Creativity as a Moving Force

In this TED talk, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) discusses creativity and how elusive it can be. The ancient Greeks came up with an explanation for this, positing that creativity doesn't come from within our own beings, it's brought to us by mysterious "geniuses." Gilbert also talks about the fears people hold about creativity, that success makes you doomed to always live in the shadow of the one thing that made you famous. Her goal in all of this is to encourage people to view creativity in a new (old, really) light and lessen the burden of our expectations on each other.

The idea of viewing creativity as a moving force that is sometimes there and sometimes not resonates with me. Just this week I was talking to my uncle Judd, also a writer, about his work habits and he said that his output usually occurs in bursts. The idea of a creative genius makes me think of the scene in Mary Poppins where you see the weathervane changing directions, and in comes Mary, flying through the air with her umbrella. But she'll only stay until the wind changes again.

Gilbert doesn't directly address this in the video above, but listening to her talk and reading about her career got me thinking about this other trait of creativity: most people do their best work in the middle of their careers. Many of the greatest minds in history hit their strides only after years of hard work and dedication. Child prodigies and early masterpieces are the exception, not the rule.

I first read about this probably a year ago, and then I found proof of it when I went on a months-long Tolstoy bender. I read all 12 of Tolstoy's novels and novellas, which represent a span of about 60 years of his life. I could see an increase in his clarity of expression as I read through all the books. His two great masterpieces, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are numbers 6 and 7 on that list of 12.

I find all of this extremely comforting. As Gilbert says, your obligation is to show up every day and keep plugging away--and the more you show up and do your job, the more likely one of those creative geniuses will stop by for a visit.