“Creation for me is the antidote to despair.”
~ Elizabeth Gilbert
I follow Elizabeth “Liz” Gilbert on Instagram and saw her post this morning about a new podcast, The Ted Interview, for which she was the first guest.
Though I haven’t seen a ton of Ted Talks, I get so much out of them when I take the time to watch. The idea behind this podcast is to dive deeper than we can in the 10-20 minute talks, which are one-way, allowing a conversation about the ideas that previous Ted speakers have shared. The host is Chris Anderson, who runs Tex Talks, and (I learned in this episode) also happens to be a bereaved parent.
This interview with Liz is about creativity and exploring what we are curious about vs. diving all-in to things we have passion for. It’s also about what we are willing to do and feel in life.
She talks about inspiration, as well as fear, and how we can use both in our work, understanding that inspiration usually won’t arrive like a lightening bolt and we don’t have to be fearless to create.
There is also discussion of the experience of suffering, growing in resilience, healing, and the perspective we gain over time, including how we are able create through all of that.
That said, she doesn’t believe that all great art has to come from suffering and dark places, as some people suggest.
She talks about being willing to feel what ever she needs to, in part to keep herself from falling into depression (which she describes as the absence/avoidance of feeling).
The last part of this podcast episode focuses how we deal with and move through grief, specifically Liz’s recent experience losing her best friend/partner in January to pancreatic cancer. She says that if we try to resist our grief we will suffer more. This all really resonated with me and my own journey through grief, especially when she spoke of how music and dance have helped her to cope. I would also add writing, as that is something that often works for me when I am processing painful life experiences.
This post started as me taking notes on my phone, for what I thought might be a short intro to recommending this new podcast via social media, and grew into my realizing it might be better suited to share here.
My biggest takeaway, that I keep thinking about and returning to today, is what Liz shared about being willing to feel our emotions, as opposed to trying to avoid them (which can lead to depression).
This is something I’ve worked on and talked with my therapists about over the years, as there are many ways we learn to numb ourselves when it comes to pain and grief. However, in my experience we won’t be able to heal and move forward if we don’t allow ourselves to face our feelings, however they may present themselves.
What are you willing to do and feel today?
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