They had me a "donuts." This is one of my favorite talks about art and being a creative person, and the struggles that go with that. Maria begins the conversation with, "Let's talk about donuts..." a reference to a bit of Amanda Palmer's book, The Art of Asking, and Henry David Thoreau living at Walden. If you're a writer, artist, or any other kind of creative person, you may love this conversation. That's all I'm going to say, other than it's from 2014, shortly after Amanda's book came out.
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Simon Sinek is the Optimist/writer of books like Start With Why, and Leaders Eat Last. I've listened to several of his talks on business and finding your "Why?" in life. He's easy to listen to and makes a ton of sense. This one surprised me when it popped up on my feed a couple days ago. I found it totally fascinating. Maybe you will, too. Oh, among other things, he gives an actual definition of "art." Hell, I've never managed to do that.
What do you do after you spend a year eating, praying, and loving? You inspire the freakin' world with an epic TED Talk. Elizabeth Gilbert's epic piece. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've watched this.
Why are we all afraid of asking for so many things we need? Maybe it runs in the family. Maybe we need a ukulele anthem to psych us up first. Another epic TED Talk involving creativity. Like the one above, I can't even count how many times I've listened to this.
"Let's talk about donuts..." What? You had me at "donuts." Maria Popova does some serious brain picking into Amanda Palmer's thoughts. I wasn't sure what to think when I started watching this for the first time. Like those above, it's become a favorite I've watched many, many times. EAT THE FUCKING DONUTS!
The thing I've learned about suggesting books, talks, music, or orgasmic techniques to other people is that what is amazing for me may not do anything for anyone else. So I'm throwing four favorites out there. If one calls to you a bit, watch. Listen. That little intuitive spark of interest nearly always means there's something in it you need to see/hear right now. Let me know if any of you get something cool from one or more of these.
Maria Popova talks with Amanda Palmer about her book, The Art of Asking. If you're a creative person, this is one of the best videos I've ever seen about the day to day life of doing creative work. So, most of you will ignore it. But this clip will find the few who need it.
