The Things I did...

Elizabeth Gilbert Talks About “Genious”

Chris-A — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:13:57 +0000

I came across this clip of Elizabeth Gilbert talking at a TED conference through Stumbleupon. Elizabeth Gilbert is an american writer, author of the best-selling book Eat, Pray, Love.

She talks about her ambitions and her fears, but most importantly about the concept of the “creative genious”. I am just amazed by how good she is. The speech/talk is funny, intelligent, provocative.. the best five minutes I’ve spent in a very long time. So grab a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate, turn off your cellphone for five minutes and enjoy this. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Click here to view the clip. [Takes you to TED.com, which, by the way, is a truly amazing website]
For me, it is such an incredible relief to hear that even people like Elizabeth Gilbert have to struggle with their creativity and really work hard to find their inner “genious”. The environment I’m in at school has a tendency to worship the “gift” and the talents that some people are born with, which can be incredibly frustrating for a student in the creative fields.

What are your thoughts on this? Post your comments below, or join me over at TID-Talk. Hope to see you there!

- Chris

Log entry: Friday February 20th

Chris-A — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:30:37 +0000

Got up at 07:30, didn’t feel well (I have a cold) and decided to skip the 09:00 lecture and the following seminar group. I’ve got a few things I have to prepare at school for next weeks workshops, so I’ll have to drop by later anyway.

This is a typical morning for me. I make up excuses to postpone whatever I need to be doing, and then do an half-assed job when I finally get around to doing it. I need to change that somehow..

- Chris

Tagged: life, lifestyle, procrastination, student, university

The first day in my new life – An evening’s work

Chris-A — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:07:19 +0000

Alright. I have been thinking about this for some time now, and it’s time to do something about my life. It’s not like I feel more ready or open to change today than I usually do, but I guess that’s what it takes to break out of old habits. This isn’t the first time though. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told myself that things have to change. The difference now is that I’m going to log everything here.

This is a typical situation for me. I’ve done pretty much nothing all day, I’m 4 hours away from midnight and I’ve got a ton of stuff that should be done. My goals are these: I am going to finish everything that needs to be done for tomorrow. I will prepare a list of the things I didn’t do. I will allow myself ONE 30-minute timeout at ten.

I will update this at midnight and let you know how it went.

Wish me luck!

-Chris

********************************************************************

Alright. It’s midnight and my time is up. I was off to a terrible start, the second I sat down with a nice cup of coffee to work on my physics paper, my girlfriend called me. She’s out of town to visit her mom and her sister. It wasn’t so bad though, we ended the conversation after about ten minutes, and I was focused after that and I managed to plow through all the things that needed to be prepared for tomorrow. Of course, actually getting stuff done reveals more things that need doing, but that’s okay. I’m good for the day.

When time came to take a break, I was already done with all the urgent things – which was a good thing, because one of my roommates told me that she had just broken up with her boyfriend, so I felt like I should keep her company for a while.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with how it all went. I’m always surprised by how much I can get done if I just put my mind to it, make a plan and stick to it. Lesson learned. Tomorrow, I am going to compile a list of things I want to do next week, and try to apply tonight’s little lesson to the next few days.

How do you organize your day? Do you have any hot tips for new beginnings? Have you tried to change old habits and create new, good ones? Please, tell me about it

- Chris

Want to meet others who are trying to change? Check out the Things I Did forum

Tagged: change, life, lifestyle, new beginnings, organize, student, university, your

Welcome to “The Things I Did”!

Chris-A — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:30:43 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!Hey there!

I’m Chris, and I madethis. Good to see that you found me! They say there’s no such thing as coincidence, right? I don’t believe that, but I would still be happy if you found the time to drop me a message, or even better – sign up in the TID-forums and say hello.

I suppose I should tell you a little about what this is. I’m 23 years old. I’m 2 years into my university degree, I’m in a steady relationship and I’m about to move in with my girlfriend..and to be honest, I’m panicking! I’m doing what everybody expects of me, but deep inside I know that there’s something missing. First of all, I’m mildly depressed, and I lack a sense of direction in my life. I mean, I love my girlfriend and I know that I want to be an architect, but that’s about it. And speaking of architect – I just can’t find the inspiration or the motivation to do anything truly great, and I’m stuck in mediocrity. I know I have everything I’ve ever wanted, but I feel like I’m not appreciating it the way I should.

It’s a frustrating situation, so I decided to do something about it. That’s why I’m here. That’s why you found me. That’s why I want to talk to you. Maybe we have something in common. Maybe you’ve got something to share. Maybe we can learn from each other, or maybe you can find someone else here in your situation.

So. That’s it. That’s all there is. No self-help guru, no recovering drug addict, no celebs. It’s just me. I hope it’s enough to make you stop for a minute and say hello. I’d like that.

- Chris