Little Moments of Big Magic

"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.

my little book of big magic

This week, I had the very great pleasure of meeting

Elizabeth Gilbert

when she visited my hometown of Southampton on her European tour.

I bought tickets that would mean I could actually meet Liz, and in the intervening months, I agonised over whether meeting someone who has inspired me so much, was, in fact, a good idea. In the fleeting moment of saying hello and getting to have my photograph taken (something that always fills me with dread), what could I say that hadn’t already been said by so many before me? Would I be just another tongue-tied fan-girl tripping over my words and mumbling something incoherent about how much I love her?

I have met famous people before, and while they were memorable moments for me, I am certain that the famous people in question didn’t even register my presence for very long, if at all. And when I say ‘met’, that’s probably a bit of a stretch…

I once rode the pirate ship at Paultons Park with British comedian, Jason Manford. I was there with my daughter, who went through a phase of wanting to ride the pirate ship over and over and over again, meaning that I was feeling quite queasy by the time Jason Manford and his family stepped onto the ship and took up seats opposite us. I tried not to stare, or puke in their direction.

More recently, I met Emilia Fox at a motorway service station on the M40, where my kids and I were buying snacks on the way to visit Mum. I was complaining to no one in particular about how M&S never have any normal brands, and there she was. I just stood there with my mouth open while she smiled politely and said hello. I squeaked hello in reply and wished for the ground to swallow me whole.

I am a Lovelet, which is to say I am a member of Liz’s Substack community on

Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert

. Liz calls us her Lovelets, so at least I could share that. But still, this is the woman who wrote a book that got made into a film where Julie fricking Roberts starred as Elizabeth Gilbert! Even as I type this, I can hear myself getting shrill.

How could I ever hope to convey the impact that Big Magic had on me at a time when I was still reeling from my failure at being a full time creative. How it helped me recognise that although I might or might not earn a living with my creative pursuits, that was not really the point. That I could “dare to to be pleased sometimes with what [I had] created”, without needing the validation of a creative career. Without needing to win, or to be the best. How she taught me “the quiet glory of merely making things, and then sharing those things with an open heart and no expectations”. And how, through those pages, I slowly gained “the perspective to appreciate the value of [my] own joy”.

Surely quoting Liz’s own words back to her would be a little gauche.

Even worse might be giving her my book manuscript (which I don’t actually have because I haven’t actually written it) or anything else so undeniably cringeworthy.

So in idle moments drifting off to sleep, folding the washing, making the beds, walking the dogs, I pondered. Waiting patiently for inspiration to visit.

In my imagination, inspiration is a sparkle of tiny fireflies glowing with the magic of beautiful potential. Sometimes, if I am patient enough, one will alight with me at just the right moment. Where Does Inspiration Come From?

It wasn’t until the very morning of the event that the perfect idea finally alighted. I would make a tiny book, where I could write some of the words that I knew I wouldn’t be able to say, and with hope, that little book would carry with it a little piece of my soul.

I didn’t have much time, so I collected together some oddments and craft supplies accumulated over years of creative tinkering.

I’d had thoughts of finding some thin leather and stitching a perfect tiny leather cover for my little book. But then I stumbled on some homemade paper almost forgotten in the back of a draw, that could not have been more perfect.

I bought it years ago and had used most of it making a garland for my daughter’s birthday. A final square remained; splashes of bright blue and pink and yellow, just waiting for today.

For this moment.

Suddenly, my tiny book wouldn’t be just any book, it would be tiny Big Magic.

I plugged in the glue gun, I cut and sewed and glued. I stuck gold ribbon and lace on the inside as decorative fastenings. Butterfly buttons, little coloured jewels, tiny paper roses embellished the cover. I ripped paper into halves, quarters, eighths, folded them over, poked holes through the folds and stitched them together with white cotton thread. I glued them inside the tiny covers and then I wrote my first book, by hand.

To Elizabeth Gilbert.

And then a few hours later, finally, excited as a little girl, I met the absolutely transcendent Elizabeth Gilbert in person, and gave her my tiny hand made Big Magic book.

She gives the best hugs.

Bye for now,

me and Liz 💜🩵💙🩷💚