Elizabeth Gilbert
After re-arranging our seat assignments, this time, in the order of tallest to shortest, we began the days lecture with a discussion on storytelling. Jimmy asked us what exactly makes up a story, more specifically what are the parts. Everyone threw out answers and we were able to get a pretty substantial list going.
It looked something like this:
- Beginning
- Middle
- End
- Plot (Plan, Narrative, Storyline)
- Climax
- Characters
- Narrator
- Setting
- Subject
- Theme (Idea, Issue, Problem, Meaning)
Next we laid out the 3 images we had collected for homework across our table. We then went around to each table and tried to guess what the story was that the image were trying to tell. It was a really fun exercise. Some stories were easy to decipher, while others took a bit longer, but overall, everyone had really interesting interpretations. As an ending to the class, to keep the theme of storytelling going, Jimmy showed us a TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) presentation by Elizabeth Gilbert the author of Eat, Pray, Love.
Before the film began, Jimmy told us to pay attention to the speaker's body language and how she communicates and presents her work and ideas. I found the presentation to be very riveting. Ms. Gilbert described her experiences in great detail and presented her views as if she were writing a story. She talked about how we, as artists, tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves especially if we encounter great success. We think to ourselves "How am I going to top this?" and it doesn't have to be that way. If all we can think about is outdoing ourselves, then we are going to go crazy, which is the preconceived notion society has of us [artists] anyway. Basically we have to learn to let go and not be caught up in trying to find the next big inspiration. This is something I, personally, am working on. I'm always trying to find an inspiration instead of just letting it come to me. I'm slowly warming up to the idea that I may just be able to find my muse somewhere completely unexpected and the best thing to do is just to keep an open mind.
Who knows, I may just surprise myself...
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