News & Blog
One from the vaults…. Dear Ones — A friend of this page sent me the link to…
One from the vaults….
Dear Ones —
A friend of this page sent me the link to this interview of mine from 2007, talking about the lessons I tried to carry home with me from my time at the Ashram in India. I'd never seen this interview before, and thought some of you might enjoy it.
Thanks, and ONWARD!
A beautiful photo, and a story that stirred my heart. Thank you, bless you, and…
A beautiful photo, and a story that stirred my heart. Thank you, bless you, and welcome to the new little warrior! She is perfection.
Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
Hi Liz!
This is my brand new baby daughter- Nyfain Mai! She is currently 9days old. I was reading SOAT through the later weeks of my pregnancy. I havnt yet finished the book, as I put it down on the morning of 30/5/14 after finishing chapter 26. I went into labour that evening at 5pm. It was a surreal and testing experience. There were times when I felt in total harmony and co-ordination with my body, my baby and nature, and others when I completely lost it- 'plastic bag in the wind' job. It was in the darkest corner of a frantic moment that some recalled words appeared like a bolt, etched inside my forehead- that 'I did not come here to drown in 5feet of water'. That I was here to fight the good fight, to give light. And as Alma before me, I would be damned if I did not assume my warrior position in this, the 'unrelenting battle to live'. I 'rised out of the sea, like i was born from it' – at the exact moment my baby was born from my body. Into the world. Into the light.
With all that I am, I thank you. All our love from North Wales, uk- Fflur and Nyfain xxxx
CRAFT. Dear Ones — I was speaking to an artist friend the other day, who said…
CRAFT.
Dear Ones —
I was speaking to an artist friend the other day, who said she was having a crisis of creativity because she felt she was losing her edge. She feared that her work was not experimental, bold, and innovative enough. She quoted Ezra Pound ("Make it new") and said she had stopped working because, simply put, she could not figure out any ways to make it new anymore.
I tried to explain to her that the opposite of The Edge is a simpler and older idea of The Craft. While the motto of modernity might indeed be "Make it new" the motto of the traditional craftsman/woman is more like, "Make it again and again and again and again and again, until you get better and better and better and better at it." (A wordy motto, but you get the point.)
I gave up fighting for The Edge a long time ago, and that’s done me a world of good as an author. I don't care about The Edge. Standing on the edges of things just gives me vertigo, anyway, and also carries with it a serious risk of toppling over that cliff and dying.
These days, instead, I just work toward honing my craft. I want to be the best and most prolific writer I can possibly be. I want to work every day, the way craftspeople have always worked. I don't mind returning to the same themes and ideas, to try to craft them better next time. I don't mind if my writing reminds readers of other authors (that's called following in a tradition, or offering homage) and I don't even mind if my new work reminds people of my earlier work. I'm not trying to ignite a revolution every time I sit down at my desk; I just want to pursue excellence.
To do that, I must get out of my own way (including getting out of the way of my ego) and simply do the work. As many times as it takes to get it right.
Do it every day. Do it as well as you can. Repeat, repeat, repeat. That's craft.
Heart,
LG
ps — This is a photo of me working on "Committed". Those tiny little slips of paper are each a "beat" of the memoir, and I kept shuffling them around until I put the story into its proper order. Sort of like putting together a puzzle, but made out of narrative.
TWO WEEKS, my loves! The gorgeous paperback of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS will…
TWO WEEKS, my loves!
The gorgeous paperback of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS will be published exactly two weeks from today, dear ones!
And I shall be going on book tour! Brooklyn is the first stop (June 24) and then onward from there…come see me?
Here's the info:
A CONTEST FOR PLANT-LOVERS! Dear Ones — The paperback of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL…
A CONTEST FOR PLANT-LOVERS!
Dear Ones —
The paperback of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS is coming out in exactly two weeks!
In order to celebrate that happy event, I've collaborated with the legendary White Flower Farms on a really cool contest. If you click here, you can sign up for the chance to win a free plant every month for a year:
I have a special place in my heart for White Flower Farms, since I grew up just a mile down the road from their amazing headquarters. You know those plants are going to be simply gorgeous.
There will be 25 winners, everyone…so play your odds!
Happy gardening,
LG