Because of Big Magic: Why I’m Flying Across the Globe with Someone I Only Met Once

We both got the quiche. That’s the main thing I remember from the day I met Gabby. It was a beautiful mid-June afternoon, and we sat outside of Le Bon Café eating what was arguably the best quiche I’ve ever stuck a fork in. I should have known then not to say things I didn’t mean to Gabby. Not that I didn’t mean it when I tweeted that we should meet up sometime in response to her being in DC for the summer. I was just taken aback by her immediate reply, the way she took my words at face value, and her aptitude to close a deal, immediately. I should have made a mental note that day, when we stacked our plates inside the quaint cafe: When you say something to Gabby, mean it.  Gabby would likely always hold you to your word and call you on your shit.

I haven’t physically seen Gabby since the day we met in June, but because of Big Magic, I’m going to Malaysia with her this fall.

No, literally. It’s Because of Big Magic. Gabby is the creator-in-chief of  the Literati, a culturally conscious online book club. I joined in for January’s reading of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. As real big magic tends to do, it was already brewing in the background. Gabby and Krissy, who is in Malaysia, and with whom I’ve been missing connections since July, were schemin’ on the TL, shooting the shit about linking up.  And so the idea extended its hand to me. I wanna go hang out in Malaysia with Gabby and Kris, I thought. So I tweeted that I wanted to come.

 

@GetKrissed @gabgotti guys, I wanna come!

— ruhCONNuh (@eversoRoco) January 5, 2017

 

Twelve days later I started reading Big Magic. The Literati Twitter chat was at the end of the month and I’d only gotten far as the section entitled “Scary Scary Scary.” Fear is boring, Gilbert said. And unbecoming, I added to myself. Fear is always invited to come along on our road trips, Gilbert said, but it can never, ever, drive.

Gabby texted me that very night, saying she’d found a disgustingly affordable roundtrip flight to Malaysia, that she’d already purchased tickets for said flight, and for me to let her know if I was in.

Fear, dressed in Common Sense’s clothing tried to reason with me. You don’t really ~do~ international, Price. The only time you’ve been out of the country, you’ve been with Mommy, Daddy, or a mission trip guide. You’ve never been on a plane for that long. You just paid your credit card down. Isn’t Miami enough? Isn’t Cuba closer? Malaysia!? What do you even know about Malaysia other than it’s hella far and hella scary?

I texted Gabby back.

“I have soooo many fears about going, and jumping into something like this,” I said. “But dammit. Let’s do it.”

So, I’m going to Malaysia. And my fear is coming with me. But it’s definitely not driving. Or tuning the mental radio dial to to the static of anxiety. Cause I ain’t got the time.

My  brand of big magic is about way more than good timing and bad decisions. It’s about more than self-help books and throwing caution to the wind. My brand of big magic is about the way God weaves all these little things together, both behind the scenes, and before my eyes. 

Because of Big Magic, I skipped the questions, bypassing the need for anyone’s permission to go globetrotting for the first time. Because of Big Magic, I am working with ideas I wouldn’t even piss at a year ago. Because of Big Magic, I stopped being in the mood to ruin my life and started, at least for now, thinking that I can run this ship, or at the very least be a happy passenger. Because of Big Magic I’m calling things how I see them. My doodles are art, my videos are professional, the Universe is God, Big Magic is now, and I am whatever amazing, talented, happy, and free thing that comes to mind.