Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A New Way to Think About Creativity

When I first began writing my book, I often struggled with the creative process. Feeling pressure from all angles to prove myself in some way through my writing was eliciting results that I knew were sub-par for me. It was frustrating and I couldn't shake the feeling, and I knew I wasn't alone. No matter what career or hobby you pursue, there is pressure on all of us in today's world to come off as a genius or a bon vivant of whatever it is that you undertake, but that expectation can suffocate and stifle your creativity from pouring forth.

As I mused on this truth a few months ago, my friend Tami (a blogger/reporter by day, a fiction writer by night) over at Fete a Fete passed along a video of "Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert giving a talk on new ways to think about creativity.

I immediately loved Gilbert's lecture because she touches on so many truths about creativity that apply to whatever field of work you're in or whatever hobby you dabble in. The video is a bit long (2o min.), but if you've been feeling blah lately, prepare to be truly inspired:



After hearing her speech, I came to grips early on that I am not writing for other people. I'm not writing for success. The creative process of writing is what makes me feel successful. Now if that doesn't fall in line with what society deems "successful" than so be it. I've been writing for myself in these last few weeks and can already tell you the results are significantly better than before. I've now realized that the best thing I can do for my career and my creativity is to just "keep showing up". Every day. Same with you. Ole!

5 comments:

Tami said...

bravo - keep showing up each day! :)

Jasmine @ Eat Move Write said...

Wow. I needed that. I'm currently fighting with my book, and I need all the inspiration I can get. Good luck to you! And, keep showing up!

Carrie...On The Cheap said...

Crystal's new career: motivational speaker. Thoughts??? :)

Good post. Even the most inspirational people need a good dose of, er, inspiration from time to time. In fact, I admit I haven't watched the video yet, but I'm getting ready to hop on the elliptical and I think it might be the perfect thing to watch to get me through the workout. :)

Keep up the good work!

Wojciech @ Fiscal Fizzle said...

I recently discovered and posted about TED - this was a fantastic video to watch, given that I love writing and creativity in general, and share some of the same feelings she talks about.

Thanks so much for sharing!

DS said...

I love your idea of doing what you love, just for yourself. It's hard when we are all pressured to be perfect when there really is no such thing. Writing because you love it is what mattes the most!

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