TED - Ideas Worth Spreading & Creative Genius

I've been struggling the last couple of weeks about my next blog entry. Circumstances in life have been overwhelming me, and last week my cat became very ill. But this morning, this morning is a new day. The sun is already shining bright in Portland. This morning Kali was eating on her own for the first time since last Saturday, and synchronicity is at work as I received a posting of TED Talks Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius.

What she says in 20 minutes may bring insight to many of you. If you're not an artist you may better understand what an artist faces so often in their life, and after today you might value an artist like you never have before.

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.



Due to the huge success of her book Eat, Pray, Love she's had to recalibrate her relationship with writing. People often treat her as if she's doomed, as if that book will be her only success. Then she realized as a teenager when she stated her dream of becoming a writer people would pass on their fear-based reactions and would ask... "Aren't you afraid you're never going to have any success? Aren't you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you? Aren't you afraid you're going to work your whole life at this craft and nothing is ever going to come of it and you're going to die on a scrapheap of broken dreams with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?"

The answer for her was yes. But is it rational to be afraid of the work we are meant to do? Why is creativity and suffering always linked? Does artistry ultimately lead to anguish? What she goes onto say is truly enlightening and worth putting out there for discussion.

I hope it resonates with you. Don't be afraid, don't be daunted, don't be afraid to show up. I'm going to go work on showing up today.

I StumbledUpon TED Talks last year, and it was a great find. If you haven't been to the site, be sure you have some time set aside when you do. You will get lost in loads of genius.