While reading a post by my friend Allie last night, I was reminded of something that has been on my mind for a while. Namely, that great writers don't tend to have fantastic lives. What's with that? Why were so many of them depressed or suicidal or mentally unstable? Is it a conditon of creativity that you must have a miserable life? I sure hope not.

Although I haven't actually read any of Elizabeth Gilbert's books, I've listened to a few of her talks via the internet. One of these talks (given at a TED conference) focused on this very issue of creative greatness equaling depression and misery. Her take on the topic was contrary to this assumption. She argued that one does not have to live in a state of despair for some sort of creativity to flow out of one's work. The TED website describes her 20min talk:  Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It is certainly worth watching.