Sprezzatura
2009-08-30
Watch this video of Elizabeth Gilbert's amazing 18-minute talk on creativity. Her speech was the hit of the TED Conference.
Absolutely amazing speech. Emotional, universal, insightful, educational, and funny.
She comes across so nonchalant, light, and conversational. Effortless.
When the conference was over, she asked me to walk with her back to her hotel, so we had a good 15 minutes to chat.
She told me she had finished her new book on New Year's Eve (it was now mid-February), so I said, “Congrats! Have you been relaxing in the last 6 weeks since then?”
She said, “No! I started preparing that talk the very next day! I've been working on that little 18-minute speech full-time, almost 8 hours a day, for six weeks.”
Aha! Now that's sprezzatura!
“Sprezzatura” is an Italian word that means “to hide conscious effort and appear to accomplish difficult actions with casual nonchalance.”
I really admire how much work it took to research, write, edit, then practice that speech so that it seemed effortless.
It inspires me twice.
First for its own sake: for being such a great talk.
Second for finding out how much work went into making it.
When you think someone is amazing by DNA or destiny, you can be inspired by their work because it's so unattainably beautiful. You can be amazed and think, “I could never do that!”
But when you find out they're amazing only because of unglamorous persistent sweaty hard work, you can be double-inspired, thinking, “Wow! I could do that!”
My old girlfriend was not a musician, so one day she said, “I would like to be a pop star. It's so easy! They never have to work. They just hang out all the time, being famous.”
She was sincerely shocked when I told her about how it's actually a lot of work.
Sprezzatura.
Prince was my biggest musical hero in the mid-80s. (I didn't take him seriously until Miles Davis raved about him.)
First I admired his music. It inspired me for its own sake.
But later I found out about his work ethic. Nonstop perfectionist rehearsals, 18-hour recording sessions, recording hundreds of songs just to release ten.
Discovering this was a major turning point in my life. I now had a workaholic musician role-model. It was attainable! Just by practicing, I could do that!
So as an artist, it's good to practice and prepare so well that you can put on an effortless performance with sprezzatura. Let most people think you're just a natural genius.
But then it's also good for other artists if you quietly reveal how much work went into it, to inspire future generations to practice, practice, practice.
Yet more very apt advice.
Thanks Derek, will forward on to others as ever!
This is a welcome reminder, Derek. Thank you! Of course, the work has to be work you love or you won't be able to sustain it. But this reminder helps give me permission to work as much as I want on what grabs me and holds me. Bless you.
Chris
Absolutly true !
This speech is inspiring, but it's also inspiring to know the "behind the scenes".
I'm a sucker for behind the scenes, making of, studio footage, etc...because It make me feel like all those AMAZING artists are just like me; they work hard, they make mistakes, they have some faillures too...it's inspiring !
Amen. I was impressed/inspired with this when I first saw it, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE when the mystique is broken down.
Effort. It's so taken for granted. And so few of us are willing to make the commitment that it takes to be THIS excellent.
Thanks for breaking this one down. Hopefully, it'll help a few people build something in its wake.
Nice one. I particularly like the thought of inspiring future generations to practice, practice, practice... the thing is that that process of conscious effort is therapeutic as well as educational. Can't beat that ;)
Bravo! I saw Elizabeth speak on TED months ago and it changed the way I approach my craft...really! It was amazing to be reminded of how to get out of my own way and let the creative spirit guide me. I loved learning that she actually did prepare for that because she did in fact come across so nonchalant. Thank you Derek for sharing your personal experience. One more reason to honor the commitment that goes into any craft.
"She said, 'No! I started preparing that talk the very next day! I've been working on that little 18-minute speech full-time, almost 8 hours a day, for six weeks.'"
That's what I am seeing as the reality for writers these days. I've been a writer for 30 years. Just as the Internet has changed music, it has changed writing. You need to be prepared to give away the writing and make your income at something else.
For many of the more visible bloggers online, that "something else" is giving presentations for a fee.
Giving a good presentation is an entirely different skill than being a good writer.
Fantastic insight. Thank you for sharing this, Derek!!!
I so agree. Especially since I also am a fiction writer.
Someone else said it first, but most of it is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration.
And I'd like to say, also, Derek, that though the word "friend" gets tossed around a lot these days, what with everybody being friends online, it really does feel like having you out there is like having a friend out there. I met you, by the way, at a DIY conference in LA a few years back and I asked you if you thought I should go with my name for my "act" or with Crooked Roads. You confirmed my own preference for CR. Cheers and many thanks.
It's also called aesthetic grace.
or...
"Never let 'em see you sweat!"
“aesthetic grace” - I like that! Thanks! -- Derek
One of the most inspirational talks I've ever seen. What a joy to listen to. Thanks Derek. Kris
A couple of friends of mine were having this conversation just the other day. Sometimes it seems like talented people just "got it", but mostly it's the persistence!
I'm an enormous fan of Elizabeth Gilbert and have shared this video with many. Thank you so much for sharing your talk with her though. Of course, it's practice, practice, practice that gets one to Carnegie Hall and to the pinnacle of any worthwhile endeavor. How inspiring to discover that her effortlessness was the result of such concentrated and diligent work.
Thanks again, Derek - What a gift you are to so many!
Excellent! Thank you Derek.
love and peace~
LL
"The soft over comes the hard, the slow over comes the fast,let your working remain a mystery... just show people the result."
Tao Te Ching
Excellent article. One good thing about Dancing with the Stars is that it shows people how much effort and preparation is required to dance "effortlessly"
"When you take dancing lessons, you learn steps and you learn steps and you learn steps. It can go on for a long time. And then one day, you just learn to dance, and it is so different."
-Bill Austin
Derek,
By looking at your reading list you may realize this already.
Sprezzatura would sit nicely in one of the books 48 Laws of Power or 48 Laws of Seduction which are both excellent.
This and Prince also fit in with the law of 10,000 hours that Gladwell discovered. Indeed very liberating.
Wikipedia considers a negative side of Sprezzatura to be denying your nature - but I would think that means you lose sight of it as a perceptual tool. I don't really see any downside.
Peace,
Dan
Amen to all of this. I am a firm believer in putting in tons of "dirt time" prior to a performance. I also believe that most of us are capable of reaching much higher than we think we can. To me, being well-prepared is a matter of respect. Respect for the audience, respect for the art and respect for myself (not to mention the fact that people who come prepared tend to get re-hired!).
Derek does 'it'again. I'm about to be the featured artist on KISM Classic Rock in Bellingham,WA...& I'm "Kvelling". Yiddish 4 warm & fuzzy all over from this article. More later...p.s. I obviously survived the West coast bicycle ride to Hollywood.Sprezzatura!
True mastery
I have viewed this video a bunch of times, especially when feeling low.
It is an inspiration.
Thanks for posting it!
You have been on a roll the last few days Derek!!
xoxo Tina
I was so impressed with this speech, that I started another song from just pure inspiration. Everyone should watch this.
Mike Maxwell
wow! derek...i have been forwarding this speech for a couple months (great months think alike obviously!) . i really appreciate getting the background, as i had no idea and im so impressed you spent time with her. thanks for sharing that info. i am so hard on myself for struggling so long on lyrics, and yet i love the results when they finally arrive. Hearing how hard she works (and others whose work i love) makes me feel like i need to be a lot more gentle with me!
Working/practising hard! I hate it! Unfortunately, there's no shortcut to being as good as Wooten, Anthony Jackson, Richard Bona, Prince et al. These cats really practice HARD!!
I gotta put in the work I guess. Urrggh!!
Thanks Derek! ;-)
Olé! Wow, and thank-you.
Amen.
Well, this, honestly, could not have come at a better time.
Back in 2006, I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree, my first book was released, and my band's first album came out. I spent months after those two releases worrying about whether people actually liked anything I had done, and any criticism was instantly taken to heart, regardless of whether it was well-intentioned or not, regardless of whether it was inspired from a good place, and regardless of whether it was true or not.
I am at another crossroads, where, now, I have just completed two novels in three months, my band's second record is coming out, and I am about to graduate with my Master's Degree. Learning to put the success or failure of my creative output outside of myself has never been something I ever considered. I always make it my own personal problem if something is amiss in the work.
It's actually good to know that there are others who feel like a personal failure if their work flops, and that someone has actually taken the time to comprehensively and conscisely break down why we don't have to share the blame.
SHORT VERSION: Thanks for sharing this.
I would have never thought that Ms. Gilbert put so much effort into this speech. It is totally relaxed, she seems so comfortable and at ease and it sounds so unrehearsed. Thank you for sharing that even she has to put alot of effort into her appearances. All the best,
Arlene Faith
I reply to this blog more than I blog myself...
I wanted to add something random, today regarding Ted.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/emmanuel_jal_the_music_of_a_war_child.html
this was one of my favorite TED videos so far.
I have the feeling that people reading this blog would enjoy this
presentation as well.
//
as for preparation for being a musician...
yeah!
it's a lot of work
but it's a great joy to make music,
and it's better than doing a lot of other things.
be happy, and put your time in.
practice your scales.
& rock on.
Thanks for the post Derek
Mono
That's very freeing to be reminded of us not having to take on the huge responsibility of 'being' the genius.
When she talked about the poet Ruth Stone and musician Tom Waits being somewhere inconvenient for getting the idea down, I wanted to share that recently I had a song idea that came through a dream. I was near a phone early in the morning..., and was able to quickly call/ sing it into my http://voice.google.com from a phone, where it recorded the idea to my in box as an mp3 AND transcribed the words into text. This is a usage for google voice that I doubt even google anticipated.
I love listening to lectures about the arts. There is also a beautiful lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson at TED that I think everyone should listen to.
http://blog.ted.com/2009/01/sir_ken_robinso_1.php
Thanks Derek.
She's right, a major component of creative process is the concert of the traffic director of our conscious mind and the subconscious which is acting as a transceiver to the infinite.
p.s. It took me about 7 hours to write this little article.
Thanks Derek that was really cool to listen to.
I thought I was going crazy but I know I am not
Derek,
Thanks for the post. I like this quote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” or “I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” - Thomas Edison. There is nothing worse than a retired person, especially CEOs that can't do more with their life than play golf and "play" with their retirement. Create something new, give your life new purpose!! Great job Derek.
An incredible work ethic will make you better but I don't believe there is something outside of ourselves that helps us create.
There's most likely a thorough but less poetic, scientific explanation.
People are inspired differently by outside sources. A person takes advantage of those situations and out comes art with varying degrees of quality.
The NOVA documentary MUSICAL MINDS (watch this if you haven't) profiled Tony Cicoria. Cicoria began to obsessively compose classical music after being struck by lightning. He was never musically inclined before the incident. The lighting most likely "awakened" the part of his brain that puts creativity in overdrive.
While I haven't read it, the book Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation by R. Keith Sawyer, just might counter the "divine, cockeyed genius" explanation.
Gilbert's speech was very well done and thanks for sharing
Thanks for posting this. Your comment about hard work resonated with me.
Have you read Gladwell's "Outliers"? (I didn't see it on your books page, but could have missed it). He references everyone from the Beatles to Bill Gates. I don't agree with all of his premises, but essentially he says that hard work and opportunity are as much the secrets to success as any "natural" talents. Combine this with Gilbert's take on genius and creativity. I guess it just makes me feel a bit better about, and maybe a bit more motivated to undertake, all the hard work.
Thanks again. ~Kyra
It started with the feedback of "wow, you make that look so effortless." In my head it's: if they only knew how much work I put into that.
The unfortunate thing is the difficulty in finding other musicians with the same workaholic, practice to make possible, ethic.
I truly appreciate the people that have that same work ethic in the creative fields.
I've seen this before. Did you use it a while ago?
She talks about creative anxiety. The only anxiety I have is because I have to spend 40 hours a week at work, doing something completely unrelated.
Yep! See this post from last February. -- Derek
Great presentation! I might add that while Gilbert rightly looks at the Renaissance as the string beginning of placing human creativity on human shoulders, the "classical" idea of genius being an extrnal gift persisted through Mozart's day, the very end of the 18th century.
The movie/play Amadeus (which means "beloved of God") is not about Mozart, but is a fictional account of an aging, demented Salieri's view of Mozart and himself: If I worked so hard, so devotedly, why was I not given those gifts instead of this repugnant cad, and I myself allowed to wallow in mediocrity? This unfortunately popularized the notion among the last few generations that Mozart was inspired but did not work hard. He actually did work hard at his craft. (For example, in those mostly copyright-protectionless days, he wrote to his father that would have to hurry and make wind arrangements of the music from his latest opera for publication before someone else did.)
It was the Romantic era beginning in the 19th century which created and popularized the Byronic hero, the sensitive but tortured creative artist, which is what we've been saddled with mostly until today, though it in now the obliquely aberrant "personality" which substitutes for in contemporary pop-culture and world-around media.
Sprezzatura? Yes--quite like riding a bicycle. But my elaborations about that will come in a subsequent essay.
Ciao.
--mg
Thanks Derek, for this inspiring article. Perhaps I am on the right track then. I was beginning to wonder if I was being too much of a perfectionist with my music. I have never been one to refer to the Russian surname "Goodenov" very easily. Even with my trade as a plumber, I have always been a perfectionist, leaving the customer with the best job they could ever get (which usually takes more time). I must have listened to my songs over a thousand times only to tweak it a few bars. Even after a year now, even though I am working on new songs, I still go back and listen to the old music another thousand times to see if there could have been something else I could have done with them. And the best part is that I still don't get tired of listening to them over and over again.
Larry
Yes, I do that all the time, I'm a European.
Cheers,
Henry.
www.iTunes.com/henrysoul
Hi Derek,
very positive.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Reff:
Isaiah 26:3
Pianist Cary Lewis said a few years ago: "We like music that sounds more difficult than it actually is."
I couldn't agree more. Talent is a myth.
I play bass with my left hand and comp and solo with my right hand on different keyboards while I sing some really syncopated funky jazzy originals and smile effortlessly. Not showing off sir, just the facts.
Yes i stumbled upon that talk a few months back and was completely moved by it. so much so it awakened the genius in me to email someone and ask for something i never would have done before. they responded with the same inspiration.
sprezzatura.
I find it hard to believe she actually rehearsed it. she was so in the moment. her voice was so reassuring. brilliant.
something tells me thought that even with blood, sweat and tears there will always be moments that exist as a special intersection of time, spirit and grace. she may have prepared for the moment but her genius went far beyond preparation.
Workaholism, like perfectionism, is not something I admire.
The essence of creativity is not work, but play.
Thanks for sharing this with me (us) Derek,
Amazing style and flow...got me thinking and I sure can appreciate this wisdom,
Ole to you 2,
Kat
Hi Derek
nice speech very will said,
It is always interesting to see what gos on in other peoples heads. Do this is not the way that i think myself it is very like the way my friend thinks and will the better you understand dos around you the easer it is to help them or in my case not say something that will drive them mad... or should I say madder.
Do if you feel as if the presser is getting to you. Remember that happiness concurs all. If you are not happy yourself you are no good to anyone. Why do that of witch is expected upon you. Just stop what you are doing and ask yourself is this really what i what to do?
In any case i am asuming that you would love to speack at the TED Conference yourself(: if i win the lotto i will be there. (that with out a ticket will be some feat)
it's funny, I have had this exact topic brought up to me a number of times in the last few days, and its like someone is sending me a message. And it brings me hope. The past year I have been starting my first business to help musicians. And this past week has been quite trying as you have to be patient and moving forward all at the same time. I'm at somewhat of a "tipping point" but I want to push the damn thing over already! And this reminder of "Sprezzatura" from a number of different people including this article has brought new powerful energy, and helped me to refocus. I have made that a way of life for myself, to believe that our dreams are all very real and possible to become a part of your life. Its just a matter of belief in yourself and strength in the possibility to get there. So thanks for the reminder, and from someone who is in the depth of hard work, it is true, great things are starting to happen for a reason...so stop talking about it and simply,get to work.
Just a few random thoughts on this wonderful post...one of the greatest compliments I can give or receive is "You make it look so easy". To me that means that you've gone that extra level beyond skill, practice, and time and have made your project look appealing and fun.
I love all the talks on Ted.com. There are so many great speakers who demonstrate what passion means.
We tend to look at the final result of one's accomplishments and ignore the joy and adventure of the "process". You have to go through the process many times to trust that "OK, right now I don't know where this is going but I've been at this point before and through the journey of daily work, I know I'll find something even I didn't know I could do."
Derek:
Thanks for sharing that exquisite speech from Elizabeth. I read her book a couple of years ago and loved it. All the better to watch her in action! How inspirational!
re: daemons, faeries, transceivers to the infinite, I'm curiously reminded of lyrics from an old gospel song by Albert E. Brumley:
"Get in touch with God,
Turn your radio on."
Hey Derek:
Thanks for sharing that. Not to mention it was a great break from thinking about the 4 hour work week, and time paradigm and other admin. type things, which I also enjoy
Glenn
Ok, I said I'd give it 10 min. then go on with my busy day...by 5 min. I had to know where she was going with this, back to Greece, Rome? By the end of the piece I could hardly hold back the tears of joy. You mean I don't have to be a genius, EVER, to make music? I can be fulfilled just showing up? This gives us all hope...thanks Elizabeth and Derek, Ole! btw, as to comment by Steven Cravis...iphone recorder also works for capturing those genius moments.
Many years ago I had to make a turning-point decision in my life. I am so very, very glad that I chose companionship over perfection.
help me to succeed in music and videos
How could you help me in my cd music to promote. To get more sales and, etc.
Excellent.
bravo
Words of wisdom !!! Thanks for sharing !!! Truly inspiring !!
Derek,
This was a brilliant speech. I am a sufi Muslim and the description Elizabeth gave of the whirling dervish was excellent!
I myself have been suffereing with a great deal of anxiety over my new band's debut album.
So much that my wife and children have suggested that I go away to Upstate NY to finish writing the music.
THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR.
Thank you...
-Hakim
Thank you Derek for sharing Elizabeth Gilbert's words of truth.
The divine communicator is available to each and every one of us. I so believe that, we were born into the village to be vessels of messages, that what we write comes from the meta physical world which we call our "imagination".
Bravo !! to the 18 minute words of wisdom, bravo to Elizabeths hard work that sets a profound example of what it takes to be the best, that hard work, faith, receiving and giving are the essential elements for creating.
Elizabeths words nurture a healthy frame of mind, a sustainable concept that protects the mental health of the creative dedicated artist's as they grow into their master years, for even the best vessels of genius can take a life time to realize and market their visions never giving into the commercial code that haunts most artist. Its not about commerce its about an essence that is captured, recreated in order to provoke thoughts and feelings for our utmost destiny of evolution.
Happy to be a part of this discussion. Thank you Elizabeth Gilbert and Derek Sivers
Thank you Derek!
I love what I saw, very positve.
Many thanks for sharing this video with us.
I've known people who can write songs in 15 minutes. It's nice to know that other people, like me, actually have to work at it. More often than not for a really long time.
The best takeaway from her talk is that waiting around for inspiration to strike is a waste of time. If you want to summon the muse, you have to be there first, working on whatever it is you're trying to create.
I wrote about something related a couple days ago: http://cinderbridge.blogspot.com/2009/08/mood-music.html
hey! Glad you were there, I saw the speech too, one of the best of that conference. Her story about Tom Waits was just great. Again here I think it's the whole 'quality not quantity' work that you do. John Zorn famously writes, scores, records and mixes many of his VERY complicated movie soundtracks in 1 day. Same ethic, working 24/7 at what you LOVE can NOT stress you out, believe me. Then it becomes something other than a 'job', and thus difficult to explain to people who have not done that. If any of us are doing all day what we love, and it is possible, we are the lucky few unfortunately...someone in China has to work 20 hours a day to make those sneakers you're wearing. Not just saying that in passing, I've been there, well, visited, didn't make the shoes! Of course the mountain is High and the Climb Long, but the enjoy the journey, I hear there's a Starbucks at the top... ,-)
Derek, Great, great!!
There's no short-cut to success and creativity acknowledged is pure hard work. Believing the contrary,the Bible tells us, is a deception not to fall in.
James 1v16-17 reveals the consistent nature of God with regards to his gifts as a God who does not change like a shifting shadow. In other words, He is a consistent and a hard working God.
"All good gifts come from God, the father of heavenly lights who does not change like a shifting shadow" (James 1v16-17.)
He's a God of divine objectivity and does not stop until the job is done. When He created the universe, it took a consistent six days of pure hard work (Genesis 1v31).
He is a perfectionist too, knowing what He wants and when He gets there. He always accomplishes His objectives with the touch of a pro.
After creating for each day, the Bible says, He evaluated his job for each day and graded/rated it "Very good". "God saw all that He had made and it was very good" (Genesis 1v31; Genesis 1v10,12,18,25).
In addition, He was able to discern when the work was done. The Bible says "By the seventh day, God had finished the work He had been doing" (Genesis 2v2). But Knowing the progress of the work was just pure hard work.
You see, it all sums up to hard work and nothing less. And this is the spirit He has put into man and commissioned man to dominate the earth (Genesis 1v28). The artists, the business guys etc. should all dominate in their respective areas.
Dominating in any areas of life is pure hard work. Hard work to be objective, hard work to be consistent, hard work to do our best, hard work to rate our best, hard work to be successful. Indeed, there's no short cut to success.
Thanks for the posting and God bless you, Derek.
Great stuff!
That was incredibly encouraging and uplifting. Genius - a gift, a touch from God. Being creative - working hard, loving your art, never giving up.
Awesome.
I remember this video. I tried looking for videos from TED to view last time Derek mentioned it, but did not ask for search engine directions, probably because I'm a man.
Today, for some reason, I was smart enough to google 'videos from TED', and ended up here:
http://www.ted.com/talks
Lotta good stuff, there.
One of the great things about your post is it has scattered seeds for all sorts of new conversations about the nature of creativity and our relationship to it. Bravo.
It's always a pleasure to be pointed in the direction of things like this. It's all so very true and worth digesting as a mantra.
Now, if I could just find a way to pay all these bills while I get busy being creative and practicing i'd be all set.....
That was a great read..Thanks for the blog Derek.
Thanks for sharing this, Derek. Besides the importance of practice and "showing up"/being available for inspiration, I loved how she made creative longevity about choosing a construct that takes the fear out of it - a belief system that motivates you to continue positively (or at least sanely) forward.
I'd say she's on the path to creative liberation = finding a belief system, a construct and practices that WORK for YOU.
What I liked most was
Thanks Derek!
Work, work, work! I really don't believe in such a thing as "luck", "good luck", "bad luck", and other ones to pretend justify results...
Now, at 52, I realize that times I made good things roll, were that I dedicated most time, patience, and ... a little talent (this one, just to remember my parents and their DNA -ha! ha!- ...)
Best wishes
genius!
In the course of my creative works it seems like I am playing a video game going from one level to the next. As I learn a little more about the game, so to speak, eventually that knowlege takes me to a little higher level. Unfortunately I have never actually won the game.
The hard part is separating yourself from the outcome of your work. We've been taught as a society, from an early age, to accomplish and reap the rewards for our individual hard work.
Maybe Jung's "collective unconscious" is the source of our geniuses.. so who gets the royalties? :p
Spezzatura is THE reason we watch performances, be they artistic or athletic. Who wants to see a ballerina struggle to stay en point? The seeming effortlessness IS the magic that keeps us watching.
In sports, Michael Jordan was the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave. He was so competitive about weight lifting that they had to have him lift weights separately from other team members because they were afraid he would hurt himself. (He wasn't the strongest guy on the team.) Watching him on the court, you'd think he just worked his wonders naturally.
If one relinquishes the ownership of the creative act and that is the only thing that makes one feel they have a place on the earth...how does one keep from being empty about just doing the "work" and feeling lost and ungrounded? It almost makes the doing seem unnecessary. Your thoughts?
Great blog Derek, and Thank you for sharing Elizabeth Gilbert's words.
The scoop with me is that I suffer from Multiple Identity Disorder (D.I.D) and I'm unable to take 8 hours out of any day in my life and rehearse anything, my alters come out and do their own work along side with mine and I find the combined work done in my recordings. It's quite interesting, yet I do find errors, Which I keep some of them in the mastered recordings of my songs. Some may think this is nutty, but I like what some of my alters create.
Peace
Mark
Elizabeth Gilbert made a wonderful presentation of the daemons and struggles of artists and writers. she sweated and struggled with her own after weeks of probation. she assembled the contents of her speech and made it "look easy."
somebody once said (not exactly certain of the source) that genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.
however, if you don't have your 10 percent of breathing in from Ole, God or being at one with the Universe, then the other 90 percent will not get you too far.
a writer and an artist made two great statements.
Andre Gide, "the most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes."
Wanda Landowska, "I never practice;
I always play."
I say it is a true wonder when words or music sound as if they have been magically improvised rather than laboriously crafted.
tell your dreams with some soul.
Thank you for sharing this! I think it will help me to stop feeling guilty for practicing. Here is a new video I recently recorded called The Money Coffin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFACfMx0dSs
Ole!
My happy suspicion has been confirmed in the most eloquent way I've ever heard!
By the way, how do you pronounce sprezzatura?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sprezzatura -- Derek
This seemingly small insight changed my career path from 'not happening' to 'very satisfying' when I realized that I just had to persist with good old-fashioned hard work. Before this realization I always thought that deep in my DNA I had been cheated and I kept making excuses for my non-achievements, like I haven't got the right connections, was born in the wrong country at the wrong time, etc. Now I know, and have it confirmed in your post, it's up to me and how much I want this. this is so liberating.
You'd better believe she sat in the chair for three hours with her hairstylist to get that casually disheveled 'overworked housewife' look of wind-tossed, sloppily tied-up blond locks!
Creativity that seems nonchalance
( and might actually be ) might
also be the result of years of
hard work and discipline.
There may well be other unseen external factors that motivate
truly 'great' work from the mediocre , but you can't just
will this into being for yourself.
It has to come from the personal experience of the individual composing, writing, painting, etc.
I think we have to be aware of our state-of-mind when we practice. Remember that "practice makes permanent" and if we don't feel the joy of music when we practice, this eventually comes out in our performances. We must never allow our instrument and the mastery thereof, to be more important than our musical message.
In my opinion, those who listen to music because of technique alone, are very few in number. We have to love our practice because we have to "let-go" of it when we perform. If we demand or even expect a pay-off from all the sweat and tears we put into practice, we risk becoming bitter when the audience fails to use our acquired technical prowess as a criteria for their enjoyment or our work. Our practice must be a self-rewarding means unto itself. Balance is the key.
-Jeff
SO GLAD... you've highlighted this... (I haven't even watched the video yet but I will). However I've had this discussion a number of times with bands I've managed or artists I've produced. When I ask them why they rehearse their songs but don't rehearse their show? They often respond by saying things like “we don't want it to appear contrived”, “we want our stage show to be spontaneous and heave natural energy". To which I've always answered; “it's only when you rehearse your show and know what to expect from start to finnish that you'll be comfortable enough on stage to be spontaneous or at least fool the audience into believing you are”.
Or they might say 'We do, we finish our rehearsals by running through the set list from start to end”.
And I ask them what about the other stuff, In between the songs?... for instance. Does everyone in the band know where there will be spot for banter or interaction with the audience and which songs will be played back to back without a gap or as little gap as possible? Does everyone in the band know where a guitarist will have to switch guitars or retune for alternate tuning? Do you have signals you use or acoustic versions of songs you can do in case of equipment failure?
Even if you don't have an Alice Cooper or Kiss style theatrical show, all these things are extremely important if you want to be comfortable on stage and be able to improvise or be spontaneous without looking like it's coming apart at the seems and the more you rehearse it the more effortless and natural it will appear.
Sadly very few of the bands or artists took my advice seriously and I say some potential great bands/artists make a hash of it on stage.
Ultimately it's often the reason a hard working avaerage talent will have much more success than the super-talent gifted BUT LAZY artist. Then it's usually the lazy artists who do the bitching about how bad some of the "Pop Stars" or succesful artists are.
Thanks for sharing your story and insight to the creative process. I think we all have the spark but then we must draw near to the bonfire of our deepest sub-concious and try and draw forth somthing of value. It's sweaty hard work!
Thank you for sharing this!
I hate when I hear an amazing riff at work and I can't write it down!!
right on about practicing to make it look easy.
I love Prince too! And I thought he was a joke for the first 21 years of my life. Now he's inspirational. funny
To think it would have only taken an extra 5 seconds (in addition to 7 hours) to have included "sprezzatura pronounced sprāt-tsä-ˈtü-rä"
just kidding...
Absolutely love your article and the video.
Excellent speaker...so relaxed and intense at the same time. I respect her sincerity and humility.
This subject of the mysterious side of creating is so well dealt with. I know some people who are non believers of anything that can't be explained by Science.Is it
total ignorance or closed mindedness or fear of accepting the unknown ? At any rate, Elizabeth sure let them have it !
I will listen to that video over and over and will read her books.
A reminder of how important inner peace and abandon is to anyone who creates in the arts.
Love the bit on Tom Waits,my favorite composer and performer...
Thanks Derek for this gem.
Prince is a good musical example. Guys from The Time said they never rehearsed as hard as that but when it was all over they could play it backwards and forwards in their sleep. It was like they had been in the Marines.
Another musical example is Ronnie Van Zant of the original Lynyrd SKynyrd. They rehearsed from 8:00 A.M. until well past sundown in a tiny cabin nicknamed Hell House. No insulation or air conditioning. Band memebers would get punched out for playing wrong notes on stage. Despite their grueling tour schedule they continued to write a song a day. The real reason the moder-day tribute band lacks the fire of the original is not just the lack of original members like Van Zant and Allen Collins, it's the lack of a strong disciplinarian leader. Bassist Leon WIlkeson remarked, "Ronnie ran Skynyrd like Stalin ran Russia." Somebody else remarked that was unfair to Stalin.
And then there's James Brown who set the precedent for Prince and Van Zant. Fines for not having your shoes shined! A lot of guys who have played with me have complained about me being too strict but they have never done anything as tight, or blown the audience's mind so hard, as when they were with me. The results speak for themselves.
The 10,000 Hour Rule that Malcom Gladwell spoke of is it. There are no shortcuts. You get out of it what you put into it and when you've practiced something extensively it becomes second nature. It looks as effortless as breathing to your audience.
I studied Italian for two years as part of my five years living in Italy. I only came across this word once in that time. It is not in common use.
Simply beautiful! I can't wait to read her next book. I loved the acknowledgement that what we do is a gift from something outside ourselves. I choose to call that something God but I then have the issue that I cannot blame God for a bad song, that's just not possible. Maybe the bad ones are the ones I write completely in my own strength and the good ones He gets the credit?
Alla, Alle, Ole!
Ah! Depression. I know it well. Creativity is the only cure I've ever found for it. The attitude that creativity will kill you can be safely left behind with the last millennium, along with flat earth theories and cathode ray televisions. Elizabeth is right.
thanks for offering all the info, but I'm getting more than I want in general and ,so, I ask you to please unsubscribe my email address.
thanks and best to you, Sara P. Smith.
The Lord has used my hands and being to write books, i had already copyrighted the first, when then 2nd was only for my use and the Lord used my hands to tear off the copyright page from it "WE LAY DOWN OUR CROWN; Sealed by the Spirit of God, there are 3 other occurrances I call miracles. I was frightened when He used my hands to type Sealed by the Spirit of God and did not want to touch the book again, it took a year and the Lord put it in my heart to publish it. You can read miracles of that book in my website. I believe the Lord taught me that we are possessed by the things we possess ie the work of our hands is only one way of possession. This is a "self" oriented world and we must become selfless to please the Lord. We must not claim the work of our hands to ourselves if we want the Lord to possess us. In the book of revelations the Lord says "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; Rev 9:20
Are books made of wood (paper)? I originally thought this referred to statues, but now i know it is of everything made, ie statues religious and non religious the Lord desires Praise to himself, we are nothing! May the Lord fill you with His perfect love that bears all things, casts out fear and conquers all of our enemies. May you be blessed! Lord Help us to obey you and please you! You alone deserve all the glory, honor, and power In Jesus Name. I say this not to judge you but rather to share what the Lord has taught me.
I'd like to comment but I'm too busy practicing!!
Thank you Derek for posting this. This seems to have found me at just the right moment.
The talk was so real and genuine. Made me tear up when she was talking about the dancer. I needed to see this!
Your story about Prince was also very right on.
You've always done so much to help out others. Hopefully you know you are LOVED my many. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Derek,
That was awesome, like so many of the links/writings you share.
Excellent observation!
This situation is one of the things that makes me love music, dance, and similar things so much. Making it look easy, non-rehearsed, etc...
Okay, I know that I probably need a new adjective, but soooo AWESOME that you posted this. I listened to this speech a few weeks ago and it moved some pieces of my brain around. She's brilliant. And it's good to know she takes her time getting there.
:D
Okay, Derek...you got me! Enough to reply, that is. THIS was mega beautiful...your introduction of sprezzatura and so luscious a talk...how the world can change...in 18 minutes! How special to transcend the anguish of "not being there." How exciting to just get out there and do what you do.
I'm a guitar poet, living in Austin Tx. Thanks for forwarding to me this delectable video! I am truly inspired and treasure it. It also happens to be timely for me,as I'm scheduled to take part in the Granada Film Festival, in Spain, scheduled for late Oct. I've been wanting to live in Spain since my early teens (I'm currently 47)and now this opportunity to go all expenses paid falls from the sky! As an African American, I always wondered why I had such an affinity for the Spanish language(at an early age, I could read Spanish out of a book with perfect pronunciation and accent without understanding the words) and why I specifically longed for the "landmass" of Spain. As soon as my Oct trip was confirmed, I google/mapped searched Granada and was surprised to find that it's considered the birthplace of Flamenco (Sacromonte) and that it's Southern Spain location is a literal skip jump from Northern Africa! Theoretically, at least, there's my direct Ancestral connection. So of course, to me personally, at this particular time, to hear Elizabeth comment on the Ancient Northern African desert "Alla" chanting traditions and the subsequent Moorish, southern Spain "ole" chanting definitely strikes a chord with me! So much so, that I will continue to believe in this beautiful delusion and I imagine relocating to Spain, could I actually be returning home?!
Totally amazing speech from such a genuine person. Wow!!, this was so motivational, touching base with a few home truths, and some great messages in between. Thanks for sharing with us, I really needed to listen to this as there was many great pointers and direction about creativity.
Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.
-- Albert Einstein
This is simply amazing.
The only thing that keeps me sane throughout my writing is believing that my Creativity is an extension of God through me. He was the first being to create, and I can learn a lot from Him.
I was very worried after I released my debut album about writing more songs. I was unsure if I had enough in me to write another album. After I wrote Hope, I no longer worried about where the next one will come from.
With that untainted gift to create comes the hard work. I love this post!
Thank you Derek.
Ole, to you, Derek. : )
Elizabeth's book is a terrific read and this talk has the same captivating a-ha, humor and clarity. Thanks for sharing.
This will sound strange, but the appearance of a turtle in my yard this summer brought a similar message without speaking a word.
Thank you for the divine in sharing all that you do.
I'm glad to have a word for how I have lived.
"Sprezzatura"
For me in the Midwest people called it "Four Wheel Drive"
I am not particualrly gifted as a musician or writer, I just play my ass off, and never quit..Oh, and I listen more often than speak..
What to say?! This made me cry. You provided a beautiful setup to the video with your insight into how she crafted the speech, and your tie into what makes musicians able to tap into the divine: practice.
Of course, you too are making art. It's often lonely and hard to be a musician. We need your words sometimes to get through. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This is such an important article. I don't think musicians realize how much work goes into being s
successful. But the work is best done when done in bits and pieces.
I wrote an article about this on my music marketing blog a few weeks back. There are little things that make a huge difference and when done in increments can make your life easier: http://grassrootsy.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/social-networking-in-1-minute/
-Joy
p.s. always carry a notebook around and take notes
Thank you Derek for posting her wonderful speech! Listening to her thoughts on creativity in the Greek tradition reminds me of some of the thougts of Peter Kingsley about the spiritual roots of our Western Civilization. Here is a link to that interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow-_G26lpOk&feature=channel
Best Regards, Thomas
Maybe the 90% of the possible "quality" can be achieved with hard work and self-discipline; greetings form Ivan Lendl ... The remaining 10% are talent. (A non-talent has always the advantage that an only-talent normally tends to be lazy.) Real master-pieces emerge from a combination of both: talent and hard work.
It's quite rare.
And the rest's for us
Note: always be cautious that "sprezzatura" doesn't become "spazzatura"
Hi Derek,
a personal note ... Congratulations for the people you reach with your blog. It's also fruitful to read most of the comments. - That's not self-evident!
Best
Patrick
Thanks Derek for bringing to light, the most important subject...Eliabeth unravels so well..It is the process of self awakening, self awareness, as much as it is hard work and practice...the hard work is waking up, to all that we already knew, and forgot after we reached the age of two..the Daemon..the god within...the Fairies of the `universe, the Thunder poem that chases us...the genius outside of us...would like us to know that it is really the Source that is within us all that we have all pretended out of existance...and it's now time to "Awaken" that connection again...it is the source within every living thing..it is within..and everyone is indeed the center of the universe..we are not egotistical to reclaim our own godhood- and the lost art of becoming the Creators of our own reality.."Channeling" as it is often called today - is the same as that known to the Greek oracles or Joan Of Arc..as it is with the electric guitar on stage in the 1960's, as it is also to speak directly with the non-physical genius...for example you can talk with "God" right here right now if you want too:
www.abraham-hicks.com
or is it that we will be accused of being crazy for knowing this? having our head in the clouds as a a whacked out artist
or right here: an excellent description of the Golden age of consciousness that is coming - that Elizabeth Gilbert in her speech, so beautifully hits the "nerve" of in us all..
we all remember this on some level- it is this that is coveyed in her speech at least it is for me. thanks!
I forgot to add the second link...
http://johnsmallman.wordpress.com/
thank you
"Having a genius", such a liberating concept.
Thank you for sharing, Derek.
Hi, Derek. Thanks for this (I came to it from Twitter). Are you sure that "sprezzatura" is the right word? I am not a linguist, but in Italian this word has a negative meaning ... and I think this is not the case here.
Hi, Derek. Thanks for this (I came to it from Twitter). Are you sure that "sprezzatura" is the right word? I am not a linguist, but in Italian this word has a negative meaning ... and I think this is not the case here.
This is something every comedian has to master, because every performance has to seem fresh, as though you just thought of what you're saying. I've been working on one particular routine now for over a year.
Hi Derek, I woke this morning thinking about that very speech by E Gilbert.Cool that her words continue to fly through our minds
I'm thrilled at her humanness regarding the time she put out preparing her 18 minutes. Though prior to learning this information I was also thrilled when it seemed she just flawlessly got up and spoke. It certainly was a well crafted piece- ideas worth sharing!
...the term "Spezzatura" also connects to the idea of "effortless mastery", as described by pianist/ composer/ educator Kenny Werner
http://kennywernerlive.com/
The trick with learning to be perfectly affected is to not lose oneself in the affectation. Most artists that I have met may succeed in the short term by obsessing, but lose over the long haul. My own take on this? It is much better to miss a note or two onstage than to miss important events in the lives of those I care about.
Yes, yes and thrice yes! My sentiments exactly, I'm sharing this on FB for all to see.
Alex
Matt Good put me onto this a while back. Just watched it again and it's a very comforting idea. It makes me feel 100 times better about spending 2 days recording a song that seemed to come to me from 'nowhere' and knowing that other souls go through the same process.
Thank you Derek! I have to share this with my music students where I'm a part of the faculty of the music department at North Carolina Central University. Music major hopefuls are very interesting when they first come in the door to audition. Countless potential Music Industry majors are shocked to know our a degree in that particular major have to study music, and equally miffed when they learn they have to practice piano, theory, etc. They mention Prince as one of their icons. Your sharing this is priceless!
Derek, I had just finished looking at my CD baby accounts for BIM, , amazed at the amount of CD's downloads etc your company has generated, and knowing all the proceeds go to charity, and thinking - wow - it was so lucky I did all that. Then this pieve of inspiration, which I will forward to all my struggling musio friends. You Derek, were the little bit of 'Ole' that came my way 4 years ago and spurred me on to do the CD's. Thank you for being part of that spirit, and for your continueing inspiration.
before anyone else gets in - I am sorry for my dreadful spelling - I wrote it all in a rush of "ole"!Paul TJ O'Neill (not veri gud at spellinks)
I have been a music teacher/musician for over 30 years and I have always taught my students this very point. As a performer, you will always practice more than you perform. I think "American Idol" has hurt this idea, these kids get more exposure in even one show, than most musicians receive in a life time! Thanks for the info.
Wow! After listening again to Elizabeth Gilbert, I am grateful to her for opening a door of renewed commitment to the wisdom of putting your head down and working feverishly, day in and day out. I have never been a fan of the tortured or staving artist myths. And she does speak so effortlessly, the info you shared with us about her laboring for 6 weeks, 8 hours a day is such a profound lesson for us all. Thanks again, Derek.
Derek,
I've always followed this credo:
"There may be those more talented than I, but none that will work harder to achieve my goal."
Behind every successful person is an unsung legacy of hard work, dedication and persistence.
-Cowboy Surfer
http://networkingmusician.podbean.com/2009/08/18/stu-shulman-interview-vol-7/
I am a native speaker of Italian and I had to check a dictionary about that word.
You really want my comments?
Really?
I agree with every single positive thing and every stroke in all of the above.
Now: Why does everything have to be a video? If there were an audio-only option I could download it and get to it when I have time. I could spool it into my mp3 player or Walkman or wireless headphones and listen to it while I'm doing something else. I could acquire it in 18 seconds instead of 18 minutes.
Really, what's up with everything having to be a video nowadays?
It is my belief that talking-head videos, regardless of the prettiness of the head, are an imposition on the time and resources of the recipient. At least they are with me, and I'm not even smart and successful like you.
Give me audio.
A
This is one of those deals where all that practice and all that learning to constantly improve isn't really work. Both because you love doing it AND because, if you want to be proud of your work (no regrets), you know you have to put out your best work possible.
I would GLADLY take 18 hours in a studio or 9-12 hour rehearsals six days a day than even 4 hours at the job I have now.
Derek,
I loved that speech and that woman, Wow, what a powerhouse.
The work that goes into even a 1:30 trailer for a film is intense, re-writes, mods, throw-aways, It's all there ! and the ultimate is " We found another composer " after three weeks of grind.
But it all serves as knowledge and grist for the mill.
We must learn to manage frustration and rejection as part of the process and come up with exciting work.
And I really agreed with the woe is me Ray Carver, Sylvia Plath references, Why so many who follow that path ?
It should be a joy !
Thank you very much for forwarding this, Derek. (Making peace with one's art can be just as elusive as the art itself, and all help is greatly appreciated!)
HELL YES SIVERS!
love this
Hi Derek,
As a working musician and a music teacher, I tell myself and my students your message all the time. You are so right! There's also another reason to do all that hard work. There's a quote from Mickey Hart's "Drumming at the Edge of Magic" that sums it up. "You practice for years so that you reach a point of technical proficiency where the instrument becomes a part of your body. You no longer have to think about fingering or counting beats, so your mind is free for higher matters..." The "higher matters" he is speaking of is the emotion behind the music. Like an actor who can't play a role properly if he/she's worrying about remembering lines, you can only completely throw yourself into the meaning behind the music if you don't have to think about the technical details.
And it's all about the meaning!
Thanks for your posts. You rock.
-Julie
Good to know my genius is still hiding in the wall somewhere, 'cause he certainly ain't up here in my mind today!
wow. This is totally amazing.
touching speech, and thanks for publishing the amount of work that went into it.
That is a huge commitment to excellence.
Hi Derek,
Nothing good comes easy, not even sprezzatura.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece. I'm sure it's going to ginger many like me.
You rock man!
Benedict
yes she's an amazing person like you ...practice ..again and again it's good ..could you explain the way most of my recording was 98 % one take when i'm in the studio..every time i played or sing ..the studio clock never stop me giving the message..it's good thing to share like she does ,like you do...
Thanks Derek! As a Christian artist/musician, I fully embrace this idea, for me it is just a little more clearly defined. I simply view anything that is a blessing to others (my music, concerts, CD's, or other productions) as a gift from God - a gift to be shared, to enjoy immensely as I work to develop the gift, and remember that it's not me, it's Him working through me. I know of no greater joy than seeing lives changed, putting smiles on peoples faces, maybe even seeing them cry because they have reconnected with something deep inside that is very precious to them, through listening to the music that God has placed in my heart! Thank you, God, for allowing me this privilege!
Keep up the good work, Derek! I feel like you're my personal assistant, gleaning treasures from a plethora of sources and sharing them here in concise form! Thanks for what you do! (Although I do miss your influence at CDBaby!) All the best to you!
Wow, I am speechless over this observation Derek! She so eloquently gives words and tangibility to the muse that creativity brings to our world. To be able to put this concept into words, priceless. Thank you for sharing this gift with all of us!
What? God? What a relief!!! Elizabeth put into very articulate words what EVERYONE needs to make it through their life's work. Brilliantly composed and presented.
We named our first album Sprezzatura because of our love of the concept. Love to all!
www.cdbaby.com/rondosterling2
I often hear "you're so talented" and I reply' I call it practice'...my practice has always been play..later in life it has become more serious.
rada
Awesome. Olé! I just happen to be a flamenco guitarist, even more inspiring!
that word was used in XVI century italian ;)...
Finally. Someone says it. Something I've believed for a while now, which has everything to do with age and nothing to do with genius. Everything to do with a lot of years spent learning to be a counselor, seeing friends suffer, feeling it myself.
We can't continue to see ourselves as the beginning and end of all things, the ultimate spark of creativity. It's ridiculous and unhealthy. Artists seem to be the focus of society's doubt and worship (don't they have lives too?). Let's get off the hook, finally, and see our work as part of the larger process that it truly is.
Thanks for posting this, Derek. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Nita
yup. like it.
The lecture is innovative and insightful. She is using her own life experience to relate the genius as we know it to how it was previously defined. I enjoyed it.
Thanks a lot for sharing that Derek. I appreciated her thoughts on the creative process.
No way, Derek. Ferget "Sprezzatura' - You are a naturally kind, big-hearted genius. And as Clarance Day might say in "LIFE WITH FATHER"- let's have no more nonsense about that! Ric
As Malcolm Gladwell said in his book "Outliers", even Mozart, considered a musical prodigy, didn't actually write anything really GOOD by himself until he was almost 20. It's his theory of 10,000 of work = mastery.
Very True Derek. I've can hardly have a conversation with people these days without mentioning "The Outliers" and the principal of 10,000 hours.
The Ted conference was yet another amazing discovery from this ongoing missive. The idea behind it is fantastic and yet I can't help but be bothered by its top down methodology. That is as far as I can see, only people who are known get invited to speak. If a person that is an unknown entity has something of great worth to present as a speaker then it is doubtful that they get an opportunity to speak there, at this very wonderful event.
As far as the subject of toil making the genius event, that is pure wisdom. Bach was known to have said "People have no idea how hard I work." Mozart also said similar things and he was supposed to be the poster child for genius that effortlessly penned masterpieces. Go look at his C minor piano concerto, he reworked it many many times much in the way of Beethoven. The master who wrote what I think is the most powerful piece of music ever, Mahler and his 9th symphony was also about thousands of hours of work. Unless a person commits to tremendous work they will never know what they might have achieved and the outer ring.
It is also helpful to be able to talk on occasion to such hard workers as they tend to reflect what you tell them in ways that produce great insight.
But I actually AM a natural musical genius. I still had to get a day gig.
Seriously, thanks for sharing this. EG succinctly articulated what so many creatives feel, and offered new insights in such an elegantly relevant way perhaps this SPEECH will go down as her most important work, not her books. :0
Some good points of course. The artists I've admired would mention they were like "radio receivers" to cool ideas for their work. I view these things as gifts from God when they occur...and they are magical when they do occur...I think some of these things with creativity can be over rationalized, rather than just to say they are gifts from God and accept them as such...that the artist is the medium...I think the paralysis of fear gets in the way, and that it's best to try to push the "fear factor" away as much as possible. If one has a huge success, then the challenge is to try to top it (weather you can or not)...if at first you don't succeed try try again. How many great artists who've had any kind of longevity have been able to do this? Probably many...anyhow that's my two cents...accept whatever creative gifts come your way, be thankful for them and try to nurish them as much as possible would be my thinking...just as one might accept and be greatful for the many other "gifts" that God might send our way...
Bravissimo!!
This is about stepping outside of yourself and becoming more.
I've always viewed the sub-conscious as a hotel, peopled by unexpected guests, when none are visible you have to find them, they are always there, others you allow to wander in at their own timing.
She is wonderful and an inspiration to those who think great things come easily, when they come after great research and preparation! I am fortunate to work with a band with that work ethic. They rehearse two nights a week, every week, work full time day jobs, support their families and gig on the weekends, and they have been doing this since 1993! I hear bands say they don't need to rehearse, and guess what, they sound like they don't rehearse. Great lesson today, Derek!! Keep the great articles coming. It is like going to school! Love you always!
Derek..
Thank you .
I have sprezzatura and didn't know it.
I'm learning so much from you.
Frances V. Long
flong@centurytel.net
www.jacilynmusic.com
Granted I always thought that on certain days/night I'd put in 8-10 hours of songwriting when I could (since I hold down a day job not related to my art)thinking that was enough work to take a break for a few days, was I mistaken. Her speech really drives home the hard work that is required to become a true success plus the method by which you hone those inspiring moments when the genius visits you, yes, this really does happen and I'm glad I'm not the only one that has these visitations. Thanks Derek great video speech.
Brilliant! Thank you!
Hey Derek,
Thanks for sharing this, it was a wonderful, inspiring riff on the creative impulse and its mystery that we all, as creative people, wrestle with. In Greece, they were also called Muses, and there were nine of them if you recall from school (as well as Daemon).
What Elizabeth also didn't mention (and didn't need to for the TED audience) is the ancient tradition that we postmoderns call "channeling" but has gone by many names.
I've been studying developmental psychology and how channeling fits in (I believe it to be a multiple intelligence per Howard Gardner), and actually have a paper being published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice. So there's a lot of information on my website about it if you're interested.
I am also a musician (have my Mindscapes CD on CDBaby and iTunes, so thanks for making that possible), and totally related Elizabeth's take on the creative process itself. I think of it as "capturing my muse" when she "speaks," and as such try to be prepared for her to show up (BTW, those car and other "inappropriate" appearances are often a purposeful wake up call to pay fucking attention! I AM HERE with you, ALWAYS).
There ARE ways to develop and solicit a relationship with our personal muse that may benefit all creative types. Channeling is only one name for it.
So just a thanks and keep up your great work.
All the best,
Paul
I'm remindad of the four stages of mastering something-always in this order:
1) Unconscious incompetence
2) Conscious incompetence
3) Conscious competence
4) Unconscious competence
with love and gratitude,
Joel Laviolette
Derek, as a singer, I can assure you . . . you have said a "mouthful" here. (No puns intended) Hard work is the name of the game . . . but it doesn't seem so hard when you love what you do. (Well, sometimes it does.)Thank you!
Hello, Derek
It's wonderful that you offer this lovely video to share with your friends. We all are creative people in many different area and in many different way. And we "work hard" in different style, too. To creat a piece of art. It requires us a great deal both mechanically(technically) and emotionally. Ms.Gilbert created an 18 minutes "Speech solo Work" of her own with full of emotional charge and intellectual balancing in front of the audience. I think that her 6 weeks hard work was paid off handsomely. Thanks for sharing all of these.I enjoy them very much! Best regards! GongQian Yang
I saw this video a few months ago and I remember being extremely impressed with her presentation.
Just fantastic - thanks for pointing me to this Derek and for giving us the inside story on the work involved.
My take on it is this... My experience of the music that I "hear" or receive is so similar to hearing from writers about their characters writing themselves. I find the best songs are the ones that I really didn't have to work much at all to write - they just simply showed up in my head. I do want you to know that they didn't come uninvited. I ask them to come and even ask for the form. Sometimes they show up right away and sometimes they take years. The practicing with my band, KIVA, and the work at improving our skills is what makes for a good vessel for the divine. The more skilled you are the better you can express what is coming through. Unlike another blogger here I don't think that we are "nothing". Us human personalities are the filter through which a particular form of "information" comes through. Some are writers and some are musicians and some are dancers and each of us is unique in how we interpret that divine spark that comes through. The story about the poet was one that I can relate to... that's why I keep a tape recorder with me most of the time. What is most important to me is to make my mind available for the inspiration. As Elizabeth said - I show up for my part of the job and inspiration will follow if I am open and not running a lot of fear (interFEARance) thoughts. As another blogger said self-awareness is key and this kind of work (creative pursuits) requires self-development in order for a person to succeed at it and not be destroyed by it.
Blessings to all here! Ariana
Wow great stuff...
Loved this video! Loved her book! Loved that you posted this. Thanks!
Inspiration.... always from a higher plane... loving it...
Thanks Derek for passing on that beautiful speech! i wrote a song about 11 yrs. ago called 'Offerings' and it embodies a lot of what Elizabeth is talking about here. I always announce the song by saying that after much struggle trying to write or finish a piece, I am often reminded that songs are simply gifts that we are given...from some place....and I believe it's part of my job to give those gifts back to you (the listener/audience). Full circle.
Showing up is everything. Amen.
Go with the flow... Be yourself and practice what you do best... Be grateful for your talent what ever it is... it will inspire those around you!
This message has inspired me. Thanks.
Robert
Permit me to say this is the best ,most articulate, most interwoven, most magnetic and inspirational piece of speach I have ever heared.
Thank God for you, thank God for Elizabeth.
Diligence, perseverance, will make any artist his own admirer.
again.. a great bit here... like Edison and the light bulb. many, many tries before his success...
Ole. Awesome. Thanks so, so much for sharing... I gotta get to this conference...
Great video to share. Being a musician, I've heard echoes of this philosophy from other famous musicians that I thought worth sharing, if just for analogy. My apologies if I'm not quoting them verbatim.
Keith Richards: "It's like being a radio and switching on antennae."
Bono: "We knew that those albums were under par for us, but I'd rather keep doing it than take long breaks."
Johnny Cash: "I always did the best that I could with what I had at the time."
Wow - that's fantastic! Her speech was truly inspiring, and I've been looking for an example of how much more satisfying the results of hard work can be rather than just winging it.
Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for sending this Derek, I thoroughly enjoyed watching her speak. Especially when she mentioned speaking to the 'open air' as Tom Waits did on the freeway. It has something to do with Dylan's 'the answer is blowing in the wind'....here is the source to that I believe...'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17
Thank you again Derek for sharing encouragement and your time with others.
God bless
Just a footnote to add to my previous words. However one prays, whether in pious reverence or regular street talk....our burdens change shoulders.
I particularly liked and related to her Tom Waits reference "Can't you see I'm busy driving". I will not forget that valuable tidbit. Thanks for sharing this wonderful testament.
I wrote down one of your own phrases about a year ago. Every time I see it it reminds me to keep practising ... "stay in the shed"
This is exactly what I needed to hear this moment. Thank you.
I absolutely loved that speech. Process is everything to me and as a composer, designer and wide angle creative, I've found the load very heavy to bear when I egotistically thought I actually was totally responsible for my work. Magic happens with the invitation of the muse and trust in the "genius" to come through us. Bravo for yet another great post Derek and whoa, I guess I should read her book. My wife loved it.
cheers,
Andrew
Agreed. We need God. We are not in control of God.
I was surprised to hear Elizabeth explain God. I forget how secular our society is sometimes. Like, "Y'all know God, right? He was at the Christmas party last year."
I have faith that the next inspiration will be there when I need it, and I double my chances by actively looking for it. It's a sure thing, basically. That's how God works: Results every time, eternally. The well is infinite. There will always be another song.
I haven't really had any problems with God. I ran away from my parent's God and, when I was looking back, slammed into my own. It's kind of the same God, I think. I don't know. I think when God is talking to us, it's kind of like one of us talking to our dog. "Let's see, it says connect the red connector to the right speaker wire. What do you think about that, Rover?" Woof.
I'm rambling. Very inspiring video. I like her a lot. She's asking very good questions. And we are agreed about the need for God. Pick one or make one up. they're all the same God. I think. Woof.
Great word, Sprezzatura...
Great concept.
But don't misunderstand, i'm really are a natural genius!
(uhuh)
Thank you for a very inspirational video. Nice to have someone so succinctly explain what has obviously been a mystery for centuries.
I've always thought that inspiration was something you have to be there to catch!
Thank you Derek for your amazing service.
Most appreciated.
Thanks Derek. Very interesting and inspiring. Joe
I couldn't agree more with much of what Ms. Gilbert has to say. My very first work of visual art, in fact, was a satellite dish hat - all about channeling the ambient creativity that's hovering around looking for a willing receptacle upon which to alight. However, this thing about fear I really don't understand - she's only 40 - why spend even single moment worrying that your best work might be behind you? Why does it matter? If we really are just channels for the muse, then "showing up" IS the reward. And the more we hone our craft, perhaps the easier it will be for our "geniuses" to use us. I think in our culture people get way too caught up in some sort of external measure of "success" - sure, sometimes we may get frustrated that we're not smarter or that we can't absorb something quicker...but it seems to me that the best art comes bubbling up not out of a desire to make something marketable, but out of the pure joy of finding yourself in the moment when the muse arrives, and you just happen to have a pen in your hand.
"Every brain is like a satellite dish, each one attuned to a unique frequency emitted by the Cosmic Infinity, where All that Is to Be Created, All that Can Be Created EXISTS, woven into the energy particles of the universe, ready to be absorbed, translated, assimilated, manifested,by bodies that hear that feel the Harmony of the Spheres. Be tuned in. Reality is your oyster."
It was nice hearing Ms. Gilbert say continue your dance regardless. Also, the question that people ask just to keep you from being creative. Even though the second book could be greater or may not be she was going to work on her job. I like the encouragment she gave me. The songerwriter she spoke about made me think of me. About three weeks ago I refuse to get up for a song that I was singing in a dream. Days prior to that I was singing another song, but I had to get up. I've missed several songs, because I would not get up.
Thank you for sharing this vedeo.
Paula
Derek, I enjoy your blog. This article has been a favorite for weeks now; I've shared it with several friends and we agree that the message (both yours and Ms. Gilbert's) are worth listening to.
Cheers
She nailed it - wonderful talk, and she is a delight. Along these lines I recommend Kenny Werner's book "Effortless Mastery," which elaborates exactly this theme in very useful ways. It's been incredibly helpful to me.
I could not agree more! So much so, that I named my consulting and coaching group Sprezzatura, and my blog www.sprezzatura-llc.com/blog
I have worked with far too many executives and CEO's who don't take their presentations seriously enough to practice them. They think that standing behind the podium and reading is "good enough."
It takes potentially hundreds of hours of work and prep time to prepare for a 30-40 minute speech, especially if you are creating your own meaningful slides as well.
Its all about practiced nonchalance... and it makes all the difference!
Wow...Thanks You, I just got a tonne of inspiration for my next show. It's funny because I was just thinking about nonchalance and I didn't know there was a cool Italian word for it. Can anyone help me with the pronunciation of Sprezzatura?
Thanks Derek, this video is just what I needed.