create.

I've been thinking lately about what it means to create - whether that be a poem or a song or a piece of art. Where does it come from? How do artists manage it, when the result always seems so beyond us, causes awe much greater than it makes sense for humans to produce? As I was wondering these things, I recalled a talk I watched a few months back about the creative process that really struck me. It's given by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love....I could go on and on about my mixed feelings towards that book, but this talk is actually really great I think) and brings up some super intriguing points.
The idea that beautiful things don't come from us but are given to us is so powerful. I love thinking about the creative process as simply a chance for one to be used, to serve, to shed light on the world - and I think that when we acknowledge that we ourselves are not big enough for that, when we say that maybe our creativity is in fact God's gift, it's a pretty cool thing.
If you have the time, take a look at this talk. My favorite part is right in the middle, where she talks about the poet Ruth Stone and how she used to chase down poems as they came barreling at her from the landscape.
pretty cool stuff.