I saw my first TED Talk last night; I know, where have I been? Well, when I sit down at night, I’m usually at my computer. If I watch television, it’s baseball, news or sheer “oatmeal” as I read my phone.
This talk was given by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love.” She was witty and interesting, and it was no surprise that she was able to key into the nightmares that all writers have at some point or other, especially measuring up after a great success. She talked about the ancient Greek and Roman theories on creativity, and the interesting part “the genius” played in those societies making tortured artists less tortured. According to Gilbert, the ancients believed “the genius” was an energy, a fairy or demon of sorts.
I found it ironic because, as we’ve mentioned here on a few occasions that, over 40 years ago, I told my son, “God uses us the way we use pencils.” All genius comes from somewhere; for me, that was God. He gives us the gift and hopes we’ll share it with His other children. We’re just the instrument. The ancient belief about where creativity comes from is similar and gave artists a far more comfortable scenario than the one we have today. “That’s good,” Gilbert thought, as there’s someone to share failure with. However, it means we also have to share the credit. Conversely, today, most people believe the genius one possesses is his/her own, rather than some sprite. This more modern scenario leaves artists with far more credit and lets them enjoy the glory they’ve earned, but they also must own the failure alone too.
There are those, too, who believe in a collective consciousness – that every time one of us gets any idea, several other people in the world get the same one at the same time. Though it sounds a bit weird, there’s some kind of plausibility there. First, it is sheer conceit to believe that any of us is so brilliant as to singularly create, or be singularly selected to extrapolate on, a new and unique idea. If we were, any idea we lose would be gone forever. Furthermore, we’ve all seen things invented, designed or written that we, ourselves, thought of first, right?
Personally, I don’t believe in fairies, but I refer again to my remark about pencils. So, when divine intervention hits and/or creativity calls, wherever we are, whatever we’re doing – and Gilbert told a few stories about that also – we must at least scratch some notes before we lose it. I remember being relieved when discovering that the famous J.K. Rowling also lives flooded with her torn envelope edges and paper napkin notes, as do I, and Chattereaders all know that around my office are waterfalls of Post-Its that denote my lack of short-term memory cells.
Also an important thing to remember is that, fairies or not, there is torment in creativity. The phrase “tortured artists” came from somewhere, and on Nov. 11, 2021 we touched on it here in “The art in art and torment,” discussing the van Gogh exhibit. It’s has a very fulfilling side, but creating things, applying ourselves to the task, bringing anything to fruition and presenting it in any medium, for anyone, any time, is both a gift and a struggle. Wherever it may have come from, it requires application, discipline, time, talent and effort, and yes, sometimes a wee bit of grimacing and sweat to get it where it needs to go … and millions of people do it every day. From fairy tales to brain surgery, people devote themselves, their time and their peace of mind to deliver great work to the world.
We’ve talked several times here at Chatterbox about showing up for our lives, being involved and giving to others. Last week, we talked about the importance of knowing our changing purpose in life. At any age, we need one, or as Gilbert says in her witty, brilliant TED Talk, surviving her doubts about “Eat, Pray, Love,” she confronted her demon saying, “I would please like the record to reflect, today, that I showed up for my part of the job,” and left the rest to her “genius.”
We may not always want to share credit for our successes, but it’s sure nice to have that outside force to help us survive our failings, and I have an author friend who said, “If you aren’t a success yet, you aren’t failing fast enough.”
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