Elusive creative genius

1 Comment

1. 

   enzzzoo (Post author)

   12/12/2012 at 1:03 am

   Extremely interesting talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. Don’t be fooled by the intro, the lecture touches on esoteric theories to the creative process but she also mixes in a lot of commonsense advice.

   Honestly, I’m not so critical of Elizabeth’s talk that hints that creativity is not within us naturally but that it is aided by “External” forces.

   When I think about how I construct my blog articles and graphics I end up going slightly mad. I’m not a natural writer and I “see” things rather than think them in a prose context. I know what I want to say but the words are often jumbled. Instead, the picture that forms in my head is very clear. That is why I start with the graphics and then use that to construct the written article.

   What I find scary is that when I look at the finished piece (both graphics and text) I can’t believe I did them. Honestly, I don’t recall the details of working on the piece. It’s as if I was in a different state of consciousness when I did them; perhaps it is a form of meditation or trance. I’ve even gone as far as to add a gallery page to my blog that I treat as a personal diary. A diary in which I immediately document the last article I posted in order to remind me how and why I created the post and graphics. Whatever the process, I agree with Elizabeth that the real fear is not being able to better the last work. I always want to draw and write better but the fear of failing is terrifying.

   In the end the keyword is “relax” and go with the flow. When I try to distance myself from the thought of criticism or praise (that can be even more vexing) then the creative juices start flowing freely again. I try to take one project at a time and most importantly, I do what I do, creativity wise, primarily for myself. If others like it good, if nobody else cares, well, their loss…I’m happy to spend my time doing something that makes me happy.