From the website:
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.

Beyond awesome:

I hate questions or criticisms of someone’s creativity that are damaging or discouraging, I really do, but every so often I come across something that the only response I can muster is “what the fuck is happening here?”

Case in point:

What possesses someone to do this? And furthermore, what possesses someone to film it? And FURTHERMORE, what possesses someone to think that it’s so effing good that it needs to be posted on YouTube for the whole world to see?

I mean, kudos (I think) for having the balls to put it out there, but I’m just totally awe/dumbstruck at how brazen some people are.

Is it ok to say “good for you for expressing yourself” at the same time as saying “please don’t express yourself like that?” Probably not. I’ll just deal with my utter confusion quietly by myself in the corner.

This guy is so my hero.

Click on the spider… do it now.

I was born left-handed, but my early teachers forced me to write right-handed because being left-handed is apparently abnormal or something.

Now, I’m assuming that this wouldn’t seem like a big deal to most, but I’ve spent a lot of my life wondering why I’m not left-handed considering how right-brained I am. Recently though, I came across evidence like this and then remembered being corrected regarding the hand I was holding my pen with and how I held the pen with my fingers (it’s amazing how quick some adults are to tell children that they’re doing something “wrong” because they’re doing something different).

Yeah, it’s a small thing, but it’s really indicative of how limited the degree of understanding is of those who are teaching us and our children how to be people in this world. It’s kinda like the TED video of Martin Seligman that I posted yesterday where he’s talking about how psychology hasn’t nurtured genius or focused on improving the quality of lives of people who were already happy, it’s just been focused on diagnosing and categorizing the ill or miserable. There is a tragic and heartbreakingly low level of nurturing in our culture of people who show aptitudes for things outside of math, or business, or cheerleading, and this is a result of a gross misunderstanding of what creativity is by a great deal of the people on this planet. Unfortunately this includes a lot of creative / artistic people who also have little or no true understanding of what creativity is.

I am absolutely one of those misfortunate, abused creative people (taking into consideration my parents, teachers, and most of my friends / collaborators throughout my life) as I’m sure many of you reading this are, and it’s heartbreaking to think what we could be and have already accomplished if things in this area had been different. This is not “victim” thinking, it’s simply stating a fact, and the good news is that it’s never too late to change course, and you don’t need someone else’s permission to be who you are and truly express your greatness.

Ideally we learn through our own experiences how our actions and words can affect others (especially children), and also learn to recognize potentially abusive behavior in ourselves (even if it’s done totally unconsciously and without ill-intention).

I have been trying to allow myself to constructively mourn and recognize the abuses that I’ve endured during my life, while using them as a model for what not to inflict on others. Still, it’s a sad thing to ponder and work through. Everything happens for a reason (cliches are cliches for a reason), and even if sometimes it feels or seems appealing, I really wouldn’t change anything that’s happened to me, because it’s made me who I am. It’s still difficult not to fantasize about what could have been, and to not feel a little betrayed by the people who abused the trust that was placed in them.

TED Description: Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.