a huge thank you to Liz Gilbert - her inspiring TED discussion on creativity

At the TED conference in Long Beach last week, Liz Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love (a book I adored, just fyi) spoke profoundly about a new way we can approach our interaction with the elusive "creative genius" that lives inside all of us. Her words touched upon something I've wrestled with since the beginning of this crazy artistic journey of mine, when I woke up one day and realized that there were no right or wrong answers to what I was doing necessarily; that the "maddening capriciousness of the creative process,"* while certainly foreign to me at first, was as common to every artist that walked the earth as having fingernails.

I applaud Liz Gilbert for challenging us to remove the pressure that comes from nurturing a "creative genius within"* and identify the source as what it truly is - divine inspiration from a most abundant God. I've talked a lot about the idea of detachment with another artist friend of mine, letting your creation, whatever it is, live outside of your being. That way, the reaction you receive from others, be it good or bad, goes toward that creation, not the inner core of your most sensitive being. Liz expounds upon this idea in the sense that we are not to be afraid of or run from the creative inspiration that follows us because it's not up to us to manage it. (Thank God!!) It is our job to be courageous enough to just "show up,"* and be the vessel that it needs to come forth.

Shaunelle, this post is for you.

*Credit: Liz Gilbert at TED