“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”

– Elizabeth Gilbert

Last month I had the absolute pleasure to attend a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert about her new book “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear”.  My dear friend and I traveled to Santa Cruz (one of my top 10 happy places) just to see and LISTEN to Liz. She’s one of our favorite authors. If you don’t already know her from “Eat Pray Love” hysteria, you should get to know her through Big Magic and her incredibly inspiring and insightful Facebook posts.

My favorite part of the evening was the very end. Liz had the audience stand up and google the lyrics to a song on their cell phones. With lyrics in hand, the entire audience and Liz sang John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” with all our hearts. It was a few minutes of pure joy and magic with an immediate community of kindred spirits.

But, the greater take away was that I am obligated to practice my creativity. To make it a priority. Really and truly. Not think about it or dream about it.

But to do it. That is all.

This newly created blog is the tangible result of Liz’s loving and creative ass-kicking in Santa Cruz.

“…I am going to spend as much time as I can creating delightful things out of my existence, because that’s what brings me awake and that’s what brings me alive.” – Elizabeth Gilbert