I’ve been spending a lot of time watching TV these days because of a sore back. It’s frustrating and depressing. I’m not taking care of my businesses, I’m not making art, I’m lying in bed, doing nothing but mindlessly watching TV.

But then, I saw, on Oprah, Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame. Now, I just saw this book on Sunday when I was running errands and was drawn to it. I decided, however, that the last thing that I needed was one more self-help book that I probably wouldn’t read. And then, on Tuesday, I saw her. In addition to her amazing insight, the glow of her happiness and tranquility came through even via TV! I haven’t been back to the store to get the book, but I did do some web searching and reading about her. On her website: http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm, she has a wonderful essay on writing. Most of what she says can be applied to making art as well as writing. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs from that online essay. I would encourage you to go there and read the rest. I have read it over and over and it really speaks to me. Here is a quote:

You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness (which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love). The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it, as per my vows.



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