Like just about every woman on the planet, I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and while I liked the book, I wasn't one of its biggest cheerleaders. I don't want to go into it here, like writing a review, but one of my dearest and oldest friends sent me the link to this video, and what Gilbert says about the creative process is just so, so interesting. Tell me what you think.
Thank you so much for sharing that. What an inspiring speaker. I am filled with self doubt to often and I wish I could play those last few minutes in my head when needed.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful thing to watch/think about before a long day in the studio. Thanks, E!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this!!! I was mesmerized!! I guess I have always thought that creative ideas come as she explained - from outside of myself. That they come to us and give us a chance to be collected - if we ignore them they move on. She explained it in such an amazing way!! Wonderful - thank you!!! Sarah
ReplyDeleteI'm not a writer - but I get it. I sometimes think of it as left brain and right brain - right brain being the place that transcends and can receive inspiration (I believe it comes from God) and left brain being the side that just rolls up its sleeves and works hard.
ReplyDeletePowerful. And, for me, extremely timely. Earlier this week I had a brush with that "thing" -- it really threw me for a loop, and yet I know that if I "show up and do my job," the resulting story will be the best thing I have ever written.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to save this link so I can watch it again. Thank you.
I listened to Eat, Pray, Love in the audiobook format, read by the author. At first she seemed to me a self-centered person with too much money for her own good. But by the middle of the book, her fine writing and beautiful speaking voice had charmed me into forgiving her. I was almost seduced into believing that self-indulgence could be altruistic, though I came to realize that her altruism really had little to do with her self-indulgence.
ReplyDeleteIn the video she's at her best--funny, self-deprecating, and thoughtful. And I think she's right, even if the etymology of Olé is uncertain. I've had those flashes of creative thought that seem to come from outside myself. I'm not sure whether my muse will be as accommodating as Tom Waits's, though. Thank you for posting it.
i believe this! it's what i've *known* all along. although i keep forgetting.
ReplyDeletehave you ever read The War of Art? pressfield essentially says the same thing. he speaks to his muse before he begins every writing session.
here's to the muses, floating about, keeping a watchful eye on all of us!