Eat, Pray, Love and Think for Yourself

a kate west reflection

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the sensational autobiography "Eat, Pray, Love", is spreading the gospel of self and creative genius. She's good at this, having written a compelling account of her own spiritual awareness. So she's the perfect person to lecture people on how to find and nurture creativity. I don't have a problem with this or with her but I am annoyed by the mindlessness of some of her fans.

As parodied in Monty Python's brilliant "Life of Brian", the Messiah never said anything funny or anything you can poke fun at and Python never did. What they made fun of was the unthinking masses who refused to think for themselves, despite poor Brian's pleading. He didn't ask to be a leader - it was thrust upon him.

Gilbert, while certainly no Messiah, didn't ask either. She just wanted to tell her story and then after months of enjoying the bestseller list, she now has to deal with rabid fans following in her literal footsteps, so to speak. Confessing on "Oprah" that they went to all the same spots and met all the same people as in the book, these women glow with the satisfaction of having achieved some sort of enlightenment. But they haven't. They didn't find their own path - they followed Gilbert's. Maddening. Live your own story and then you can write about it - don't steal someone else's.

That being said, the video below really is a fascinating and appealing way to look at creativity. Just please, find your own genie.


Inspiring Talk Below: