The fundamental truth about creativity and human selfhood has been stated to profound and beautiful effect by many people in history, but few have put it as concisely and effectively as Elizabeth Gilbert did at the 2009 annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California.
Gilbert, the celebrated author of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, spoke to a rapt audience about the damage caused by the modern-day view of creative genius as a quality that a few privileged humans possess. She said this view puts enormous and undue pressure on us all, and that we would be better off regarding creativity in the way that our pre-Renaissance ancestors did: as an external force or entity that visits people to inspire and help with some creative act, and then moves on to visit somebody else. In other words, it’s not the case that a few special people are geniuses, but that all of us have a genius.
Here’s her entire talk, which I strongly encourage you to watch:
On being or having a genius
Some of the more potent highlights of Gilbert’s speech include: Read the rest of this entry »
