Commentary on Elizabeth Gilbert - "A Different Way to Think About Creative Genius"

A Ted.com reflection assignment for Ministry Module March 2009


Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the international bestseller "Eat, Pray, Love" which has launched her into literary success. This has challenged her to think differently about creative genius. She refers to the anguish creative people go through to continue to produce or create another work of inspiration, particularly after a successful accomplishment.

"Why do creative ventures make us afraid?" "Why is it that anyone should be afraid of the work that they were put on this earth to do?" "Why do we fear we cannot repeat success?" These are some of the difficult questions she poses.

"Why are people who are creative genius undone by their gift?" "We accept the notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked and artistry in the end will ultimately lead to anguish."

Gilbert thinks this assumption is dangerous and it should not be perpetuated. She says we need to encourage our great creative minds to live.

Her question as to how this can be done is legitimate. How do we create safety for the artist from the onslaught of criticism and negative reactions? How do we protect the artist? For her protection she creates a psychological construct between her and the anxiety towards her writing.

Another poignant question she raises is how do we help creative people manage the risks of creativity?

Gilbert refers to the history of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and their belief that creativity did not come from within themselves but instead from a divine attendant spirit that came to humans from outside somewhere, as magical, divine entities or disembodied spirits. These spirits would help with the creative process and collaborate with the work of the artist. Then, if the work was a success or a failure, the results could be attributed to the genius and their part in the creative process. This in a sense, protected the artist from the expectation and the pressure to deliver other successful work.

Gilbert suggests this inspiration is not a part of our being but rather is a genius on loan from some unimaginable source that will be passed along to someone else when they are finished with you.

I agree that there is an element of creativity that does not always come from within us. Mastery and skill of ones craft can produce amazing work, but I believe there is an influence from a "divine" being that comes when least expected and inspires us to create in a way that is above our natural abilities and beyond our realm of creative expression. The artist never knows when this will happen so the discipline of continuing to create is necessary.

There is a point in our creative expressions that if we can forget our limitations and become like little children and believe anything is possible, then our art takes on a heightened perspective. Something happens when we begin to create. Something is released in us that was there from the beginning of our created lives. Beauty erupts, through endless ways of expression – art, music, dance, prose, and more, and we find ways to speak the language of our Creator. And this all happens because we fulfill the reason for which we were created.

I believe this sanctity happens, this holy space emerges, even if we do not know the Creator personally. His influence is within and throughout our very beings and we can not help but allow it to come forth at some point.

As created beings, we have this inherent desire to want to create. The expectation and pressure we sometimes feel about our personal work can distract and harm our ability to create freely.

Gilbert insists that we not be afraid or daunted, but continue to do our job, continue to show up for our part and if we are fortunate, our genius may show up and leave some sort of wonderment for all our efforts. "And if this happens", she says, "then 'Ole`' and if not, then 'Ole`' to you for the sheer stubbornness of showing up."

January 12, 2009

God is my refuge, my hiding place. He walks beside me, goes before me and lives within me.
How can I ever escape his presence? He is with me all the time.
Why would I ever want him to leave?

Father, embrace this child of yours and hold her tightly. Protect and shield her from the storm. Strengthen the weak parts.
Then send her out again to be all that you created her to be.

A Blessed Year 2008

This morning in church we were asked to remember back on the year and think about the good things that had happened in our lives, the difficult and painful times and the memories attached to all of those events.

I must say it's been quite a year for me.

It's been a year of gifts. Most of them I have really enjoyed and with overwhelming thanksgiving and gratitude, I have used them to propel me forward in my journeying with God.

Many of them have been a first for me.

I participated in a two week intensive course in worship in the Spring. This opened my heart and soul to the incredible world of knowledge and understanding pertaining to the worship artisan and creative leader. Then I ventured out on a two week tour and biblical/historical study in Italy with 40 other students and faculty from our local university and absolutely fell in love with the beauty and history of that country. It brought visual understanding to so many of the history books I had previously read. Finally, I was able to touch the stones put in place by Francis of Assisi, and I was able to walk down the streets like so many before that had given their lives for their faith in Christ.

Then I spoke in church. A first all around for me. I also had a moment of courage and confidence and applied for the masters ministry module program (after being out of school for 33 years) and began reading every spare moment for the course which was held in October. What an amazing time those two weeks were. I met people from all walks of life, all ages, different continents throughout the world and we all came together with one purpose in mind - to know more and to grow in our understanding and knowledge of who this God is that is calling us forth.

Later that summer I decided to apply for a position at our local university and surprisingly ended up with the job of student life director.

Throughout all of the past year, I have found myself more than a few times on my face before the Lord, begging him for direction, wisdom, courage, strength, discernment ... I could not go forward one step without knowing that he was there beside me, with me, arm in arm, saying (ever so kindly, ever so gently,...) "this is the way, walk here..."

Everything this year has been so much bigger than how I see myself or what I see within me. It still is. I feel stretched in every possible way - emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Sometimes I don't know why I made the decisions I did. I have moments of such insecurity and fear and intimidation that I want to run and hide in my safe place again. The world does not need what I have to give. Let me just live within my small box, my small world where I am safe.

But I can't go back. I've tasted and experienced such life, such knowledge, such insight, such love ... that I can never go back to being small again. Unless, of course, he wants me there.

I also received a gift this past fall that was painful to receive. It knocked me for a "loop" , left me reeling for a bit and I lost ground. But God is so good and I know that this struggle is a gift because it makes me more desperate to reach out to my God to help me.

I look forward to the New Year with some fear and trembling - still uncertain of the future and my commitment to all that I have taken on. I can only go forward a step at a time, relying on his strength, his grace and his mercy to get me through.

I have so much to be thankful for. God is amazing and I love him more deeply, more honestly, more devotedly than ever before.

The most special gift of all that I received this year was the birth of my beautiful little granddaughter, Noella Robyn Ana, on September 14th. She indeed is a treasured gift and I'm honoured that she is named after me. I look in her eyes and see the Creator. I whisper in her ears that she is a gift from God and for as long as I am able, I will remind her of that.

My heartfelt prayer, my deepest desire for this New Year that is upon me is that I would have a pure heart before God. I long to worship him in a pure and more holy way. I long for more holiness in my life. I long for more of Christ to be evident in me. I long to know him better, to love him more - to be used more for his purposes....

This is my most sincere wish -my most longed for dream for 2009.

Colossians 1:15-17

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together."

As I meditated on "he holds all creation together", I thought that when I really think that this world may crumble and fall apart because of the chaos globally, and the uncertainty in the future, God is still in charge. He has his best man on the job - Christ. It will be kept intact, this world will be restored, redeemed, renewed, rebuilt.

Then I thought if he can hold all of creation together and keep it intact, then he must be able to hold our lives together and keep them from shattering, and our hearts from breaking.

How often have we felt like everything was being uprooted, and torn apart...yet Christ kept us together. We are intact in him, because we are part of his body and he is the head. He is the firstborn and supreme over all creation. He is the visible image of the invisible God and we are created in that same image.

Christ holds creation together, Christ holds us together.

Believe this deep within your heart.

Some Beautiful Thoughts from Henri Nouwen

I love these beautiful thoughts from Henri Nouwen's book, The Way of the Heart.

"Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other."


"Solitude molds self-righteous people into gentle, caring, forgiving persons who are so deeply convinced of their own great sinfulness and so fully aware of God's even greater mercy that their life itself becomes ministry. In such a ministry there is hardly any difference left between doing and being. When we are filled with God's merciful presence, we can do nothing other than minister because our whole being witnesses to the light that has come into the darkness."


"Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken."


"Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature."

Rescue, Restore and Rebuild

A few days ago I was spending some time in prayer over a particular concern and before the time was finished, I clearly heard these three words from the Lord. Rescue, restore and rebuild.

They gave a sense of direction and answer to my specific prayers.

Rescue. A deliberate action taken to go after someone in dire need of help. Their feet have stumbled, and they are headed down the road to destruction. They need someone to save them.

Restore. A plan set in place to give back what has been taken from them without their permission.

Rebuild. A reconstruction to set in place solid foundational truths that can withstand the tough blows that life brings its way.

As I have pondered these three words, they in a sense have articulated my mission statement for this season of my life and particularly for what I am doing now in my new job.

God has set the example. He sent his son Jesus to rescue us, restore and rebuild us. And now, it's our directive to go and do the same to those that need to be saved.

Past, present and future

After spending two weeks at a beautiful retreat center delving into the riches of studying the Ancient Christians and their story, I have come to realize their story is all part of the bigger story that I too have a part to play in, participate in, walk out.

It is in this recognition of the "bigger picture" that I seek to know God in a deeper and more intimate way.

I am closer acquainted to my christian history and its roots than ever before and I do not take lightly now some of the traditions and/or ways of worship that I choose to participate in.

God seems more relevant to me now. I see him more clearly in the past, embrace him more fully in the present and look forward to his work in the future.