Your elusive creative genius | Elizabeth Gilbert

Translator: Troels Leth Petersen Reviewer: Mikael Fuhr

I am a writer.

Jeg er forfatter

Writing books is my profession but it's more than that, of course.

At skrive bøger er mit job, men det er selvfølgelig mere end det.

It is also my great lifelong love and fascination.

Det er også min livslange kærlighed og fascination

And I don't expect that that's ever going to change.

Og jeg tror ikke det nogensinde vil ændre sig.

But, that said, something kind of peculiar has happened recently

Men når det er sagt, så skete der for nylig noget interessant

in my life and in my career,

i mit liv og min karriere,

which has caused me to have to recalibrate my whole relationship with this work.

som har fået mig til at gentænke mit forhold til det her arbejde.

And the peculiar thing is that I recently wrote this book,

Og den interessante ting er at jeg for nylig skrev denne bog,

this memoir called "Eat, Pray, Love"

disse memoirer ved navn "Eat, Pray, Love" (Spis, Bed, Elsk)

which, decidedly unlike any of my previous books,

som, meget ulig alle mine tidligere bøger,

went out in the world for some reason, and became this big,

gik verden rundt, og blev

mega-sensation, international bestseller thing.

en mega-sensation og bestseller.

The result of which is that everywhere I go now,

Resultatet af det er at hvor end jeg nu går hen

people treat me like I'm doomed.

så behandler folk mig som om jeg er fortabt.

Seriously -- doomed, doomed!

Seriøst -- fortabt, fortabt!

Like, they come up to me now, all worried, and they say,

Det er som at de nu bekymret kommet til mig og siger,

"Er du ikke bange, bange for at du aldrig kan overgå den"

"Aren't you afraid you're never going to be able to top that?

Aren't you afraid you're going to keep writing for your whole life

Er du ikke bange for at fortsætte med at skrive hele livet

and you're never again going to create a book

og aldrig mere vil skabe en bog

that anybody in the world cares about at all,

som nogen som helst i hele verden vil interessere sig for overhovedet

ever again?"

nogensinde igen?

So that's reassuring, you know.

Beroligende, ikke sandt?

But it would be worse, except for that I happen to remember

Jeg husker faktisk

that over 20 years ago, when I was a teenager,

at for over 20 år siden, da jeg i mine teenageår begyndte at fortælle folk

when I first started telling people that I wanted to be a writer,

at jeg ville være forfatter,

blev jeg mødt med denne her form for frygt-baserede reaktion.

I was met with this same sort of fear-based reaction.

Folk ville spørge, "Er du ikke bange for at du aldrig får succes?

And people would say, "Aren't you afraid you're never going to have any success?

Aren't you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you?

Er du ikke bange for at afvisningens ydmygelse vil slå dig ihjel?

Aren't you afraid that you're going to work your whole life at this craft

Er du ikke bange for at du vil arbejde hele dit liv med dette håndværk

and der aldrig nogensinde kommer noget ud af det

and nothing's ever going to come of it

og du vil dø i en skrotbunke af bristede drømme

and you're going to die on a scrap heap of broken dreams

med din mund fyldt af fiaskoens bitre aske?"

with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?"

(Latter)

(Laughter)

Like that, you know.

I kender det.

The answer -- the short answer to all those questions is, "Yes."

Svaret - det korte svar på alle de spørgsmål er: "Ja."

Yes, I'm afraid of all those things.

Ja, jeg er bange for alle disse ting.

And I always have been.

Og har altid været det.

And I'm afraid of many, many more things besides

Og jeg er bange for mange mange andre ting

that people can't even guess at,

som folk end ikke kan gætte.

like seaweed and other things that are scary.

Såsom tang og andre skræmmende ting.

But, when it comes to writing,

Men når det kommer til at skrive

the thing that I've been sort of thinking about lately, and wondering about lately,

så er dét jeg har tænkt og undret mig over på det seneste: hvorfor?

is why?

Er det rationelt?

You know, is it rational?

Er det logisk at forvente af nogen

Is it logical that anybody should be expected

to be afraid of the work that they feel they were put on this Earth to do.

at de skal være bange for det arbejde, som de føler, de er sat her på jorden for at gøre.

And what is it specifically about creative ventures

Hvad er det specielt med kreative forehavender

that seems to make us really nervous about each other's mental health

der tilsyneladende gør os virkeligt nervøse for hinandens mentale helbred

in a way that other careers kind of don't do, you know?

på en måde som andre karrierer ikke rigtig gør.

Like my dad, for example, was a chemical engineer

For eksempel, min far var kemiingeniør

and I don't recall once in his 40 years of chemical engineering

og jeg husker ikke en eneste gange i hans 40 år som kemiingeniør

anybody asking him if he was afraid to be a chemical engineer, you know?

nogen der spurgte ham, om han var bange for at være kemiingeniør.

"That chemical-engineering block, John, how's it going?"

Ingen spurgte "Den kemiingeniør-blokering John - hvordan går det?"

It just didn't come up like that, you know?

Det blev bare ikke sagt på den måde.

But to be fair, chemical engineers as a group

Men for at være fair, så har kemiingeniører som gruppe

haven't really earned a reputation over the centuries

ikke gennem århundreder gjort sig rigtig fortjent til et ry

for being alcoholic manic-depressives.

som alkoholiske maniodepressive.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

We writers, we kind of do have that reputation,

Vi forfattere, vi har på en måde det ry,

and not just writers, but creative people across all genres,

og ikke bare forfattere, men kreative mennesker fra alle genrer,

it seems, have this reputation for being enormously mentally unstable.

har tilsyneladende et ry for at være enormt mentalt ustabile.

And all you have to do is look at the very grim death count

Man skal bare tage et kig på de barske dødstal,

in the 20th century alone, of really magnificent creative minds

i det 20. århundrede alene blandt virkeligt fabelagtigt kreative sind

who died young and often at their own hands, you know?

som døde unge og for egen hånd.

And even the ones who didn't literally commit suicide

Og selv de som ikke direkte begik selvmord

seem to be really undone by their gifts, you know.

virker som om at de bliver spoleret af deres talenter.

Norman Mailer, just before he died, last interview, he said,

Norman Mailer sagde, umiddelbart før sin død, i det sidste interview:

"Every one of my books has killed me a little more."

"Hver enkelt af mine bøger, har dræbt mig lidt mere."

An extraordinary statement to make about your life's work.

Et ekstraordinært udsagn omkring ens livsværk.

But we don't even blink when we hear somebody say this,

Men vi blinker ikke engang, når vi hører nogen sige dette

because we've heard that kind of stuff for so long

fordi vi har hørt den slags så længe

and somehow we've completely internalized and accepted collectively

og på en eller anden måde har vi kollektive internaliseret og accepteret

this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked

denne opfattelse af at kreativitet og lidelse er tæt forbundet

and that artistry, in the end, will always ultimately lead to anguish.

og at kunstfærdighed, ultimativt fører til lede.

And the question that I want to ask everybody here today

Spørgsmålet jeg vil stille alle her i dag

is are you guys all cool with that idea?

er: "Accepterer I alle denne idé?"

Are you comfortable with that?

Har I det fint med at --

Because you look at it even from an inch away and, you know --

fordi I betragter det på en centimeters afstand og –

I'm not at all comfortable with that assumption.

Jeg har det på ingen måde godt med den antagelse.

I think it's odious.

Jeg synes den er odiøs.

And I also think it's dangerous,

Og jeg synes også den er farlig

and I don't want to see it perpetuated into the next century.

og jeg har ikke løst til at se den gentaget ind i det næste århundrede.

Jeg synes det er bedre, hvis vi opmuntrer vores store kreative sind til at leve.

I think it's better if we encourage our great creative minds to live.

And I definitely know that, in my case -- in my situation --

Og jeg ved helt sikkert, i mit tilfælde, i min situation

it would be very dangerous for me to start sort of leaking down that dark path

vil det være meget farligt for mig at nærme mig den mørke sti

of assumption,

af antagelser, især givet omstændigheden

particularly given the circumstance that I'm in right now in my career.

jeg befinder mig i, i min karriere lige nu.

Which is -- you know, like check it out,

Som er -- hør her:

I'm pretty young, I'm only about 40 years old.

Jeg er forholdsvis ung, jeg er kun omkring 40 år gammel.

Jeg har måske stadig 4 årtiers arbejde tilbage i mig.

I still have maybe another four decades of work left in me.

And it's exceedingly likely that anything I write from this point forward

Og det er meget sandsynligt at alt hvad jeg skriver fra nu af

is going to be judged by the world as the work that came after

vil blive bedømt af verdenen, som arbejdet der kom efter

the freakish success of my last book, right?

min forrige bogs umådelige succes.

I should just put it bluntly, because we're all sort of friends here now --

Jeg vil sige det direkte, nu vi alle er blevet venner --

it's exceedingly likely that my greatest success is behind me.

Det er ret sandsynligt at min største succes ligger bag mig.

So Jesus, what a thought!

Åh, Jesus, hvilken tanke!

That's the kind of thought that could lead a person

Det er den slags tanker der kan få en person til

to start drinking gin at nine o'clock in the morning,

at drikke gin klokken 9 om morgenen

and I don't want to go there.

og det har jeg ikke lyst til.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I would prefer to keep doing this work that I love.

Jeg vil foretrække at fortsætte med det arbejder som jeg elsker.

Og spørgsmålet bliver så: hvordan?

And so, the question becomes, how?

And so, it seems to me, upon a lot of reflection,

Det virker på mig som om, efter megen refleksion,

that the way that I have to work now, in order to continue writing,

at måden jeg skal arbejde på nu, for at fortsætte med at skrive,

is that I have to create some sort of protective psychological construct, right?

er at jeg må skabe en slags beskyttende psykologisk konstruktion.

I have to sort of find some way to have a safe distance

Jeg bliver nødt til på en måde at finde en sikkerhedsafstand

between me, as I am writing, and my very natural anxiety

mellem mig når jeg skriver og min meget naturlige angst

about what the reaction to that writing is going to be, from now on.

omkring hvad reaktionen på mine skriverier bliver.

And, as I've been looking, over the last year,

Det sidste år har jeg kigget på modeller for hvordan det kan gøres.

for models for how to do that,

I've been sort of looking across time,

Jeg har skuet over tid

and I've been trying to find other societies

og prøvet at finde andre samfund

to see if they might have had better and saner ideas than we have

for at se om de måske havde bedre og mere sunde idéer end vi har

about how to help creative people

om hvordan man hjælper kreative folk med at håndtere

sort of manage the inherent emotional risks of creativity.

kreativitetens arvelige følelsesmæssige risici.

And that search has led me to ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

Og den søgen har før mig til antikkens Grækenland og antikkens Rom

So stay with me, because it does circle around and back.

Så lyt efter, for jeg skal nok få sløjfe på historien.

But, ancient Greece and ancient Rome --

Men i Antikkens Grækenland og Antikkens Rom

people did not happen to believe that creativity

var det sådan, at folk ikke troede at kreativitet

came from human beings back then, OK?

kom fra menneskene.

People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit

Folk troede at kreativitet was den guddommelige ledsagende ånd

that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source,

som kom til mennesker fra en fjern og ukendt kilde,

for distant and unknowable reasons.

af fjerne og ukendte grunde.

The Greeks famously called these divine attendant spirits of creativity "daemons."

Grækerne kaldte disse guddommelige ledsagende ånder for "dæmoner".

Socrates, famously, believed that he had a daemon

Sokrates mente han havde en dæmon

who spoke wisdom to him from afar.

som gav ham visdom.

The Romans had the same idea,

Romerne havde den samme forestilling,

but they called that sort of disembodied creative spirit a genius.

men de kaldte den slags kreative ånd for et geni.

Which is great, because the Romans did not actually think

Hvilket er godt, for romerne mente faktisk ikke

that a genius was a particularly clever individual.

at et geni var et specielt klogt individ.

They believed that a genius was this, sort of magical divine entity,

De troede, at et geni var en slags magisk guddommelig enhed,

who was believed to literally live in the walls of an artist's studio,

som boede i væggene

i en kunstners bolig, lige som husalfen Dobby,

kind of like Dobby the house elf,

and who would come out

og som ville komme ud og usynligt assistere kunstneren i sit arbejde

and sort of invisibly assist the artist with their work

og hjælpe med at forme resultatet af arbejdet.

and would shape the outcome of that work.

So brilliant -- there it is, right there, that distance that I'm talking about --

Så brilliant -- der er dén, den distance jeg talte om --

that psychological construct to protect you from the results of your work.

den psykologiske konstruktion der hjælper en med at at beskytte sig mod resultaterne af sit arbejde.

And everyone knew that this is how it functioned, right?

Og alle vidste at det var sådan det fungerede.

So the ancient artist was protected from certain things,

Så antikkens kunstnere var beskyttet mod visse ting,

like, for example, too much narcissism, right?

for eksempel for meget narcissisme.

If your work was brilliant, you couldn't take all the credit for it,

Hvis dit arbejde var smukt, kunne du ikke tage al æren for det,

everybody knew that you had this disembodied genius who had helped you.

alle vidste at man havde det et geni havde hjulpet en.

If your work bombed, not entirely your fault, you know?

Hvis dit arbejde var en fiasko, så var det ikke helt din skyld.

Everyone knew your genius was kind of lame.

Alle vidste at dit geni var lidt lamt.

(Laughter)

Og det var sådan folk betragtede kreativitet i Vesten i meget lang tid.

And this is how people thought about creativity in the West

for a really long time.

Så kom renæssancen og alting blev ændret

And then the Renaissance came and everything changed,

and we had this big idea, and the big idea was,

vi fik den her store idé og den store idé gik ud på

let's put the individual human being at the center of the universe

at sætte det individuelle menneske som centrum i universet

over alle guder og mysterier og der er ikke plads til

above all gods and mysteries,

and there's no more room for mystical creatures

mystiske skabninger som dikteres af det guddommelige.

who take dictation from the divine.

And it's the beginning of rational humanism,

Det er begyndelsen på rationel humanisme,

and people started to believe that creativity

og folk begyndte at tro, at kreativitet

udelukkende kom fra selvet i individet.

came completely from the self of the individual.

And for the first time in history,

For første gang i historien,

you start to hear people referring to this or that artist as being a genius,

begynder man at høre folk referere til denne eller hin kunstner som værende et geni

rather than having a genius.

i stedet for at have et geni.

And I got to tell you, I think that was a huge error.

Jeg må sige, at jeg synes det er en kæmpe fejl.

You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person

Jeg tror det at tillade nogen, blot en enkelt person

to believe that he or she is like, the vessel,

at tro, at hun eller hun er fartøjet

you know, like the font and the essence and the source

kilden og essensen

til al guddommelig, kreativ, evig mystik

of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery

is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche.

er en smule for stort et ansvar at placere på et enkelt menneskes psyke.

It's like asking somebody to swallow the sun.

Det er som at bede nogen om at sluge solen.

It just completely warps and distorts egos,

Det fuldstændig bøjer og forvrænger egoer

and it creates all these unmanageable expectations about performance.

og det skaber uhåndterbare forventninger til evner.

And I think the pressure of that

Jeg tror, at det pres

has been killing off our artists for the last 500 years.

har slået vores kunstnere ihjel i de sidste 500 år.

And, if this is true,

Og, hvis det er sandt

and I think it is true,

og jeg tror det er sandt,

the question becomes, what now?

så bliver spørgmålet: hvad nu?

Can we do this differently?

Kan vi gøre det anderledes?

Maybe go back to some more ancient understanding

Måske gå tilbage til antikkens forståelse

about the relationship between humans and the creative mystery.

af forholdet mellem mennesker og det kreative mysterium.

Maybe not.

Måske ikke.

Maybe we can't just erase 500 years of rational humanistic thought

Måske kan vi ikke bare slette 500 års rationel humanistisk tanke

in one 18 minute speech.

i løbet af en 18 minutters tale.

And there's probably people in this audience

Der er sandsynligvis folk blandt det her publikum

who would raise really legitimate scientific suspicions

som ville rejse nogle helt legitime videnskabelige mistanker

about the notion of, basically, fairies

omkring dette begreb om alfer

who follow people around rubbing fairy juice on their projects and stuff.

der følger efter folk og smører deres projekter ind i alfe-saft og den slags.

I'm not, probably, going to bring you all along with me on this.

Jeg vil formentlig ikke få jer alle med på den her ide.

But the question that I kind of want to pose is --

Men spørgsmålet jeg vil stille er:

you know, why not?

hvorfor ikke?

Why not think about it this way?

Hvorfor ikke betragte det på denne måde?

Because it makes as much sense as anything else I have ever heard

Fordi det giver lige så meget mening, som alt andet jeg nogensinde har hørt

in terms of explaining the utter maddening capriciousness

omkring forklaringen af den fuldstændige gale uforudsigelighed

of the creative process.

i den kreative proces.

A process which, as anybody who has ever tried to make something --

En proces, som hvem som helst der nogensinde har prøvet at skabe noget --

hvilket betyder alle der er tilstede her i salen --

which is to say basically everyone here ---

knows does not always behave rationally.

ved ikke altid opfører sig rationelt.

And, in fact, can sometimes feel downright paranormal.

Faktisk kan den i visse tilfælde føles direkte paranormal.

I had this encounter recently

Jeg oplevede dette da jeg for nylig mødte den uovertrufne amerikanske poet Ruth Stone

where I met the extraordinary American poet Ruth Stone,

who's now in her 90s, but she's been a poet her entire life

som nu er over 90 år gammel, men har været poet hele sit liv.

and she told me that when she was growing up in rural Virginia,

Hun fortalte mig, at da hun voksede op på landet i Virginia

she would be out working in the fields,

var hun ude at arbejde i marken

and she said she would feel and hear a poem

og hun sagde at hun kunne høre og føle et digt

coming at her from over the landscape.

komme imod hende, bevægende sig henover landskabet.

And she said it was like a thunderous train of air.

Hun sagde det føltes som et tordnende tog af luft

And it would come barreling down at her over the landscape.

Og det ville komme susende mod hende, henover landskabet.

Hun ville føle det komme, fordi jorden ville ryste under hendes fødder.

And she felt it coming, because it would shake the earth under her feet.

She knew that she had only one thing to do at that point,

Hun vidste at når dette skete, så var der kun var een ting at gøre

and that was to, in her words, "run like hell."

og det var, med hendes egne ord "at løbe som ind i helvede"

And she would run like hell to the house

Så hun løb "som ind i helvede" til huset

and she would be getting chased by this poem,

blev jagtet af det her digt

og idéen var at hun skulle finde et stykke papir og en blyant

and the whole deal was that she had to get to a piece of paper and a pencil

så hurtigt som muligt, så når digtet tordnede gennem hende, så kunne hun opfange det

fast enough so that when it thundered through her, she could collect it

og få det ned på papiret.

Andre gange var hun ikke hurtig nok

and grab it on the page.

And other times she wouldn't be fast enough,

og så måtte hun løbe og løbe og løbe og hun nåede ikke til huset

so she'd be running and running, and she wouldn't get to the house

og digtet ville passere durk igennem hende og hun ville misse det

and the poem would barrel through her and she would miss it

og hun sagde at det forsvandet videre henover landskabet

and she said it would continue on across the landscape,

på udkig efter "en anden poet."

looking, as she put it "for another poet."

Så var der de gange --

And then there were these times --

this is the piece I never forgot --

det er den her del jeg aldrig glemte --

she said that there were moments where she would almost miss it, right?

hun sagde der var tidspunkter, hvor hun næsten missede digtet.

So, she's running to the house and she's looking for the paper

Så hun løber hen til huset og leder efter papir

og digtet går lige igennem hende

and the poem passes through her,

and she grabs a pencil just as it's going through her,

hun får i en blyant lige som det går gennem hende,

and then she said, it was like she would reach out with her other hand

og så rækker hun ud efter det med sin anden hånd

og fanger det.

and she would catch it.

Hun fanger digtet i dets hale

She would catch the poem by its tail,

and hun trækker det baglæns gennem sin krop

and she would pull it backwards into her body

as she was transcribing on the page.

mens hun skriver det på papiret.

And in these instances, the poem would come up on the page perfect and intact

Ved disse lejligheder, viste digtet sig perfekt og intakt på papiret

but backwards, from the last word to the first.

men baglæns, fra det sidste ord til det første.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So when I heard that I was like -- that's uncanny,

Da jeg hørte det, tænkte jeg: mystisk,

that's exactly what my creative process is like.

Det er præcis sådan min kreative process er.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

That's not at all what my creative process is -- I'm not the pipeline!

Det er ikke kun sådan min kreative process foregår.

I'm a mule, and the way that I have to work

Jeg er et mulddyr og måden jeg må arbejde på

is I have to get up at the same time every day,

er at jeg bliver nødt til at stå op samme tid hver dag

og svede og arbejde mig igennem det hele rigtig akavet.

and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly.

Men selv jeg, i al min mulddyragtighed,

But even I, in my mulishness,

even I have brushed up against that thing, at times.

selv jeg, har til tider, strejfet den proces.

And I would imagine that a lot of you have too.

Jeg forestiller mig, at en masse af jer også har prøvet.

You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source

Selv jeg har haft arbejde eller idéer som kom til mig fra en kilde

that I honestly cannot identify.

som jeg helt ærligt ikke kan identificere.

And what is that thing?

Og hvad er det for en ting?

And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds,

Hvordan skal vi forholde os til det på en måde, der ikke gør os sindssyge

but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?

men faktisk holder os nede på jorden?

And for me, the best contemporary example that I have of how to do that

For mig er det bedste eksempel på hvordan man gør det

is the musician Tom Waits,

musikeren Tom Waits,

who I got to interview several years ago on a magazine assignment.

som jeg fik lov til at interviewe til et blad for adskillige år siden.

And we were talking about this,

Vi talte om emnet

and you know, Tom, for most of his life, he was pretty much the embodiment

og Tom har i det meste af sit liv været personificeringen

of the tormented contemporary modern artist,

af nutidens lidende, moderne kunstner

der forsøger at kontrollere og håndtere og dominere

trying to control and manage and dominate

these sort of uncontrollable creative impulses

disse ukontrollerbare kreative impulser

that were totally internalized.

der var totalt internaliseret.

But then he got older, he got calmer,

Men da han blev ældre, blev han mere rolig

and one day he was driving down the freeway in Los Angeles,

og han fortalte om en dag han kørte ad motorvejen i Los Angeles

and this is when it all changed for him.

og det var dér, at det hele ændrede sig for ham.

And he's speeding along, and all of a sudden

Som han kører derudaf, hører han pludselig

he hears this little fragment of melody,

et lille fragment af en melodi

that comes into his head as inspiration often comes, elusive and tantalizing,

der kommer ind i hans hoved, som inspiration ofte gør det: flygtig og fristende -

and he wants it, it's gorgeous,

og han vil have den, den er pragtfuld

and he longs for it, but he has no way to get it.

og han længes efter den, men kan på ingen måde få fat i den.

He doesn't have a piece of paper, or a pencil, or a tape recorder.

Han har ikke et stykke papir, han har ikke en blyant

han har ikke en båndoptager.

So he starts to feel all of that old anxiety start to rise in him

Han begynder at føle al den gamle angst begynde at vokse i ham

"Jeg vil miste den her ting,

like, "I'm going to lose this thing,

and I'll be be haunted by this song forever.

og så vil jeg blive hjemsøgt af den her sang forevigt.

I'm not good enough, and I can't do it."

Jeg er ikke god nok og jeg kan ikke finde ud af det."

And instead of panicking, he just stopped.

Og i stedet for at gå i panik, stoppede han blot.

He just stopped that whole mental process and he did something completely novel.

Stoppede hele den mentale proces

og gjorde noget helt nyt.

He just looked up at the sky, and he said,

Han kiggede blot op i himlen og sagde:

"Excuse me, can you not see that I'm driving?"

"Undskyld mig, kan du ikke se jeg kører bil?"

(Laughter)

(Latter)

"Do I look like I can write down a song right now?

"Ser det ud som om jeg kan skrive en sang ned lige nu?

If you really want to exist, come back at a more opportune moment

Hvis du virkelig gerne vil eksistere så kom tilbage i et mere opportunt øjeblik

when I can take care of you.

når jeg kan tage mig af dig.

Otherwise, go bother somebody else today.

Ellers, så find en anden at irritere i dag.

Go bother Leonard Cohen."

Irritér Leonard Cohen."

And his whole work process changed after that.

Hele hans arbejdsproces ændrede sig efter den oplevelse.

Not the work, the work was still oftentimes as dark as ever.

Ikke værkerne, værkerne var stadig så mørke som nogensinde før.

But the process, and the heavy anxiety around it

Men processen og den tunge angst omkring den

was released when he took the genie, the genius out of him

blev forløst da han tog geniet ud af sig selv

where it was causing nothing but trouble, and released it back where it came from,

hvor det ikke forårsagede andet end problemer og slap det løs tilbage hvor det kom fra

og indså at det ikke behøvede at være denne internaliserede pinte ting.

and realized that this didn't have to be this internalized, tormented thing.

Det kunne være det her pudsige, vidunderlige, bizarre samarbejde -

It could be this peculiar, wondrous, bizarre collaboration,

kind of conversation between Tom and the strange, external thing

en slags samtale mellem Tom og den underlige, eksterne ting

that was not quite Tom.

der ikke helt var Tom.

When I heard that story, it started to shift a little bit

Da jeg havde hørt denne historie, begyndte det at ændre en lille smule

the way that I worked too, and this idea already saved me once.

på måden jeg arbejdede og det har allerede reddet mig en enkelt gang.

It saved me when I was in the middle of writing "Eat, Pray, Love,"

Denne idé reddede mig mens jeg var midt i at skrive "Eat, Pray, Love"

and I fell into one of those sort of pits of despair

og jeg faldt i en af disse fortvivlelsens grave,

that we all fall into when we're working on something and it's not coming

som vi alle falder i når vi arbejder på noget og det ikke kommer til een

and you start to think this is going to be a disaster, the worst book ever written.

og man begynder at tænke det vil blive en katastrofe,

det her bliver den værste bog nogensinde skrevet.

Not just bad, but the worst book ever written.

Ikke bare dårlig, men den værste bog nogensinde skrevet.

Jeg begyndte at tænke jeg bare skulle droppe projektet.

And I started to think I should just dump this project.

But then I remembered Tom talking to the open air

Men så huskede jeg Tom talende ud i den tomme luft

and I tried it.

og jeg prøvede det.

So I just lifted my face up from the manuscript

Så jeg løftede mit hoved op fra manuskriptet

and I directed my comments to an empty corner of the room.

og sendte mine kommentarer til et tomt hjørne af rummet.

And I said aloud, "Listen you, thing,

Og jeg sagde højt: "Hør, du dér!

you and I both know that if this book isn't brilliant

både du og jeg ved, at hvis denne bog ikke er brilliant,

that is not entirely my fault, right?

så er det ikke udelukkende min skyld, vel?

Because you can see that I am putting everything I have into this,

For du kan se, at jeg lægger alt hvad jeg har ind i det her.

I don't have any more than this.

Jeg har ikke mere.

If you want it to be better, you've got to show up and do your part of the deal.

Så hvis du ønsker at den skal være bedre, så bliver du nødt til at vise dig og fuldføre din del af aftalen.

OK? Men hvis du ikke gør det, ved du så hvad? Til helvede med det!

But if you don't do that, you know what, the hell with it.

Jeg fortsætter med at skrive alligevel, for det er mit job.

I'm going to keep writing anyway because that's my job.

And I would please like the record to reflect today

Og jeg ønsker at skemaet skal afspejle at jeg i dag

mødte op til min del af jobbet."

that I showed up for my part of the job."

(Latter)

(Laughter)

Because --

Fordi --

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Because in the end it's like this, OK --

for i sidste ende er det sådan at --

centuries ago in the deserts of North Africa,

århundreder siden i Nord Afrikas ørkener

people used to gather for these moonlight dances of sacred dance and music

plejede folk at samles for måneskins-fester med hellig dans og musik

that would go on for hours and hours, until dawn.

der fortsatte time efter time, til daggry.

They were always magnificent, because the dancers were professionals

De var altid storslåede, for danserne var profesionelle

and they were terrific, right?

og de var fabelagtige, ok?

Men engang i mellem, meget sjældent, skete der noget

But every once in a while, very rarely, something would happen,

and one of these performers would actually become transcendent.

og en af disse performere blev faktisk transcendente.

And I know you know what I'm talking about,

I ved hvad jeg snakker om,

because I know you've all seen, at some point in your life,

fordi jeg ved, I alle har set, på et eller andet tidspunkt i livet, en sådan performance.

a performance like this.

It was like time would stop,

Det var som om at tiden stod stille

and the dancer would sort of step through some kind of portal

og danseren på en eller anden måde trådt igennem en slags portal

og han gjorde intet anderledes end han havde gjort før, de tusinde foregående nætter,

and he wasn't doing anything different

than he had ever done, 1,000 nights before,

but everything would align.

men alt ville falde på plads.

And all of a sudden, he would no longer appear to be merely human.

Lige pludselig ville han ikke længere fremstå som blot et menneske.

Han ville være lyst op indefra og lyst op nedefra

He would be lit from within, and lit from below

and all lit up on fire with divinity.

og alt lyst op i guddommelighedens ild.

And when this happened, back then,

Og når dette skete dengang,

people knew it for what it was, you know, they called it by its name.

vidste folk hvad det var, de kaldte dét dets navn.

They would put their hands together and they would start to chant,

De ville klappe i hænderne og begynde at messe:

"Allah, Allah, Allah, God, God, God."

"Allah, Allah, Allah, Gud, Gud, Gud"

That's God, you know.

Det er gud.

Curious historical footnote:

En interessant historisk fodnote --

when the Moors invaded southern Spain, they took this custom with them

Da Maurerne invaderede det sydlige Spanien, tog de denne skik med dem

and the pronunciation changed over the centuries

og udtalen ændrede sig over århundreder

from "Allah, Allah, Allah," to "Olé, olé, olé,"

fra "Allah, Allah, Allah" til "Olé, Olé, Olé"

which you still hear in bullfights and in flamenco dances.

som man stadig hører ved tyrefægter-kampe og i flamenco danse,

In Spain, when a performer has done something impossible and magic,

I Spanien, når en kunstner har gjort noget umuligt og magisk,

"Allah, olé, olé, Allah, magnificent, bravo,"

"Allah, Olé, Olé, Allah, storslået, bravo,"

incomprehensible, there it is -- a glimpse of God.

uforståeligt, dér er det -- et glimt af Gud.

Which is great, because we need that.

Hvilket er fantatisk, for vi har brug for det.

But, the tricky bit comes the next morning,

Men den besværlige del kommer næste morgen,

for the dancer himself, when he wakes up and discovers

når danseren vågner op

that it's Tuesday at 11 a.m., and he's no longer a glimpse of God.

og opdager at det er tirsdag kl 11.00 og at han ikke længere er et glimt af Gud.

He's just an aging mortal with really bad knees,

Han er blot en aldrende dødelig med virkeligt dårlige knæ

and maybe he's never going to ascend to that height again.

og måske vil han aldrig stige til den højde igen.

And maybe nobody will ever chant God's name again as he spins,

Måske er der aldrig nogen der vil messe Guds navn igen mens han danser -

and what is he then to do with the rest of his life?

og hvad skal han så gøre med resten af sit liv?

This is hard.

Det er hårdt.

This is one of the most painful reconciliations to make

Det er en af de mest smertefulde forsoninger man kan lave

in a creative life.

i et kreativt liv.

But maybe it doesn't have to be quite so full of anguish

Men måske behøves det ikke at være helt så fyldt af smerte

if you never happened to believe, in the first place,

Hvis du i første omgang ikke troede på

that the most extraordinary aspects of your being came from you.

at de mest ekstraordinære aspekter af din tilværelse kom fra dig selv.

But maybe if you just believed that they were on loan to you

Men måske du blot troede, at de var udlånt til dig

from some unimaginable source for some exquisite portion of your life

fra en utænkelig kilde i en udsøgt del af dit liv

to be passed along when you're finished,

og skulle videregives, når du er færdig, til en anden.

with somebody else.

And, you know, if we think about it this way, it starts to change everything.

Hvis vi begynder at tænker på denne måde, vil det forandre alt.

This is how I've started to think,

Det er sådan jeg er begyndt at tænke

and this is certainly how I've been thinking in the last few months

og det er bestemt sådan jeg har tænkt de sidste par måneder

as I've been working on the book that will soon be published,

mens jeg har arbejdet på bogen, der snart vil blive udgivet

as the dangerously, frighteningly over-anticipated follow up

som den skræmmende alt for forventede efterfølger

to my freakish success.

til min vanvittige success.

And what I have to sort of keep telling myself

Det jeg skal fortælle mig selv

when I get really psyched out about that is don't be afraid.

når jeg bliver rigtig urolig omkring det,

er: vær ikke bange.

Don't be daunted. Just do your job.

Vær ikke skræmt.

Bare gør dit arbejde.

Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.

Fortsæt med at møde op til din del af aftalen, hvad end den måtte være.

If your job is to dance, do your dance.

Hvis dit job er at danse, så dans.

If the divine, cockeyed genius assigned to your case

Hvis det guddommelige, skeløjede geni der er sat på din sag

decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed, for just one moment

beslutter sig for at lade en form for vidunder vise i blot et øjeblik

through your efforts, then "Olé!"

i kraft af dine anstrengelser, så "Olé!"

Hvis ikke - så gør dit job alligevel.

And if not, do your dance anyhow.

And "Olé!" to you, nonetheless.

Og ikke desto mindre "Ole!" til dig også!

I believe this and I feel that we must teach it.

Jeg tror på dette og at vi må videregive læren!

"Olé!" til jer, ikke desto mindre,

"Olé!" to you, nonetheless,

just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness

blot for den rene skære menneskelige kærlighed og stædighed

to keep showing up.

til at dukke op.

Thank you.

Tak

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

June Cohen: Olé!

June Cohen: Ole!

(Applause)

(Bifald)