I love finding inspiring talks on TED. One of my favorites is actually by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray Love) who introduces us to a new possibility of how to view creativity. She talks about poems chasing Ruth Stone and melodies coming to Tom Waits at most inopportune moments. A thought-provoking idea that might just keep our creative types sane by thinking about “genius” as something external that comes about in flashes of brilliance rather than it being internal, where it can let an artist down when it’s needed most.
I like the concept and know firsthand of the torture of that genius. I remember once blowing everybody away at the bowling alley with a crazy good first game. When I tried to call on that same level of play for the next game, I failed miserably. In front of all those that were so impressed the first time around. I know it’s not the same as the amazing creators that Gilbert talks about here, but it still speaks to the “brushing up against that thing” phenomenon that seems to come about so randomly for most of us.
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