with you my new learnings on a new blog :)

"The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari"

I stumbled upon this self-help book by writer and leadership guru Robin Sharma while browsing through the Personality Development section of Fully Booked.

I didn't pick it up the first time. I knew I would when the right time comes. And it did...three weeks ago when I was thinking of moving out of my comfort zone. 

The message could not have been more apt: be a monk, sell your ferrari. In essence, focus on the essential and rid yourself of life's excesses. Sharma didn't attempt to conceal it either, putting a tagline that it's "a fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny."

In the book (also in Wikipedia), the story revolves around two characters, former law colleagues Julian Mantle and John, immersed in a 12-hour long conversation. Julian narrates his spiritual experiences during a Himalayan journey which he takes after selling his holiday home and red Ferrari. A successful trial lawyer, Julian collapses from a heart attack while arguing a case in court, and his lengthy recovery leads him to seek a spiritual path in the Himalayan mountains, under the Sages of Sivana, from whom he receive wise and practical lessons which bring drastic changes in his life. 

Julian shares valuable life lessons to John through a short story hiding The 7 Timeless Virtues of Enlightened Living. 

Here's the summary: "There was a [3] sumo wrestler who walked out of a [2] lighthouse in the middle of a [1] beautiful garden with nothing more than a [4] pink wire cable covering his private parts. While walking, he slipped on a [5] shiny gold stopwatch and fell to the ground. After what seemed like an eternity, he regained consciousness when the fragrance of the [6] yellow roses reached his nose. He then jumped to his feet in delight and was astonished to see a long, winding [7] path studded with millions of tiny diamonds. Of course the sumo wrestler took the path and, in doing so, lived happily ever after."

To spare you some time, here are the meaning of these virtues, according to Sharma:

Go pick up the book if you're into self-help. It probably won't bore you because the lessons are hidden in the form of a short story. It is unlike most self-help books these days which promise guaranteed change! in life after few bullet points and examples.

It's also helpful for meditation and Buddhism enthusiasts :)

Another "Almost"

I just got back from MOWELFUND (Movie Workers Welfare Foundation) where I applied to be one of the fellows of CINE PANULAT 2016, the second edition of the free screenwriting laboratory founded and ran by acclaimed director and screenwriter Jun Lana.

I came in 15 minutes earlier than the call time. By 10 A.M., we were given a creative writing exercise which required us to write our biography in a maximum of five sentences and develop a scene with three people on the side of a bridge. 

Jun Lana made his message clear the moment he greeted us--only those who submitted an "okay" (meaning, good) write-up will be considered for the initial interview and those who did "good" will be endorsed to him for the final interview and selection.

About 80 applicants were shortlisted from a pool of--wait for it--410 submissions! 

Just before lunchtime, I took a risk and submitted my entry first. Direk Jun read it inside the small theater along with the other entries. I was filled with anxiety for more than two hours of waiting--Did I write good enough? Did he like it?

Fortunately I was called on for the initial interview with Direk Perci Intalan (Direk Jun's husband). I exerted every effort to be as honest as possible while talking to him (bordering on being an eager beaver, tbh) because I believe that as a writer, that should be a non-negotiable trait. 

But it wasn't enough. 

Not long after my interview, one of the volunteers thanked me and advised that they will just "contact me for any updates" which literally translates to "better luck next time."

Everything was alright, though. I knew the moment I sent my application that it was not going to be an easy ride. Direk was looking for amateur writers with writing background in movie, TV or theater, and I only had a single one-act play to show him. At least I tried and because of that, I can now sleep well.

The lesson I learned today: interviews and screening processes are all about perception. How? I can look at my situation in two ways: first, that I didn't make it to the Final 20; and second, that from 410 applicants, I made it to the shortlist then to the first round of interviews with about 50 remaining aspirants. I chose to be grateful and focus on the latter instead :)

Additionally because of the writing exercise, I will have a new blog entry :)

All is well. Opportunities are infinite but unfortunately this blog isn't, so...bye!

Introspection

It's hard to write when you don't know what to write about. You wanna finish another (or your first) masterpiece but you can't even write a sentence. Maybe you can but you don't what is it about. Maybe you do but you have no clue how to continue.

All you wanted is to be good. When you have one or two good stories, you wanna be better. You want to reach that line that promises greatness and welcomes fearlessness. You know you want to write but then you don't know what is it about. 

This consuming passion to write, to share stories, to be a narrator, a comic, a dramatist, a romantic, a priest, a nun--a person who others pay attention to not because you seek attention, only because you have something to share.

What do you want to be? A playwright? A novelist? A poet? An essayist? Do you want an extensive work of literature or do you want to save up space and time? You don't know which path you wanna take. No business, no bullshit--you want to pursue your love for writing, literature, and the arts.

Hard to find inspiration, right? What about your successes? Your failures? Your wicked ways? Your wild dreams? First sex? With whom? First love? Who? World Peace? No, it's probably corny. You? Too egotistical.

Ricky Lee said as a writer, you don't wait for the moment, you make that moment.

Write as if it's the last day.
Write because you want to.
Write because you must.