When I saw that Elizabeth Gilbert was coming to Minneapolis, I bought a ticket. I
was amazed to discover I was one of about 1300 people in the room (about 9 of
whom were male). I was even more surprised when Gilbert got a standing ovation
for walking into the room. Clearly I’m a late arrival for Team Gilbert.
Once you read Big Magic, you’ll probably be ready to enlist. It’s a book about being open
to positive change–and for Gilbert, that means it’s a book about managing fear. For
me, one of her best insights is refuting the notion of “following your passion.”
Passion, she says, is a big thing, and it’s reserved for the few, the geniuses. For the
rest of us, following our curiosity is more than enough to bring us to happiness and,
yes, success.
