Awoken by a Leaping Genius

After being awake for two ungodly hours in the early, early morning I am finally reminded of Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk on Nurturing Creativity. It seems, as I awoke from a dream with a shout, that I have been possessed with one of the most vibrant "genius" sessions I've had in a while. Only now am I typing after I've written creative ideas for the ETA Cafe, AGSM Events, and the next screenplay I'm working on called Paradigm Lost (Paradigm Louvst if you're nasty), but that's on the down low.

The way Gilbert puts it, and especially after tonight I must agree, is that we artistic people have no control over our lives. (What an awesome scape goat THAT is!) The ancient Greeks, (and now Elizabeth, her TED audience, and myself) believe that it was not the artist who creates the work of art, but a "genius"; a spirit that comes out of nowhere, uninvited, and causes a flood of activity ending in the creation of some lasting contribution.



There I was, sleeping before the first of our four finals at AGSM, happily immersed in yet another flying dream. In this dream I was actually leaping from tree branch to tree branch in a giant rain forest. The trees were so tall their limbs were the size of train cars, and the ground was so distant that I couldn't tell which way was up exactly.



In the leaping and lurching I happened upon a dwelling in a cave, guarded surprisingly by Jeff Storer! In my dream I must have been some wild-looking mutant tree frog, as I startled Cavekeeper Jeff. He shouted, I shouted, and the next thing I know I'm awake at 3:00am with more thoughts running through my head than ants on a bird carcass.



My genius happened by at the right time. For the next four days I will continue around the clock to earn my keep towards the MBA, and may not be available. (Are you listening, spirits?) Or maybe I'll be visited by a genius every morning; hardly the worst way to live.