Three words: Inspiration, Indispensable, Funny
It’s hard to overstate the importance this single book has had on my writing life. Elizabeth Gilbert explores the nature of creativity, impressing upon the reader-artist the need for showing up to work, for exploring curiosity, and relegating fear to the backseat. I return often to the story she tells of a friend’s little brother who misunderstood a party invitation and arrived at a Medieval costume ball in a French castle dressed as a lobster. Or how about the Indian man who painted his ox’s horns turquoise and hot pink? Her own father raised goats and started a Christmas tree farm simply because these things interested him, and he listened to that curiosity. My copy is so highlighted and dog-eared, I will surely invest in a fresh copy to read again. And again.
Luke Stephens 