Book review #1 : Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (2015)

Big magic : ideals are alive !

I just finished reading a book called « Big Magic », by Elizabeth Gilbert, the writer of « Eat, Pray, Love », so let me share my thoughts. This book caught my eye on Amazon because it was said to tackle the actual process of creation, and I was curious to discover more about this mysterious thing – creation. And oh boy, it did tackle this, and in quite an efficient way on top of that.

Thanks to her accessible style but also her humorous and personal comments, Elizabeth Gilbert guides us into the process of creation, especially creative writing. I did not know what to expect when I ordered the book. I still did not know what to expect when I started it. In fact, even though I have not ready a plethora of books on the subject, I find « Big magic » to be kind of unique. I admire the fact that it manages to focus solely on creative life, yet still manages to go on for 276 pages while never being boring.

The power of (spring) cleaning

Yesterday was – finally – the beginning of spring ! It feels so good to finally wake up at 7ish with the sun already there, with the sky blue. Cliché, but true. It has been the case for a few days/weeks now, but the fact that it is now officially spring means summer dresses are out of the closet again now ! Goodbye grey sky and rain boots, hello sun and iced coffees.

But spring is also more than just a change in the weather – and in your mood. It is also the occasion to do some spring cleaning. I personally am one of those annoying person looking for every pretext to be able to clean, re-organize or decorate a room. I just love it. I feel like physically cleaning things helps be to also clear my head when I have a lot to do or problems I cannot seem to resolve.

Polenta patties

So a few weeks ago, I was doing my grocery shopping and I wanted to “up my game” by buying new things. Because let’s be honest, by going once a week grocery shopping, who’s got time to make a different list each time ?! But there comes a time when you become fed up with tortilla, pasta or rice (sounds familiar ?)

So there I was, wandering in the many departments of the shop I usually do my grocery shopping in, trying to find the new food that would excite my taste buds. I had time – being a student with a rather light timetable, I had the luxury of going on a Monday morning, so it was really calm and actually enjoyable – so I did not rush myself. And there, I found some polenta. I used to pass by it without really considering buying it because I had no idea how to cook it. but I thought that buying it would actually force me to google some recipe ideas… And so I did.

Smoothie bowl

So, you’ve probably seen this everywhere on instagram and YouTube, but it seems like smoothie bowl are the new big thing in town ! It is quite simple to make – you just have to have a blender – and seems really delicious, so after months of contemplating those perfect pictures, I decided to give it a try.

How to “get back to it”

It has been a while since my last post… I was away during the holidays, so it was difficult for me to write, and therefore I had a lot of things on my place this week. Anyway, here I am ! I had real troubles finding what I was going to write about this morning. I have a list of ideas for my future posts, but every time I looked at one item, I was like “nah, it is too complicated or too long to write, I cannot be bothered now”.  It made me realize how it is difficult to get back to a habit.