I’m not sure what I think about Elizabeth Gilbert. To be fully up-front before today’s post, I’ve never read anything she’s written, including the immensely popular Eat, Pray, Love. The premise seems narcissistic, but that’s a snap judgment without much basis.
That said, in the comments to my earlier post about Henry Roth’s 40-year writing block, lucinda032 (in a comment on this post) told me about this Ted Talk she did on that subject–the subject of coming to terms with the fact that her “best” work was behind her.
I watched the video and thought it was extremely insightful, particularly the part about how ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and the Renaissance affected people’s normal creative process. And how creativity in general shifted after that period in history.
If you have about 20 minutes to spare some time today, and you’re interested in the elusiveness of creativity, you might want to check out this talk.
