I watched Elizabeth Gilbert's TED.com talk about creativity in its entirety the other day, and I got stuck on a brief point she discussed in her talk. She talked about how so many creative geniuses out there are plagued with deep internal turmoil; so many of them die by their own hand, and it is a tragedy that seems so true in this world. I'm listening to Elliott Smith right now -- I've had his entire collected works for over a year now, yet I always felt intimidated about where to start, so I Googled a top 100 chart of his songs, and it's taking me on a trip. I plugged those songs into an iTunes playlist, and here I am. I'm sitting at my computer, headphones on, thinking about how Elliott Smith is one of those individuals that Elizabeth Gilbert mentions in her talk. He cut his life short in October of 2003, dying of fatal stab wounds in his chest that he inflicted upon himself.
Sometimes I can hear it in his music.
I feel really grateful that I have avoided the plight that seems to spread among creative folk. The wide range of human emotion that we feel is something to embrace and love all the same, and I'll just keep doing that until the day I pass. Love love love, it is the only thing I can do.
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