"That's why you have to
let your creativity out
because it has you as a project.
It's building you,
creating you."
-- Elizabeth Gilbert
New: Audio version
[Classic post from 9-25-15]
Yesterday, I watched a 47-minute interview by Marie Forleo with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, and many other books. They were discussing her latest release, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. While watching this, I immediately bought the book.
This interview is absolutely delightful. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an interview as much, and it was full of creative wisdom and Marie's questions seemed so perfect to get the most out of discussing the book and the values therein. To say I highly recommend watching it is saying it conservatively.
What always fascinates me in learning is that I will see or hear many things that are of value to me, or that help to enlighten me, and yet there may be just a sentence or two in all that time that resonates so much that I just have to write it down. This is the case with the quote at the top.
What fascinates me about that quote is the idea that by exercising our own creativity, it is creativity itself that is having its way with us, or as she says, "it has you as a project." We think of creative projects and that we are exercising creativity on those projects, but to turn that around and have creativity having us as a project is very interesting.
The fact that what we do, what we act on, how we think molds us every day is not a new idea, but how this one was expressed by Elizabeth Gilbert gave me a way to have all of that make more sense somehow. The idea that these things have me as a project is a fascinating twist and it is also interesting how that excites me even more than simply exercising creativity. It opens up vistas in inspiration for me, and my desire is ignited by it.
Isn't it amazing when a spark ignites something within you? Isn't it interesting how something in an interview--just two sentences in fact--can make a huge difference in your life? This is what I love about learning. Taking the time to watch an interview, a TED talk, and a thousand other things keep me wanting more. Some are interesting and I could just as easily have missed it, and others simply rock my world. Yet, they are all valuable. Why? Because I am their project. . .
As I Am A Creative Project, I Expand And Become More.
Spread Some Joy Today--by just letting loose. Blow the cobwebs out. Dance around the room. Have some fun. Share some joy.
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