Thursday, October 07, 2010

inspiration & showing up

I didn't read the book - Eat, Pray, Love. I did see the movie and other than the first scene in India, which rang soooo true to our first moments in Inida, didn't find it particularly engaging. So, I likely would never have watched Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk.

My daughter, Alexis, put it up on her blog so I was obligated to watch it. It is a wonderful talk about the creative process. I was particularly struck by Gilbert's admonition to just show up and do your job. It got me thinking that showing up and doing your job is at the core of everything, not just creativity. Whether it be caring about the homeless guy at the corner, voting in an election, playing in the church band, being there for a grieving friend, whatever... it doesn't matter whether we are successful, whether we change the world, whether we make a difference that anyone else can see... what matters is whether or not we are (and here's the theological word) faithful.

So show up. Do your job or your part. And leave the results to God.

1 comment:

Fernando said...

Eat Pray Love didn't capture my imagination, though I totally agree that Ms Gilbert's TED talk is very good. One of my favourites on the subject of creativity.

That said, I was fascinated, when recently travelling in India, on the EPL trend in tourism. There were *a lot* of single women, of a certain age and certain level of wealth, on holiday there.