Me and a friend with Liz Gilbert herself at the Brookline Booksmith. A few weekends ago, I went to the Coolidge Corner Theatre to hear one of my favorite authors (and all around awesome women) Elizabeth Gilbert, do a book talk and signing afterwards. I have mentioned how much I shamelessly love her on my blog before, and there is no doubt I admire her incredible talent as a writer. But I really must tell you, more than her talent, I admire her thoughts and attitudes on creativity and living well. She gave a lot of good advice at the Coolidge, and I wanted to share of the things that stuck with me most. These have already made me think so much about the creative process, so hopefully there will be something here that might help you as well.
Liz Gilbert's Advice for Creatives:
1. Don't buy into the myth that in order to be creative, you have to be depressed and moody. all the time. We all feel this way sometimes, but if we stay in these dark places too long, we will lose the ability to create and connect with others. Stay hopeful and keep working!
2. "Writer's block" (or any kind of block for that matter) is, in her opinion, fear in disguise. She suggests seeing fear as a conjoined twin of creativity. Fear is not ever going to go away, it'll be on every journey you take with creativity. You must accept that, but also set ground rules for how much control fear has in your life and process. Let fear know from the start of a project that you won't be listening to it at all and it doesn't get to make any of the decisions about what you do or where you go.
3. "There is no such thing as an arts emergency." I loved this one--she explains that while it's easy to fear failing at a creative project, we must realize that no one will die because of it, and the worst that can happen is the project doesn't meet our expectations. Yes, it's disappointing, but not life-threatening. Don't be afraid to take risks, fail spectacularly, and then start over again.
4. Follow your curiosity, not your passion. She explains here (excuse the lengthy quote, it's so worth it!):
"I am a big advocate for the pursuit of curiosity. We are constantly being told to pursue our passions in life, but there are times when passion is a TALL ORDER, and really hard to reach. In seasons of confusion, of loss, of boredom, of insecurity, of distraction, the idea of "passion" can feel completely inaccessible and impossible. In such times, you are lucky to be able to get your laundry done (that sometimes feels as high as you can aim) and when someone tells you to follow your passion, you want to give them the middle finger. (Go ahead and do it, by the way. But wait till their back is turned, out of civility.)
But curiosity, I have found, is always within reach.
Passion is a tower of flame, but curiosity is a tiny tap on the shoulder — a little whisper in the ear that says, "Hey, that's kind of interesting…"
Passion is rare; curiosity is everyday.
Curiosity is therefore a lot easier to reach at at times than full-on passion — and the stakes are lower, easier to manage.
The trick is to just follow your small moments of curiosity. It doesn't take a massive effort. Just turn your head an inch. Pause for a instant. Respond to what has caught your attention. Look into it a bit. Is there something there for you? A piece of information?
For me, a lifetime devoted to creativity is nothing but a scavenger hunt — where each successive clue is another tiny little hit of curiosity. Pick each one up, unfold it, see where it leads you next.
Small steps.
Keep doing that, and I promise you: The curiosity will eventually lead you to the passion.
And that'll be the end of boredom."
Here's wishing that we all find something to be curious about this week!
1. Don't buy into the myth that in order to be creative, you have to be depressed and moody. all the time. We all feel this way sometimes, but if we stay in these dark places too long, we will lose the ability to create and connect with others. Stay hopeful and keep working!
2. "Writer's block" (or any kind of block for that matter) is, in her opinion, fear in disguise. She suggests seeing fear as a conjoined twin of creativity. Fear is not ever going to go away, it'll be on every journey you take with creativity. You must accept that, but also set ground rules for how much control fear has in your life and process. Let fear know from the start of a project that you won't be listening to it at all and it doesn't get to make any of the decisions about what you do or where you go.
3. "There is no such thing as an arts emergency." I loved this one--she explains that while it's easy to fear failing at a creative project, we must realize that no one will die because of it, and the worst that can happen is the project doesn't meet our expectations. Yes, it's disappointing, but not life-threatening. Don't be afraid to take risks, fail spectacularly, and then start over again.
4. Follow your curiosity, not your passion. She explains here (excuse the lengthy quote, it's so worth it!):
"I am a big advocate for the pursuit of curiosity. We are constantly being told to pursue our passions in life, but there are times when passion is a TALL ORDER, and really hard to reach. In seasons of confusion, of loss, of boredom, of insecurity, of distraction, the idea of "passion" can feel completely inaccessible and impossible. In such times, you are lucky to be able to get your laundry done (that sometimes feels as high as you can aim) and when someone tells you to follow your passion, you want to give them the middle finger. (Go ahead and do it, by the way. But wait till their back is turned, out of civility.)
But curiosity, I have found, is always within reach.
Passion is a tower of flame, but curiosity is a tiny tap on the shoulder — a little whisper in the ear that says, "Hey, that's kind of interesting…"
Passion is rare; curiosity is everyday.
Curiosity is therefore a lot easier to reach at at times than full-on passion — and the stakes are lower, easier to manage.
The trick is to just follow your small moments of curiosity. It doesn't take a massive effort. Just turn your head an inch. Pause for a instant. Respond to what has caught your attention. Look into it a bit. Is there something there for you? A piece of information?
For me, a lifetime devoted to creativity is nothing but a scavenger hunt — where each successive clue is another tiny little hit of curiosity. Pick each one up, unfold it, see where it leads you next.
Small steps.
Keep doing that, and I promise you: The curiosity will eventually lead you to the passion.
And that'll be the end of boredom."
Here's wishing that we all find something to be curious about this week!