In our modern world, the creative artist is seen as the “genius” behind a great work of art. But it wasn’t always like this, as author Elizabeth Gilbert explains in this talk. After the phenomenal (and “freakish” as she puts it) success of her book Eat, Pray, Love, she faced the enormous question of what to do next. Was it possible to repeat the success of that book? How could she return to the creative process after such an experience? And how could she face the pressure of writing a “sequel”? Her answer was to turn to ancient wisdom and take a different view of creativity. One that gave more responsibility to external inspiration and less to the creative individual.
As we gear up for our Taking About Creativity event on March 17, this is certainly food-for-thought on the nature of creativity and how artists strive to achieve it.