13.6.09

Taking Care of Your Genius

Great Ted talk from Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) exploring the need for all of us to nurture our genius - and how to avoid the crippling fear of the creative process.

I remember trying to express to someone how difficult writing can be. For me the whole process is incredibly private - I go and lock myself away, and when something has taken shape I can begin to talk about it. The bit before - when you are wrestling with what you are trying to express - can be tough. The bit after - when you have thrown this thing you've just given birth to out into the world, opening yourself and this new creature for criticism - can be particularly hideous.

In trying to explain this, I recall being asked why I even bothered if I hated those aspects of it that much?

Simply put - it is that space in between, when you are totally present with the process of creative thought, that is truly the most beautiful and rewarding thing in the world.


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