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There are TWO big problems with being a creative

Thinking of creativity in this way takes the teaching of the Renaissance period and totally turns it on it's head

Moors used to chant Allah, Allah, Allah when they saw a stunning, transcendental, dance performance.

... Moors saw that performance not as a work of man, but as a manifestation of God

When the Moors invaded Spain, they took this tradition with them, and this chanting of Allah, Allah, Allah changed to Ole, Ole, Ole that is so synonymous with Spanish music today.

So perhaps the next time you see someone create what appears to be a work of genius

Rather then call them a genius (along with all the pressure that puts upon them) ... Simply say ..

Ole

Problem 1 ... at the start of you career

Friends and relatives say things like ...

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius

TED Talk Filmed: Feb 2009

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the best selling book "Eat Pray Love", gives a Ted Talk about how to nurture our creativity.

Rather then burdening creatives with the label of being a genius, she looks to the ancient Greeks and Romans who believed it was the daemon (Greek) or genius (Roman) who helped the artist to create.

Problem 2 ... once you attain a degree of success

People say things like ...

And how logical is the creative process anyway?

That's a lot of pressure ...

is it logical that anybody should be afraid of the work that they feel they were put on this Earth to do?

Don't we all have these moments where we seem to find some divine inspiration?

In ancient Greece and ancient Rome people believed creativity came from a divine spirit.

The Greeks called these divine spirits “daemons”

The Romans called these divine spirits “a genius”

Perhaps the answer lays in ancient Greece and ancient Rome?

Rome

Greece

Winged genius facing a woman with a tambourine and mirror, from southern Italy, about 320 BC.

Head of a genius worshipped by Roman soldiers (found at Vindobona, 2nd century CE)

Bronze genius depicted as pater familias (1st cent. CE)

Source: Wikipedia

The idea of creativity coming from a divine spirit had several benefits

First you couldn't get such a big head as anything amazing you created was in part due to the divine spirit which had visited you

Secondly if your work was not as good as expected,

you had someone to share the blame with

Perhaps there was a better way to think about think about things ...

Swallowing the sun is a pretty big task to ask of a human being ...

That kind of thinking warps & distorts egos ... it's too much responsibility to put on one fragile human psyche

It's like asking someone to swallow the sun

During the Renaissance period people

were taught genius comes from within

Aren't you afraid nothing is ever

going to come of it and you're

going to die on a scrap heap

of broken dreams?

Aren’t you afraid you’re going

to keep writing for your whole life

and you’re never again going to create

a book that anybody in the world

cares about at all, ever again?

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Please see the TED Talk on which this presentation was based on

Thank You for your time

Aren't you afraid nothing is ever

going to come of it and you're

going to die on a scrap heap

of broken dreams?

Aren't you afraid you're never going to have any success?

Aren't you afraid the

humiliation of rejection

will kill you?

Aren't you afraid the

humiliation of rejection

will kill you?

Aren't you afraid nothing is ever

going to come of it and you're

going to die on a scrap heap

of broken dreams?

Aren't you afraid the

humiliation of rejection

will kill you?

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