TED2009
Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius
エリザベス・ギルバート "創造性をはぐくむには"
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人々が芸術家や天才に抱く無理な期待を巡ってエリザベス・ギルバートが考察します。そして、わずかばかりの一個人がジーニアス(天才)「である」のではなく、人間はみなジーニアスを「持っている」のだという急進的な考えを語ります。これは私的であり、可笑しいながらも、驚くほど感動的な講演です。
Elizabeth Gilbert - Writer
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both. Full bio
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
I am a writer.
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私は作家ですが―
00:15
Writing books is my profession but it's more than that, of course.
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書くことは 仕事以上のものです
00:19
It is also my great lifelong love and fascination.
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ずっと 情熱を注いできたし―
00:23
And I don't expect that that's ever going to change.
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今後もそれは 変わりません
00:25
But, that said, something kind of peculiar has happened recently
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と言いつつ 最近変わった体験をしました
00:30
in my life and in my career,
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公私にわたって…
00:33
which has caused me to have to recalibrate my whole relationship with this work.
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仕事への姿勢を 考え直すことになりました
00:38
And the peculiar thing is that I recently wrote this book,
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最近 回顧録を書き上げました 題名は―
00:41
this memoir called "Eat, Pray, Love"
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"食べ祈り愛する(Eat, Pray, Love)"
00:43
which, decidedly unlike any of my previous books,
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明らかに 今までの作品と違います
00:48
went out in the world for some reason, and became this big,
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どういうわけか 各国語に翻訳され―
00:51
mega-sensation, international bestseller thing.
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話題を呼び 世界的ベストセラーになりました
00:54
The result of which is that everywhere I go now,
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その結果として 今ではどこでも―
00:57
people treat me like I'm doomed.
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運が尽きたヒト扱いされます
01:00
Seriously -- doomed, doomed!
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本当に "もう終り" なんです
01:03
Like, they come up to me now, all worried, and they say,
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みんな 心配顔でこう言います
01:05
"Aren't you afraid you're never going to be able to top that?
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"あれを越えられなかったらと 不安では?"
01:10
Aren't you afraid you're going to keep writing for your whole life
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"不安にはならない? "
01:13
and you're never again going to create a book
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"一生書き続けようと―"
01:15
that anybody in the world cares about at all,
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"注目される本が書けないって"
01:18
ever again?"
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"もう 二度と"
01:20
So that's reassuring, you know.
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まあ 勇気づけられますこと
01:22
But it would be worse, except for that I happen to remember
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もっとヒドい経験もあります
01:25
that over 20 years ago, when I first started telling people -- when I was a teenager --
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20年以上前 10代の頃 言ったのです
01:29
that I wanted to be a writer,
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作家になりたい と
01:31
I was met with this same kind of, sort of fear-based reaction.
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人々は今と同じ 不安顔でした
01:34
And people would say, "Aren't you afraid you're never going to have any success?
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"成功しなかったら?"
01:37
Aren't you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you?
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"拒否される屈辱に耐えられる?"
01:40
Aren't you afraid that you're going to work your whole life at this craft
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"一生 書き続けて―"
01:43
and nothing's ever going to come of it
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"何も完成しなくて―"
01:45
and you're going to die on a scrap heap of broken dreams
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"口は 失敗の苦汁に満たされ―"
01:47
with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?"
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"破れた夢の山なす残骸の上で のたれ死んでも?"
01:51
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
01:53
Like that, you know.
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そんな感じでした
01:55
The answer -- the short answer to all those questions is, "Yes."
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これらの答えは 端的には"イエス" です
02:00
Yes, I'm afraid of all those things.
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もちろん不安です
02:02
And I always have been.
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常に不安です
02:03
And I'm afraid of many, many more things besides
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怖いものは山ほどあります
02:06
that people can't even guess at,
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他人が分らないものも…
02:08
like seaweed and other things that are scary.
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海藻など ゾッとします
02:12
But, when it comes to writing,
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でも執筆に関しては―
02:14
the thing that I've been sort of thinking about lately, and wondering about lately, is why?
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最近 ずっと考え続けています
02:18
You know, is it rational?
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理にかなってるか と
02:20
Is it logical that anybody should be expected
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天職だと思うことを―
02:23
to be afraid of the work that they feel they were put on this Earth to do.
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恐れるのが当然と みなされるのが?
02:27
And what is it specifically about creative ventures
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クリエイティブの世界が 他と違うのは―
02:32
that seems to make us really nervous about each other's mental health
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精神を気遣われる ということ
02:35
in a way that other careers kind of don't do, you know?
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他の職業では あまりないでしょう?
02:38
Like my dad, for example, was a chemical engineer
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父は 化学技術者でした
02:42
and I don't recall once in his 40 years of chemical engineering
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私の記憶では 40年勤めた間に―
02:45
anybody asking him if he was afraid to be a chemical engineer, you know?
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仕事が不安か と訊いた人はいません
02:49
It didn't -- that chemical-engineering block, John, how's it going?
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"最近 化学技術スランプは大丈夫?"
02:55
It just didn't come up like that, you know?
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ありえないでしょう?
02:57
But to be fair, chemical engineers as a group
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もっとも 化学技術者のほうは―
03:01
haven't really earned a reputation over the centuries
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何世紀も 風評とは無縁です
03:03
for being alcoholic manic-depressives.
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"躁うつの飲んだくれ" という風評とは…
03:06
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
03:08
We writers, we kind of do have that reputation,
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作家には つきものです
03:11
and not just writers, but creative people across all genres,
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いえ 全クリエイティブ業界で…
03:14
it seems, have this reputation for being enormously mentally unstable.
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精神不安定で 知られているし―
03:19
And all you have to do is look at the very grim death count
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無残な死者の数を見ても 明らかです
03:23
in the 20th century alone, of really magnificent creative minds
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20世紀だけで 偉大な創作者たちが―
03:27
who died young and often at their own hands, you know?
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どれだけ 早世し自殺しているか
03:30
And even the ones who didn't literally commit suicide
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実際の自殺でなく―
03:33
seem to be really undone by their gifts, you know.
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自分の才能に殺された人もいます
03:36
Norman Mailer, just before he died, last interview, he said
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ノーマン メイラーは生前 言いました
03:39
"Every one of my books has killed me a little more."
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"作品が ジワジワと私を殺す"
03:43
An extraordinary statement to make about your life's work.
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ライフワークに対し 尋常ではない考え方ですが―
03:47
But we don't even blink when we hear somebody say this
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誰も驚かないでしょう
03:50
because we've heard that kind of stuff for so long
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長年 聞き慣れた話ですから
03:53
and somehow we've completely internalized and accepted collectively
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当然のことと 捉えられています
03:57
this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked
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創造に苦悩はつきものであり―
04:01
and that artistry, in the end, will always ultimately lead to anguish.
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芸術性は 必ず最終的に苦痛をもたらすと…
04:06
And the question that I want to ask everybody here today
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今日の提起は ここです
04:08
is are you guys all cool with that idea?
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これで いいと思います?
04:11
Are you comfortable with that?
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変だと思いません?
04:14
Because you look at it even from an inch away and, you know ...
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よく考えてみても…?
04:17
I'm not at all comfortable with that assumption.
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私には 引っかかります
04:20
I think it's odious.
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忌まわしいし―
04:21
And I also think it's dangerous,
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危険な発想でしょう
04:23
and I don't want to see it perpetuated into the next century.
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次世紀に残してほしくない
04:26
I think it's better if we encourage our great creative minds to live.
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むしろ生き続けるよう 励ますべきでは?
04:30
And I definitely know that, in my case -- in my situation --
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自分の状況から見ても 分かります
04:36
it would be very dangerous for me to start sort of leaking down that dark path
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あの暗い前提を 受け入れるのは―
04:41
of assumption, particularly given the circumstance
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危険でしょう ことに私の―
04:44
that I'm in right now in my career.
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今の状況を 考えるなら…
04:46
Which is -- you know, like check it out,
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つまり… この通り―
04:49
I'm pretty young, I'm only about 40 years old.
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まだ若く 40そこそこ
04:51
I still have maybe another four decades of work left in me.
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仕事も あと40年続けるかもしれない
04:54
And it's exceedingly likely that anything I write from this point forward
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今から先 書き上げるものは間違いなく―
04:59
is going to be judged by the world as the work that came after
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この前出版した本と 比較されるんです
05:02
the freakish success of my last book, right?
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信じられないぐらい売れたあの本と…
05:05
I should just put it bluntly, because we're all sort of friends here now --
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ここだけの話 率直に言うと―
05:09
it's exceedingly likely that my greatest success is behind me.
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今後 代表作を書ける見込みは低いんです
05:13
So Jesus, what a thought!
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ああ なんてこと!
05:16
That's the kind of thought that could lead a person
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こんな風に考えて 人は―
05:18
to start drinking gin at nine o'clock in the morning,
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朝9時からジンを飲むようになるんです
05:21
and I don't want to go there.
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それは ごめんです
05:24
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
05:25
I would prefer to keep doing this work that I love.
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好きな仕事を続けたい
05:27
And so, the question becomes, how?
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そこで考えます "どうやって?"
05:31
And so, it seems to me, upon a lot of reflection,
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振り返って じっくり考えました
05:33
that the way that I have to work now, in order to continue writing,
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書き続けるために なすべきことは―
05:37
is that I have to create some sort of protective psychological construct, right?
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心理的に守れるものを作ることだろう と
05:41
I have to sort of find some way to have a safe distance
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安全な距離を 保てるようになること
05:44
between me, as I am writing, and my very natural anxiety
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作家としての私と 未来の作品の評価を―
05:49
about what the reaction to that writing is going to be, from now on.
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心配する私の間に…
05:53
And, as I've been looking over the last year for models for how to do that
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昨年中 手本を探し続けました
05:57
I've been sort of looking across time,
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歴史も さかのぼり―
05:59
and I've been trying to find other societies
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様々な社会も 探りました
06:01
to see if they might have had better and saner ideas than we have
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より良く まっとうな見解はないかと
06:05
about how to help creative people, sort of manage
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創作者を助け 創作につきものの―
06:08
the inherent emotional risks of creativity.
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精神的リスクを管理できないか…
06:11
And that search has led me to ancient Greece and ancient Rome.
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古代ギリシャとローマにありました
06:16
So stay with me, because it does circle around and back.
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ついて来て下さい じき戻りますから
06:19
But, ancient Greece and ancient Rome --
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古代のギリシャとローマでは―
06:21
people did not happen to believe that creativity
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信じられていませんでした
06:24
came from human beings back then, O.K.?
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人間に創造性が備わっているとは…
06:26
People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit
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創造性は 人に付き添う精霊で―
06:30
that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source,
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遠く未知のところから来たのです
06:34
for distant and unknowable reasons.
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人間の理解を超えた動機から…
06:37
The Greeks famously called these divine attendant spirits of creativity "daemons."
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古代ギリシャ人は 精霊を"ダイモン"と呼びました
06:42
Socrates, famously, believed that he had a daemon
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ソクラテスは ダイモンがついていると信じていた
06:45
who spoke wisdom to him from afar.
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遠くから叡智を語ってきたと…
06:48
The Romans had the same idea,
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ローマ人も同様でしたが―
06:49
but they called that sort of disembodied creative spirit a genius.
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肉体のない創造の霊を"ジーニアス" と呼びました
06:54
Which is great, because the Romans did not actually think
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彼らは "ジーニアス(天才)" を―
06:57
that a genius was a particularly clever individual.
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能力の秀でた個人とは 考えなかった
06:59
They believed that a genius was this, sort of magical divine entity,
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あの精霊のことだと 考えていました
07:03
who was believed to literally live in the walls
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アトリエの壁の中に生き―
07:07
of an artist's studio, kind of like Dobby the house elf,
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ハリーポッターの妖精ドビーのように…
07:11
and who would come out and sort of invisibly assist the artist with their work
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創作活動をこっそり手伝い―
07:15
and would shape the outcome of that work.
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作品を形作るんです
07:18
So brilliant -- there it is, right there, that distance that I'm talking about --
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素晴らしい! 先ほど話した"距離"が存在します
07:21
that psychological construct to protect you from the results of your work.
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作品の評価から 心理的に守られるものが…
07:26
And everyone knew that this is how it functioned, right?
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そういうものだと 人々は信じていました
07:29
So the ancient artist was protected from certain things,
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古代のアーティストは 守られていたのです
07:32
like, for example, too much narcissism, right?
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たとえば 過剰な自惚れから
07:34
If your work was brilliant you couldn't take all the credit for it,
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どんなに立派な作品でも 自分だけの功績ではない
07:37
everybody knew that you had this disembodied genius who had helped you.
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霊が助けたと 知られていたからです
07:41
If your work bombed, not entirely your fault, you know?
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失敗しても 自分だけのせいじゃない
07:45
Everyone knew your genius was kind of lame.
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"ジーニアス" が ダメだったんです
07:48
And this is how people thought about creativity in the West for a really long time.
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この考えは 長らく西洋に浸透していましたが―
07:53
And then the Renaissance came and everything changed,
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ルネッサンスが全てを変えました
07:55
and we had this big idea, and the big idea was
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とてつもない考えが現れた
07:57
let's put the individual human being at the center of the universe
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世界の中心に 人間を置こうではないかと
08:01
above all gods and mysteries, and there's no more room
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全ての神と神秘の上に…
08:03
for mystical creatures who take dictation from the divine.
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神の言葉を伝える謎の生き物は 消えた…
08:06
And it's the beginning of rational humanism,
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合理的人文主義の 誕生です
08:09
and people started to believe that creativity
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人々も信じ始めました
08:11
came completely from the self of the individual.
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創造性は 個人の内から現れるのだと
08:13
And for the first time in history,
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史上初めて―
08:16
you start to hear people referring to this or that artist as being a genius
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芸術家が "ジーニアス" と呼ばれるようになりました
08:21
rather than having a genius.
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"ジーニアス" が側にいるのではない
08:22
And I got to tell you, I think that was a huge error.
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これは大きな間違いですよ
08:26
You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person
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たった一人の人間を―
08:30
to believe that he or she is like, the vessel,
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男でも女でも 一人の人を―
08:33
you know, like the font and the essence and the source
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神聖で創造的な謎の―
08:35
of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery
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本質で源だと 信じさせるなんて
08:39
is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche.
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繊細な人間の心には 少し重荷では?
08:45
It's like asking somebody to swallow the sun.
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太陽を飲めと 言うようなものです
08:48
It just completely warps and distorts egos,
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歪んだエゴでしょう
08:51
and it creates all these unmanageable expectations about performance.
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それが 作品への過剰な期待を作り―
08:55
And I think the pressure of that
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その期待へのプレッシャーが―
08:57
has been killing off our artists for the last 500 years.
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過去500年 芸術家たちを殺してきたんです
09:00
And, if this is true,
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もしこれが事実なら―
09:02
and I think it is true,
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事実だと思いますが―
09:04
the question becomes, what now?
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問題は 今後です
09:07
Can we do this differently?
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他に道は ないでしょうか?
09:09
Maybe go back to some more ancient understanding
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創造性の謎と 上手に付き合うには―
09:12
about the relationship between humans and the creative mystery.
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昔の考え方に ならえばいい?
09:17
Maybe not.
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恐らく無理でしょう
09:18
Maybe we can't just erase 500 years of rational humanistic thought
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500年に及ぶ 合理的人文思想を消すのは…
09:22
in one 18 minute speech.
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18分のスピーチでは ね
09:24
And there's probably people in this audience
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恐らく この会場にも―
09:27
who would raise really legitimate scientific suspicions
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科学的な正当性を 疑う人がいるでしょう
09:31
about the notion of, basically fairies
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妖精というアイデアに…
09:33
who follow people around rubbing fairy juice on their projects and stuff.
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彼らが 作品に甘い蜜をかけるなんて?
09:38
I'm not, probably, going to bring you all along with me on this.
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深入りは しませんが―
09:43
But the question that I kind of want to pose is --
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提起したいのは ここです
09:45
you know, why not?
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"いいじゃない?"
09:48
Why not think about it this way?
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"何がいけない?" と
09:49
Because it makes as much sense as anything else I have ever heard
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今まで聞いたどの話より 納得いきます
09:54
in terms of explaining the utter maddening capriciousness
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創作過程の 意味不明な気まぐれが―
09:58
of the creative process.
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説明できます
09:59
A process which, as anybody who has ever tried to make something --
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何か創ろうとした人なら分かる―
10:02
which is to say basically everyone here ---
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つまり皆さん ご存知のあの―
10:04
knows does not always behave rationally.
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非合理な過程です
10:07
And, in fact, can sometimes feel downright paranormal.
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ときに超常現象とさえ感じられる…
10:12
I had this encounter recently where I met the extraordinary American poet Ruth Stone,
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最近 非凡な詩人 ルース ストーンに会いました
10:18
who's now in her 90s, but she's been a poet her entire life
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90を超えても現役の詩人です
10:20
and she told me that when she was growing up in rural Virginia,
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彼女はバージニアの田舎で育ち―
10:24
she would be out working in the fields,
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畑仕事をしていた時に―
10:25
and she said she would feel and hear a poem
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詩の到来を 感じたそうです
10:28
coming at her from over the landscape.
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大地の彼方から やってくるのを…
10:30
And she said it was like a thunderous train of air.
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ものすごい一群の風のようなものが―
10:34
And it would come barreling down at her over the landscape.
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大地を越えて突進してくるのを―
10:36
And she felt it coming, because it would shake the earth under her feet.
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地面の振動を感じて 察したそうです
10:39
She knew that she had only one thing to do at that point,
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なすべきことは ただ一つ
10:43
and that was to, in her words, "run like hell."
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"がむしゃらに走る" こと
10:45
And she would run like hell to the house
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がむしゃらに家へ走り―
10:46
and she would be getting chased by this poem,
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詩に追われながら―
10:48
and the whole deal was that she had to get to a piece of paper and a pencil
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素早く 紙と鉛筆を手に取り―
10:51
fast enough so that when it thundered through her, she could collect it
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詩が 身体を通り抜ける時に―
10:54
and grab it on the page.
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つかまえ 書き留める
10:56
And other times she wouldn't be fast enough,
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間に合わない時もありました
10:58
so she'd be running and running and running, and she wouldn't get to the house
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走って走って… 間に合わず―
11:01
and the poem would barrel through her and she would miss it
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身体から素早く 抜けてしまった
11:04
and she said it would continue on across the landscape,
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彼女によると "恐らくそのまま―
11:06
looking, as she put it "for another poet."
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次の詩人を探しに行った" と
11:09
And then there were these times --
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別の機会には―
11:12
this is the piece I never forgot --
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これは秀逸ですが―
11:14
she said that there were moments where she would almost miss it, right?
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逃がしそうな時が ありました
11:17
So, she's running to the house and she's looking for the paper
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必死で走り 紙を探し―
11:20
and the poem passes through her,
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詩が身体を通り―
11:22
and she grabs a pencil just as it's going through her,
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抜けようとした瞬間 鉛筆をつかみ―
11:25
and then she said, it was like she would reach out with her other hand
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もう一方の手を伸ばし―
11:27
and she would catch it.
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捕まえたそうです
11:29
She would catch the poem by its tail,
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詩の 尻尾をつかみ―
11:31
and she would pull it backwards into her body
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身体の中に 尻尾の方から取り込み―
11:34
as she was transcribing on the page.
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書き写していったんです
11:36
And in these instances, the poem would come up on the page perfect and intact
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詩は完璧に出来ましたが―
11:41
but backwards, from the last word to the first.
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全て 逆さまでした
11:44
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
11:46
So when I heard that I was like -- that's uncanny,
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それを聞いて思ったんです "まさか"と
11:50
that's exactly what my creative process is like.
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私のやり方とソックリだったので
11:53
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
11:57
That's not at all what my creative process is -- I'm not the pipeline!
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身体を通る部分じゃないですよ!
12:00
I'm a mule, and the way that I have to work
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私は頑固なので 仕事は―
12:01
is that I have to get up at the same time every day,
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毎朝 同じ時間に起き―
12:03
and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly.
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苦心してコツコツ書いています
12:06
But even I, in my mulishness,
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そんな私でも―
12:09
even I have brushed up against that thing, at times.
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出合う瞬間があります
12:13
And I would imagine that a lot of you have too.
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皆さんも経験あるでしょう
12:15
You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source
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アイデアが降りてくるんです
12:18
that I honestly cannot identify.
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どこからともなく
12:21
And what is that thing?
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これは一体?
12:22
And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds,
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取り乱さずに どう対処しましょう?
12:26
but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?
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正気を保ちながら?
12:29
And for me, the best contemporary example that I have of how to do that
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対処法の現代における お手本は―
12:33
is the musician Tom Waits,
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ミュージシャンの トム ウェイツです
12:35
who I got to interview several years ago on a magazine assignment.
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数年前 雑誌の取材で会い―
12:40
And we were talking about this,
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この話をしました
12:41
and you know, Tom, for most of his life he was pretty much the embodiment
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彼の人生は 典型的な―
12:45
of the tormented contemporary modern artist,
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1924
苦悩する現代アーティストでした
12:47
trying to control and manage and dominate
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扱いにくい創作の衝動を―
12:50
these sort of uncontrollable creative impulses
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制しようと苦心していました
12:52
that were totally internalized.
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内面の衝動を…
12:54
But then he got older, he got calmer,
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2005
歳をとり 穏やかになり―
12:56
and one day he was driving down the freeway in Los Angeles he told me,
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ある日 L.A.のフリーウェイを走っていて―
12:59
and this is when it all changed for him.
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全てが変わりました
13:01
And he's speeding along, and all of a sudden
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1991
飛ばしていたら 突然―
13:03
he hears this little fragment of melody,
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頭に 曲の断片が聴こえてきた
13:06
that comes into his head as inspiration often comes, elusive and tantalizing,
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とらえ難くもどかしい 閃きとして…
13:10
and he wants it, you know, it's gorgeous,
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たまりません 素晴らしくて―
13:13
and he longs for it, but he has no way to get it.
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待ち望んだ瞬間なのに―
13:15
He doesn't have a piece of paper, he doesn't have a pencil,
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1868
紙も鉛筆もないんです
13:17
he doesn't have a tape recorder.
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テープレコーダーもない
13:18
So he starts to feel all of that old anxiety start to rise in him
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いつもの焦燥に 駆られました
13:21
like, "I'm going to lose this thing,
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1991
"これを逃して―"
13:23
and then I'm going to be haunted by this song forever.
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1920
"一生悩まされる"
13:25
I'm not good enough, and I can't do it."
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"俺はダメだ 無理だ"
13:27
And instead of panicking, he just stopped.
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慌てる代わりに 止めました
13:29
He just stopped that whole mental process
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思考回路を止め―
13:31
and he did something completely novel.
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2155
斬新な行動に出ました
13:33
He just looked up at the sky, and he said,
265
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空を見上げ―
13:36
"Excuse me, can you not see that I'm driving?"
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3014
"なあ 運転してるのが分からないのか?"
13:39
(Laughter)
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(会場 笑)
13:42
"Do I look like I can write down a song right now?
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2734
"今 曲が書けるとでも?"
13:45
If you really want to exist, come back at a more opportune moment
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"書いてもらいたきゃ 出直して来いよ"
13:49
when I can take care of you.
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"面倒見てやれる時に"
13:51
Otherwise, go bother somebody else today.
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"でなけりゃ 他所をあたってくれ"
13:54
Go bother Leonard Cohen."
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"レナード コーエンにでも"
13:57
And his whole work process changed after that.
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以降 作曲の姿勢が変わったそうです
14:00
Not the work, the work was still oftentimes as dark as ever.
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作風は変わりないですが―
14:04
But the process, and the heavy anxiety around it
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作曲の姿勢と それに伴う不安は―
14:07
was released when he took the genie, the genius out of him
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"ジーニアス"を出したら 消えたのです
14:10
where it was causing nothing but trouble, and released it kind of back where it came from,
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問題の元を 本来の場所に返し―
14:13
and realized that this didn't have to be this internalized, tormented thing.
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葛藤しなくても良いと 気付きました
14:17
It could be this peculiar, wondrous, bizarre collaboration
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奇妙で一風変わった 共同作業です
14:20
kind of conversation between Tom and the strange, external thing
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彼と 変わった外部のモノとの対話…
14:25
that was not quite Tom.
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別モノとの対話です
14:27
So when I heard that story it started to shift a little bit
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2706
この話を聞いて 私も少し―
14:30
the way that I worked too, and it already saved me once.
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仕事の姿勢を変え 助かったんです
14:32
This idea, it saved me when I was in the middle of writing "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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3331
あのベストセラーを執筆中―
14:36
and I fell into one of those, sort of pits of despair
285
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絶望に陥ったとき―
14:38
that we all fall into when we're working on something and it's not coming
286
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3341
頑張っても 上手く行かず―
14:42
and you start to think this is going to be a disaster,
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2242
悲惨な結末を考え始めました
14:44
this is going to be the worst book ever written.
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1761
最悪になるわ と
14:46
Not just bad, but the worst book ever written.
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悪いどころか史上最悪!
14:48
And I started to think I should just dump this project.
290
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3962
葬ろうかと思い始めた時に―
14:52
But then I remembered Tom talking to the open air
291
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3075
トムの話を思い出し―
14:55
and I tried it.
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2048
やってみました
14:57
So I just lifted my face up from the manuscript
293
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2492
原稿から顔を上げ―
14:59
and I directed my comments to an empty corner of the room.
294
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部屋の片隅に話しかけたんです
15:02
And I said aloud, "Listen you, thing,
295
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"ちょっと" と声に出して
15:06
you and I both know that if this book isn't brilliant
296
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3198
"仮に この本がイマイチでも―"
15:09
that is not entirely my fault, right?
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1801
"私一人の責任じゃないわよね?"
15:11
Because you can see that I am putting everything I have into this,
298
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3327
"全力投球なのは分かるでしょ?"
15:14
I don't have any more than this.
299
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1368
"これ以上は無理"
15:15
So if you want it to be better, then you've got to show up and do your part of the deal.
300
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3226
"良くしたければ 役目を果たして"
15:19
O.K. But if you don't do that, you know what, the hell with it.
301
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2994
"その気がないなら いいわよ"
15:22
I'm going to keep writing anyway because that's my job.
302
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2936
"私は自分の役目を果たすだけ"
15:25
And I would please like the record to reflect today
303
912292
1899
"しっかり書いておいてね"
15:26
that I showed up for my part of the job."
304
914191
2300
"私は やることやったって"
15:29
(Laughter)
305
916491
3698
(会場 笑)
15:32
Because --
306
920189
2087
だって―
15:35
(Applause)
307
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2074
(会場 拍手)
15:37
in the end it's like this, O.K. --
308
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2172
ご覧の通りじゃないですか?
15:39
centuries ago in the deserts of North Africa,
309
926522
2401
昔 北アフリカの砂漠では―
15:41
people used to gather for these moonlight dances of sacred dance and music
310
928923
4667
月夜に 踊りと歌の祭典がありました
15:46
that would go on for hours and hours, until dawn.
311
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2704
明け方まで何時間も
15:49
And they were always magnificent, because the dancers were professionals
312
936294
3027
見事なものです プロの踊り手は―
15:52
and they were terrific, right?
313
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1174
素晴らしいです
15:53
But every once in a while, very rarely, something would happen,
314
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3818
たまに ごくまれに―
15:57
and one of these performers would actually become transcendent.
315
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3512
踊り手が 一線を越えることがある
16:00
And I know you know what I'm talking about,
316
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2284
何の話か お分かりですよね
16:02
because I know you've all seen, at some point in your life, a performance like this.
317
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3954
そんな場面に出合ったことありません?
16:06
It was like time would stop,
318
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2095
まるで時が止まり―
16:08
and the dancer would sort of step through some kind of portal
319
956158
2375
踊り手が ある境界を抜ける…
16:11
and he wasn't doing anything different than he had ever done, 1,000 nights before,
320
958533
4491
いつもの踊りと 変わらないはずなのに―
16:15
but everything would align.
321
963024
1751
すべてが符合し―
16:17
And all of a sudden, he would no longer appear to be merely human.
322
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3032
突然 人間には見えなくなる
16:20
He would be lit from within, and lit from below
323
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2534
内から足元から輝き―
16:23
and all lit up on fire with divinity.
324
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3790
神々しく燃え上がるんです
16:26
And when this happened, back then,
325
974131
2145
当時の人々は そんな時―
16:29
people knew it for what it was, you know, they called it by its name.
326
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4216
何が起きたか察し その名を呼びます
16:33
They would put their hands together and they would start to chant,
327
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2632
両手を合わせて 唱え始めます
16:35
"Allah, Allah, Allah, God, God, God."
328
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4100
"アラー アラー 神よ 神よ"
16:40
That's God, you know.
329
987224
3102
"あれは神だ" と
16:43
Curious historical footnote --
330
990326
2680
歴史の本によると―
16:45
when the Moors invaded southern Spain, they took this custom with them
331
993006
4841
ムーア人は南スペイン侵攻時 その慣習も持ち込みました
16:50
and the pronunciation changed over the centuries
332
997847
2245
長年かけて発音も変わり―
16:52
from "Allah, Allah, Allah," to "Olé, olé, olé,"
333
1000092
2865
"アラー アラー" から "オレー オレー" へ…
16:55
which you still hear in bullfights and in flamenco dances.
334
1002957
3174
今でも闘牛とフラメンコで耳にします
16:58
In Spain, when a performer has done something impossible and magic,
335
1006131
3653
スペインでは 演者の驚異的な動きに―
17:02
"Allah, olé, olé, Allah, magnificent, bravo,"
336
1009784
3149
"アラー オレー" "すごい! ブラボー!"
17:05
incomprehensible, there it is -- a glimpse of God.
337
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3404
神を垣間見るんです
17:09
Which is great, because we need that.
338
1016337
2172
素晴らしい まさにこれです
17:11
But, the tricky bit comes the next morning,
339
1018509
3851
ただし厄介なのは 翌朝です
17:15
for the dancer himself, when he wakes up
340
1022360
2925
踊り手が目覚めると―
17:18
and discovers that it's Tuesday at 11 a.m., and he's no longer a glimpse of God.
341
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3949
火曜の朝11時で もう神はいません
17:22
He's just an aging mortal with really bad knees,
342
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3492
膝の悪い老いた人間が一人…
17:25
and maybe he's never going to ascend to that height again.
343
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4240
恐らく あの高みに再び上ることも―
17:29
And maybe nobody will ever chant God's name again as he spins,
344
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3727
回転しても 神の名を呼ぶ人もない…
17:33
and what is he then to do with the rest of his life?
345
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2858
残りの人生は?
17:36
This is hard.
346
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1382
つらいことです
17:37
This is one of the most painful reconciliations to make
347
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2842
最も辛い現実です
17:40
in a creative life.
348
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創造的な人生上で…
17:42
But maybe it doesn't have to be quite so full of anguish
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いえ そこまで酷くないかも…
17:45
if you never happened to believe, in the first place,
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もし初めから 非凡な才能が自分に―
17:49
that the most extraordinary aspects of your being came from you.
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備わっていたと 信じなければ…
17:53
But maybe if you just believed that they were on loan to you
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その力が借り物だと 思い―
17:56
from some unimaginable source for some exquisite portion of your life
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謎の源から 人生に添えられ―
17:59
to be passed along when you're finished, with somebody else.
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終えたら 他へ行くものと思えば…
18:03
And, you know, if we think about it this way it starts to change everything.
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そう考えれば 全て変わります
18:08
This is how I've started to think,
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私も そう考え始め―
18:10
and this is certainly how I've been thinking in the last few months
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この数ヶ月 考え続けてきました
18:13
as I've been working on the book that will soon be published,
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もうすぐ出る本を 書いている間に…
18:16
as the dangerously, frighteningly over-anticipated follow up
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危険なほど期待された最新作―
18:20
to my freakish success.
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異常な成功の 次の作品です
18:22
And what I have to, sort of keep telling myself
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自分に言い聞かせ続けました
18:25
when I get really psyched out about that,
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のまれそうになった時に―
18:27
is, don't be afraid.
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恐れない
18:29
Don't be daunted.
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ひるまない
18:31
Just do your job.
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やることをやるだけ
18:33
Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.
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結果を気にせず 続けよ と
18:36
If your job is to dance, do your dance.
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踊るのが仕事なら 踊るだけ
18:39
If the divine, cockeyed genius assigned to your case
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気まぐれな精霊が 割り当てられ―
18:43
decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed, for just one moment
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あなたの努力に対し 一瞬でも奇跡を―
18:48
through your efforts, then "Olé!"
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見せてくれたら… "オレー!"
18:50
And if not, do your dance anyhow.
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見せてくれずとも踊るだけ
18:53
And "Olé!" to you, nonetheless.
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それでも 自分に"オレー" と
18:55
I believe this and I feel that we must teach it.
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そう信じますし 広めませんか
18:57
"Olé!" to you, nonetheless,
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それでも"オレー" と
18:59
just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness
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真の人間愛と 不屈の精神を―
19:02
to keep showing up.
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持ち続けることに対し…
19:04
Thank you.
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有難うございました
19:06
(Applause)
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(会場 拍手)
19:08
Thank you.
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ありがとう
19:09
(Applause)
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(会場 拍手)
19:12
June Cohen: Olé!
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"オレー!"
19:14
(Applause)
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(会場 拍手)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elizabeth Gilbert - WriterThe author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both.
Why you should listen
Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of -- running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.
She's a longtime magazine writer -- covering music and politics for Spin and GQ -- as well as a novelist and short-story writer. Her books include the story collection Pilgrims, the novel Stern Men (about lobster fishermen in Maine) and a biography of the woodsman Eustace Conway, called The Last American Man. Her work has been the basis for two movies so far (Coyote Ugly, based on her own tale of working at the famously raunchy bar in New York City), and Eat, Pray, Love, with the part of Gilbert played by Julia Roberts. Not bad for a year off.
In 2010, Elizabeth published Committed, a memoir exploring her ambivalent feelings about the institution of marriage. And her 2013 novel, The Signature of All Things, is "a sprawling tale of 19th century botanical exploration."
Gilbert also owns and runs the import shop Two Buttons in Frenchtown, New Jersey.
Elizabeth Gilbert | Speaker | TED.com