Here’s an interesting speech by Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. She brings up some interesting points about creativity and how western society’s attitudes towards it have changed in the last few thousand years. She contemplates the difficulty that arises when we realize that it’s possible that our best creative moments are behind us.

I do appreciate some of the concepts she brings out, because I have sometimes felt, both in photography and in improv, that there was something else speaking through me that allowed me to rise to new levels. Sometimes it feels as though I’m just channeling something, because afterward, I wonder, “Where did that come from?” At the same time, it runs against the grain of my natural tendency to insist on full accountability for everything we do. I think that both things can be reconciled though. She insists that we have to keep “showing up for work” in order to catch the inspiration as it is handed to us. And in the same way that I accept that I can not control the weather, I can accept this too.

In any case, watch the video. She’s a wonderful speaker, and her ideas are worth your consideration. Laura sent this out to her mailing list on the weekend, and I’ve seen it a few times since then, so I think it’s catching on…