TED2014
Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, failure and the drive to keep creating
Elizabeth Gilbert: Uspjeh, neuspjeh i poriv da nastavite stvarati
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Elizabeth Gilbert nekad je bila "neobjavljena konobarica iz zalogajnice" poražena odbijenicama. Ali ipak, usred uspjeha "Jedi, Moli, Voli", našla se kako se identificira sa prijašnjom sobom. Sa divnim uvidom, Gilbert se prisjeća zašto uspjeh može biti dezorijentirajući isto kao i neuspjeh i daje nam jednostavan -- iako težak -- način da nastavimo, bez obzira na ishode.
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.
00:12
So, a few years ago I was at JFK Airport
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Prije nekoliko godina bila sam na JFK aerodromu
00:15
about to get on a flight,
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upravo se ukrcavajući na let,
00:17
when I was approached by two women
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kada su mi prišle dvije žene
00:19
who I do not think would be insulted
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za koje mislim da se neće uvrijediti
00:21
to hear themselves described
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ako čuju da sam ih opisala
00:22
as tiny old tough-talking Italian-American broads.
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kao malene stare Talijansko-Američke ženske jake na riječima.
00:26
The taller one, who is like up here,
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Viša, koja je otprilike ovdje,
00:29
she comes marching up to me, and she goes,
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domaršira do mene, i kaže,
00:31
"Honey, I gotta ask you something.
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"Dušo moram te nešto pitati.
00:33
You got something to do with that whole
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Ti imaš veze sa svim onim
00:35
'Eat, Pray, Love' thing that's been going on lately?"
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'Jedi, Moli, Voli' koje je posvuda u zadnje vrijeme?"
00:38
And I said, "Yes, I did."
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I rekla sam, "Da, imam."
00:40
And she smacks her friend and she goes,
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I ona udari svoju prijateljicu i kaže,
00:42
"See, I told you, I said, that's that girl.
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"Vidiš, rekla sam ti. Rekla sam ti da je to ta djevojka.
00:44
That's that girl who wrote that book
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To je ta djevojka koja je napisala tu knjigu
00:46
based on that movie."
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koja je temeljena na onom filmu."
00:48
(Laughter)
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(Smijeh)
00:50
So that's who I am.
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Dakle, to sam ja.
00:52
And believe me, I'm extremely
grateful to be that person,
grateful to be that person,
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I vjerujte mi, iznimno sam
zahvalna što sam ta osoba,
zahvalna što sam ta osoba,
00:56
because that whole "Eat, Pray, Love" thing
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jer cijela ta stvar sa "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
00:58
was a huge break for me.
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bila je velika prilika za mene.
01:00
But it also left me in a really tricky position
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Ali me ostavila u dosta nezgodnom položaju
01:02
moving forward as an author
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kada se radi o mom napretku kao autora
01:04
trying to figure out how in the world
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koji pokušava shvatiti kako uopće
01:06
I was ever going to write a book again
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ponovno napisati knjigu
01:07
that would ever please anybody,
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koja će zadovoljiti bilo koga
01:09
because I knew well in advance
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jer sam unaprijed znala
01:11
that all of those people who
had adored "Eat, Pray, Love"
had adored "Eat, Pray, Love"
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da svi ti ljudi koji
su obožavali "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
su obožavali "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
01:14
were going to be incredibly disappointed
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će biti izuzetno razočarani
01:15
in whatever I wrote next
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što god sljedeće da napišem
01:17
because it wasn't going to be "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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jer to neće biti "Jedi, Moli, Voli",
01:19
and all of those people who
had hated "Eat, Pray, Love"
had hated "Eat, Pray, Love"
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i svi ljudi koji su
mrzili "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
mrzili "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
01:21
were going to be incredibly disappointed
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će biti izuzetno razočarani
01:22
in whatever I wrote next
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što god sljedeće da napišem
01:24
because it would provide evidence that I still lived.
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jer će im to pružiti dokaz da sam i dalje živa.
01:26
So I knew that I had no way to win,
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Tako da sam znala da nema načina da pobijedim,
01:30
and knowing that I had no way to win
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i znanje da nemam načina da pobijedim
01:32
made me seriously consider for a while
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me natjeralo da ozbiljno neko vrijeme razmišljam
01:34
just quitting the game
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da samo odustanem od igre
01:35
and moving to the country to raise corgis.
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i da se odselim na selo da uzgajam korgije.
01:39
But if I had done that, if I had given up writing,
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Ali da sam to učinila, da sam odustala od pisanja,
01:41
I would have lost my beloved vocation,
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znam da bih izgubila svoj voljeni poziv,
01:43
so I knew that the task was that I had to find
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tako da sam znala da je zadatak
bio taj da moram pronaći
bio taj da moram pronaći
01:45
some way to gin up the inspiration
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neki način da skupim inspiraciju
01:48
to write the next book
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da napišem sljedeću knjigu
01:49
regardless of its inevitable negative outcome.
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bez obzira na njen neupitno negativni ishod.
01:52
In other words, I had to find a way to make sure
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Drugim riječima, morala sam naći način
01:53
that my creativity survived its own success.
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da moja kreativnost nadživi vlastiti uspjeh.
01:56
And I did, in the end, find that inspiration,
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I jesam, na kraju, pronašla tu inspiraciju,
01:58
but I found it in the most unlikely
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ali sam ju našla na najnevjerojatnijem
02:00
and unexpected place.
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i neočekivanijem mjestu.
02:01
I found it in lessons that I had learned earlier in life
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Našla sam ju u lekcijama koje sam naučila prije u životu
02:04
about how creativity can survive its own failure.
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o tome kako kreativnost može preživjeti vlastiti neuspjeh.
02:08
So just to back up and explain,
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Samo da se malo vratim natrag i objasnim,
02:09
the only thing I have ever wanted to be
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jedina stvar koja sam ikad željela biti
02:11
for my whole life was a writer.
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cijeli moj život je pisac.
02:13
I wrote all through childhood,
all through adolescence,
all through adolescence,
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Pisala sam kroz cijelo djetinjstvo,
i kroz adolescenciju,
i kroz adolescenciju,
02:15
by the time I was a teenager I was sending
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kada sam bila tinejdžer slala sam
02:17
my very bad stories to The New Yorker,
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svoje vrlo loše priče u New Yorker,
02:19
hoping to be discovered.
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nadajući se da ću biti otkrivena.
02:20
After college, I got a job as a diner waitress,
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Nakon fakulteta, dobila sam posao kao konobarica u zalogajnici,
02:23
kept working, kept writing,
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nastavila raditi, nastavila pisati,
02:25
kept trying really hard to get published,
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nastavila se jako truditi da me objave,
02:27
and failing at it.
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i bila neuspješna u tome.
02:29
I failed at getting published
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Nisam uspjela biti objavljena
02:30
for almost six years.
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gotovo šest godina.
02:32
So for almost six years, every single day,
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Tako da sam gotovo šest godina, svakog dana,
02:34
I had nothing but rejection letters
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imala ništa drugo nego odbijenice
02:35
waiting for me in my mailbox.
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koje su me čekale u sandučiću.
02:37
And it was devastating every single time,
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I bilo je poražavajuće svakoga puta,
02:39
and every single time, I had to ask myself
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i svakoga puta morala sam se zapitati
02:41
if I should just quit while I was behind
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trebam li odustati dok sam iza
02:43
and give up and spare myself this pain.
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odustati i poštediti se ove boli.
02:47
But then I would find my resolve,
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Ali onda bih našla svoju odlučnost,
02:48
and always in the same way,
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uvijek na isti način,
02:50
by saying, "I'm not going to quit,
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govoreći "Neću odustati,
02:52
I'm going home."
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idem kući."
02:54
And you have to understand that for me,
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I morate shvatiti da za mene,
02:55
going home did not mean
returning to my family's farm.
returning to my family's farm.
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ići kući ne znači
vratiti se na obiteljsku farmu.
vratiti se na obiteljsku farmu.
02:58
For me, going home
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Za mene, ići kući
03:00
meant returning to the work of writing
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značilo je vratiti se poslu pisanja
03:01
because writing was my home,
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jer pisanje je bilo moj dom,
03:03
because I loved writing more
than I hated failing at writing,
than I hated failing at writing,
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jer sam voljela pisati više
nego što sam mrzila biti neuspješna u pisanju,
nego što sam mrzila biti neuspješna u pisanju,
03:06
which is to say that I loved writing
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što će reći da sam voljela pisanje
03:08
more than I loved my own ego,
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više nego sam voljela svoj ego,
03:09
which is ultimately to say
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što u konačnici govori
03:11
that I loved writing more than I loved myself.
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da sam više voljela pisanje nego sam voljela sebe.
03:13
And that's how I pushed through it.
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I tako sam to izgurala.
03:15
But the weird thing is that 20 years later,
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Ali čudna stvar je da sam se 20 godina kasnije,
03:17
during the crazy ride of "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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za vrijeme lude vožnje "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
03:19
I found myself identifying all over again
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našla kako se identificiram ponovno
03:21
with that unpublished young diner waitress
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sa onom neobjavljenom mladom konobaricom iz zalogajnice
03:24
who I used to be, thinking about her constantly,
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koja sam nekad bila, razmišljajući stalno o njoj,
03:26
and feeling like I was her again,
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i osjećajući da sam ponovno ona,
03:28
which made no rational sense whatsoever
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što nije imalo baš nikakvog racionalnog smisla
03:30
because our lives could not
have been more different.
have been more different.
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jer naši životi
nisu mogli biti više različiti.
nisu mogli biti više različiti.
03:32
She had failed constantly.
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Ona stalno nije uspijevala,
03:33
I had succeeded beyond my wildest expectation.
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ja sam uspjela iznad svih mojih očekivanja.
03:36
We had nothing in common.
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Nismo imali ništa zajedničko.
03:37
Why did I suddenly feel like I was her all over again?
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Zašto se ponovno osjećam kao ona?
03:40
And it was only when I was trying to unthread that
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I tek kada sam to pokušala odgonetnuti
03:43
that I finally began to comprehend
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napokon sam počela shvaćati
03:44
the strange and unlikely psychological connection
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neobičnu i neočekivanu
psihološku poveznicu
psihološku poveznicu
03:47
in our lives between the way
we experience great failure
we experience great failure
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u našim životima u načinu
na koji doživljavamo veliki neuspjeh
na koji doživljavamo veliki neuspjeh
03:49
and the way we experience great success.
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i načinu na koji doživljavamo veliki uspjeh.
03:51
So think of it like this:
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Gledajte na to ovako:
03:53
For most of your life, you live out your existence
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Većinu svog života, živite
svoje postojanje
svoje postojanje
03:55
here in the middle of the chain of human experience
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ovdje u sred lanca ljudskih iskustava
03:57
where everything is normal
and reassuring and regular,
and reassuring and regular,
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gdje je sve normalno,
ulijeva sigurnost i uobičajeno je,
ulijeva sigurnost i uobičajeno je,
04:00
but failure catapults you abruptly way out over here
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ali neuspjeh vas katapulitra daleko ovdje
04:04
into the blinding darkness of disappointment.
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u zasljepljujuću tamu razočarenja.
04:06
Success catapults you just as abruptly but just as far
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Uspjeh vas katapultira, isto tako naglo i isto tako daleko
04:10
way out over here
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na ovu stranu
04:11
into the equally blinding glare
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u isto tako zasljepljujući sjaj
04:13
of fame and recognition and praise.
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slave i priznanja i hvale.
04:16
And one of these fates
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I jedna od ovih sudbina
04:17
is objectively seen by the world as bad,
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je objektivno viđena od svijeta kao loša,
04:20
and the other one is objectively
seen by the world as good,
seen by the world as good,
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i druga je objekvitno
od svijeta viđena kao dobra,
od svijeta viđena kao dobra,
04:22
but your subconscious is completely incapable
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ali vaša podsvijest je u potpunosti nesposobna
04:24
of discerning the difference between bad and good.
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razlikovati između dobrog i lošeg.
04:27
The only thing that it is capable of feeling
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Jedina stvar koju može osjećati
04:29
is the absolute value of this emotional equation,
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je apsolutna vrijednost
ove emocionalne jednadžbe,
ove emocionalne jednadžbe,
04:33
the exact distance that you have been flung
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točnu udaljenost na koju ste bačeni
04:35
from yourself.
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od sebe.
04:37
And there's a real equal danger in both cases
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I postoji jednaka opasnost u oba slučaja
04:39
of getting lost out there
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da ćete se izgubiti tamo
04:40
in the hinterlands of the psyche.
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u bespućima psihe.
04:42
But in both cases, it turns out that there is
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Ali u oba slučaja, čini se da je tu
04:44
also the same remedy for self-restoration,
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isti lijek za samo-oporavak,
04:47
and that is that you have got to
find your way back home again
find your way back home again
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i to je da morate
ponovno pronaći put kući
ponovno pronaći put kući
04:50
as swiftly and smoothly as you can,
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što je brže i što je jednostavnije moguće,
04:52
and if you're wondering what your home is,
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i ako se pitate što je vaš dom,
04:54
here's a hint:
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evo vam mig:
04:55
Your home is whatever in this world you love
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Vaš dom je bilo što
na ovome svijetu što volite
na ovome svijetu što volite
04:57
more than you love yourself.
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više nego što volite sebe.
04:59
So that might be creativity, it might be family,
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Tako da bi to mogla biti kreativnost, mogla bi biti obitelj,
05:01
it might be invention, adventure,
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mogli bi biti izumi, avanuture,
05:03
faith, service, it might be raising corgis,
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vjera, služba, može biti uzgajanje korgija,
05:06
I don't know, your home is that thing
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ne znam, vaš dom je ta stvar
05:08
to which you can dedicate your energies
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kojoj posvećujete svoju energiju
05:10
with such singular devotion
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sa takvom jedinstvenom predanošću
05:12
that the ultimate results become inconsequential.
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da konačni rezultat postaje nevažan.
05:15
For me, that home has always been writing.
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Za mene je taj dom uvijek bilo pisanje.
05:18
So after the weird, disorienting success
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Tako da sam nakon čudnog, dezorijentirajućeg uspjeha
05:20
that I went through with "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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kroz koji sam prošla sa "Jedi, Moli, Voli"
05:22
I realized that all I had to do was exactly
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shvatila da sve što moram učiniti
05:23
the same thing that I used to have to do all the time
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je ista stvar koju sam uvijek morala činiti
05:25
when I was an equally disoriented failure.
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kad sam bila jednako
dezorijentirana neuspjehom.
dezorijentirana neuspjehom.
05:27
I had to get my ass back to work,
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Morala sam se vratiti na posao,
05:29
and that's what I did, and that's how, in 2010,
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i to je ono što sam učinila, i tako sam 2010.
05:32
I was able to publish the dreaded follow-up
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izdala zastrašujući nastavak
05:34
to "Eat, Pray, Love."
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"Jedi, Moli, Voli".
05:35
And you know what happened with that book?
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I znate što se dogodilo s tom knjigom?
05:37
It bombed, and I was fine.
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Bila je užasna, i ja sam bila dobro.
05:39
Actually, I kind of felt bulletproof,
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Zapravo, osjećala sam se otpornom na metke
05:41
because I knew that I had broken the spell
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jer sam znala da sam razbila čaroliju
05:43
and I had found my way back home
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i da sam našla svoj put kući
05:45
to writing for the sheer devotion of it.
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pisanju zbog čiste predanosti tome.
05:48
And I stayed in my home of writing after that,
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I ostala sam u svome domu pisanja nakon toga,
05:50
and I wrote another book that just came out last year
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i napisala sam još jednu knjigu koja je izašla prošle godine
05:51
and that one was really beautifully received,
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i ta knjiga je zaista divno primljena,
05:53
which is very nice, but not my point.
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što je jako lijepo, no to nije moja poanta.
05:55
My point is that I'm writing another one now,
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Moja poanta je da sada pišem još jednu,
05:57
and I'll write another book after that
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i da ću napisati još jednu nakon toga
05:58
and another and another and another
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i još jednu i još jednu i još jednu
06:00
and many of them will fail,
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i mnoge od njih neće uspjeti,
06:01
and some of them might succeed,
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i neke će možda uspjeti,
06:03
but I will always be safe
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ali ću uvijek biti sigurna
06:04
from the random hurricanes of outcome
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od nasumičnih uragana ishoda
06:07
as long as I never forget where I rightfully live.
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dokle god ne zaboravim gdje s pravom živim.
06:10
Look, I don't know where you rightfully live,
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Slušajte, ne znam gdje vi s pravom živite,
06:13
but I know that there's something in this world
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ali znam da postoji nešto na ovom svijetu
06:14
that you love more than you love yourself.
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što volite više nego volite sebe.
06:16
Something worthy, by the way,
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Nešto što je vrijedno, usput,
06:18
so addiction and infatuation don't count,
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tako da se ovisnost i zaluđenost ne računaju,
06:20
because we all know that those
are not safe places to live. Right?
are not safe places to live. Right?
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jer svi znamo da to nisu
sigurna mjesta za život. Je li tako?
sigurna mjesta za život. Je li tako?
06:24
The only trick is that you've got to identify
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Jedini trik je da morate identificirati
06:26
the best, worthiest thing that you love most,
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najbolju, najvrijedniju stvar
koju najviše volite
koju najviše volite
06:28
and then build your house right on top of it
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i onda izgraditi svoj dom točno na tome
06:31
and don't budge from it.
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i ne odustajte od toga.
06:33
And if you should someday, somehow
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I ako ćete jednog dana, nekako
06:35
get vaulted out of your home
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biti izbačeni iz svog doma
06:37
by either great failure or great success,
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zbog velikog neuspjeha ili velikog uspjeha,
06:39
then your job is to fight your
way back to that home
way back to that home
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onda je vaš posao boriti se
i vratiti u svoj dom
i vratiti u svoj dom
06:42
the only way that it has ever been done,
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na jedini način kako je to ikad učinjeno,
06:43
by putting your head down and performing
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trudom i radom, čineći
06:46
with diligence and devotion
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sa marljivošću i predanoćšu
06:47
and respect and reverence
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sa poštovanjem i ustrajnošću
06:49
whatever the task is that love
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bez obzira što je zadatak koji ljubav
06:51
is calling forth from you next.
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sljedeći priziva iz vas.
06:53
You just do that, and keep doing that
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Samo činite to, i nastavljajte činiti to
06:55
again and again and again,
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ponovno i ponovno i ponovno
06:57
and I can absolutely promise you,
from long personal experience
from long personal experience
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i mogu vam bezuvjetno obećati,
iz dugog osobnog iskustva
iz dugog osobnog iskustva
07:00
in every direction, I can assure you
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u svakom smjeru, mogu vas uvjeriti
07:02
that it's all going to be okay.
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da će sve biti u redu.
07:04
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
07:06
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
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