Elizabeth Gilbert on Creative Genius

I have shared this TED talk with so many people.  When I first watched it I had one of those moments where I realized that someone had already said exactly what I have been trying to find the words for.  Every once in a while this happens and I have one of two reactions.  The first is relieved because a loose end has been tied up for me and now I can absorb the information and use it for something else.  The second is disappointed.  She thought of it first?!

But thankfully, Gilbert has a remedy for my disappointment.  Her TEDtalk discusses her research on how different cultures across time have viewed creativity.  As the best-selling author of Eat. Pray. Love, Gilbert has intimately experienced how the modern Western world approaches creativity.  The product of creativity and the process of being creative is tied up with who we are, which means that artists of all kinds are subject to increased levels of narcissism and depression.  How can you not be when people critiquing your art are also, quite directly, critiquing you as a person?

Gilbert wasn’t satisfied with this, and she found her answer in history.  In Greece and Rome, creativity came from the outside.  Greeks had daemons who gave them ideas while the Romans believed that a genius lived in the walls of all art studios.  Everyone knew about these mystical creative beings so whether your work was amazing or awful, you could blame it on your genius and get back to work.

As she delved into this idea, Gilbert also spoke with modern artists who expressed the same notion: that creativity came from outside them, visiting for a while from time to time.  So whenever I feel myself being resentful or disappointed that someone has already created the idea that was growing in my mind, I’ll just remember that the genius of that idea visited them first.  Then, I can appreciate their work and go forward to make more of my own.