What Tugs on Our Sleeves

As a follow-up to the previous post on Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk, I saw this on author Anne Lamott’s Facebook page, also speaking about our relationship to creativity and our obligation to it.

“. . . Anyway, Onward and Upward. I have a new piece to work on. It stopped by the other day, and tugged on my sleeve. Luckily, I had a pen on me. I began to scribble ideas and glimpses down. I always try to act like a story’s law clerk—do the research, scribble down possible structures, take dictation, and in general be its go-fer; be at its beck and call. I have two really god-awful paragraphs so far, that are earnest AND incoherent, way too detailed and ironic, trying too hard to be funny and erudite…to which I say HOORAY. Back in the saddle!”

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Genius

From Sharon:

In my ruminations on the discussion [on James Hillman and active imagination] I remembered a TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, a writer.  It’s about 20 minutes long. In the first seven minutes she’s giving some background to what she wants to offer. Then she talks about the daimon, and she gives some fascinating examples of other writers’ experiences.  In light of our discussion, what she’s talking about can apply to much, much more than writing.