Saturday, April 28, 2012
Video Pick: A New Way to Think About Creativity
freelanceswitch.com:This week we look at A new way to think about creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert. In this video “Eat, Pray, Love” Author Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk..
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
What a beautiful way to think about creativity. Creative work is particularly difficult and trying to the artist largely because the artist is required to put so much of himself into the work. Their art is then judged in a very subjective way by a large audience. If the work is unsatisfactory to the audience there is no one to blame but the artist. In other fields of work, there are many other factors to be blamed in the case of failure. If a student flunks out of school, it is blamed more on the student and their family than the teacher. If a new computer product fails, it is the company that is forced to shoulder the blame, not any of the individuals who developed it. When an artist produces a piece of work that is a wild success, they alone are given all of the praise and they are regarded as a genius by society. This is an expectation that no one can live up to. Take a look at JK Rowling’s success with the Harry Potter books. Now, no matter what she publishes, it will be compared to one of the most successful book series ever. It’s difficult to not fall short when the expectation is so high. I really like Elizabeth Gilbert’s suggestion that genius is not an internal thing that some artists possess, rather it is an external being that every so often decides to grace a human with a brief period of genius. I think this would help all creative people live happier lives, knowing that some aspects of their work are out of their control.
I think that it is very interest to think about the fact the it is true that no one really feels fear for people who have non creative jobs. I think this is because to the world creative jobs seem more desired by more people and less numerous and less stable but I think that people who want to be in this creative world these issues are not insurmountable. I do love how she thinks about creativity. It is difficult to put your creativity out there because when it is praised or criticized it feels like they are talking about a piece of yourself.
Post a Comment