Two Videos on Creativity.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Amy Tan

When Joan was over last weekend, she tabbed this website, TED and mentioned the videos on creativity. They are each about 20 minutes long, and I was never quite in the mood, so I didn't get around to watching until today. The one she suggested was Elizabeth Gilbert, who you may recognize as the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Her talk is titled, A different way to think about creative genius.

I took something away from Elizabeth's talk so I clicked on Amy Tan's as well. You know Amy Tan from The Joy Luck Club and Kitchen God's Wife. She spoke about Where does creativity hide? Hers was interesting because she attributes a lot of her insight to coming from a more spiritual world. So does Elizabeth actually.

I don't really want to warp either of these by trying to describe what they are about, so I'll let TED do it.

"Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk."

"Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, looking for hints of how hers evolved."

TED's Talks explore a variety of different themes, from global issues and arts to design and culture. I thought these two were well done, and I imagine the others would be as well. A site worth bookmarking?