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Lectures for a New Year: Being a Genius vs. Having a Genius
Welcome to the second day of our new lecture series. Are we having fun yet?
Up today, a short lecture you can definitely fit in during your lunch break. Liz Gilbert is best known for writing Eat, Pray, Love, which (unlike apparently ever other person in the country) I still haven't read. But she's someone who's been a reasonably successful writer for decades. When her breakthrough memoir became such a huge deal (10 million copies and counting...), Gilbert's perspective on her own creative process had to change: in all likeliness, her best work (or at least her best-known work) was behind her. How could she continue to write, knowing that, in essence, she could never "top" that book?
In this TED Talk (only twenty minutes long!), Gilbert discusses the challenges of surviving a creative career -- and not just a spectacularly successful one. She discusses historical notions of separating "inspiration" and "genius" into a separate source from the author/artist, so that creative people aren't burdened with complete responsibility for their success and failure. The talk is funny, frantic, and smart. You don't have to agree with her ideas (you may go on believing that writers really do generate ideas themselves), but Gilbert raises a series of provocative questions, not least of which: are we okay with many of our best creative minds drinking/drugging themselves to death?
Topics: creative careers, becoming successful, freaking out, history, authors who are alcoholic messes, concepts of "inspiration" from around the world, and: poems that thunder across the landscape.
Not covered: any specific material from EPL or her other books.
For: anyone involved in a creative pursuit; writers, artists, musicians -- creators of all kinds.
Viewing note: you can watch this lecture in HD by going to this TED page and clicking the Download button (below the video).
Further Reading
Fun fact: Gilbert's 1997 GQ piece "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon," chronicling her stint tending bar at the infamous saloon, was the basis for the popular movie Coyote Ugly. Crazy, right? Read the original article here. Obviously, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia and its successor (briefly mentioned in the talk above), Committed: A Love Story are primary materials in any Gilbert study.
Transcript
An interactive transcript of Gilbert's talk is available from TED (click the "Interactive Transcript" in the upper right). The YouTube video also has good Closed Captions (hit the CC button to enable them). You can also get captions from the TED downloads (click the Download button and select the relevant options).
Suggest a Lecture
Got a favorite lecture? Is it online in some video format? Leave a comment and we’ll check it out!