Your elusive creative genius | Elizabeth Gilbert

Translator: Irati Sarasua Reviewer: Jon Goikolea

I am a writer.

Idazle bat naiz

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

Liburuak idaztea nire lanbidea da baina hori baino gehiago ere bai, noski

It is also my great lifelong love and fascination.

Nire bizitzako maitasun handia eta gauza liluragarria ere bada

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

Eta ez dut hori inoiz aldatuko denik espero

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

Baina, hori esanda, duela gutxi berezia izan den zerbait gertatu da

in my life and in my career,

nire bizitzan eta nire karreran

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

nire lanbidearekin nuen harremana aldarazi duen zerbait

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

Gauza berezi hori da duela gutxi liburu bat idatzi nuela,

this memoir called "Eat, Pray, Love"

“Eat, Pray, Love” (“Jan, Errezatu, Maitatu”) delako memoria

which, decidedly unlike any of my previous books,

hau idatzi ditudan beste liburuekin alderatuz

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

arrazoiren bategatik munduratu zen eta nazioarteko arrakasta izugarri

mega-sensation, international bestseller thing.

eta mega-liluragarria lortu duen liburua da

The result of which is that everywhere I go now,

Honen emaitza da, edonora joanda

people treat me like I'm doomed.

jendeak etsita egongo banintz bezala tratatzen nauela

Seriously -- doomed, doomed!

Serioski – etsita, etsita!

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

Adibidez, nigana gerturatzen dira, oso arduratuta eta ondorengoa esaten didate

“Ez duzu beldurrik, ez diozu beldurrik inoiz arrakasta gainditu ezinari?

"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

Ez diozu beldurrik bizitza guztia idazten pasatzeari

and you're never again going to create a book

eta inoiz liburu bat sortzeari

that anybody in the world cares about at all,

inoiz norbaiti interesatuko zaion liburu bat ez sortzeari,

ever again?"

inoiz ez?

So that's reassuring, you know.

Beraz, hori lasaigarria da, badakizue

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

Baina okerrago izan liteke, baina oroitzen dut

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

nire gaztaroan, duela 20 urte baino gehiago

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

idazlea izan nahi nuela esaten hasi nintzenean

jendeak beldurrean oinarritutako antzeko erreakzioa izan zuela.

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

Jendeak ondorengoa galdetzen zidan “Ez duzu inoiz arrakasta lortuko ez duzun beldurrik?

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?

Ez diozu beldurrik ukazioaren umilazioak eraginda hiltzeari?

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

Ez diozu beldurrik bizitza guztia arte honetan lanean pasa

eta hortik ezer ez ateratzeari

and nothing's ever going to come of it

eta amets multzo baten gainean

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

ahoa errauts zaporez beteta hiltzeari?

with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?"

(Algarak)

(Laughter)

Like that, you know.

Horrelako zerbait, badakizue

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

Erantzuna, galdera guzti horien erantzuna motza da, “Bai”.

Yes, I'm afraid of all those things.

Bai, gauza guzti horien beldur naiz.

And I always have been.

Eta beti izan naiz

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

Eta gauza askoren beldur naiz

that people can't even guess at,

jendeak asma ez ditzakeen gauza askori diet beldur

like seaweed and other things that are scary.

Algei esaterako eta beldurra ematen duten beste hainbat gauzari

But, when it comes to writing,

Baina, idazteaz dihardugunean

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

azken aldian pentsatzen aritu naizena, eta nire buruari galdetu diodana, zera da, zergatik?

is why?

Badakizue, arrazionala da?

You know, is it rational?

Logikoa da norbaitek sentizea

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.

lan horregatik muduratu dela eta lan horren beldur izatea?

And what is it specifically about creative ventures

Badakizue, eta sormena oinarri duten lanetan gabiltzanon ezaugarria da

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

dirudienez horrek besteen osasun mentalaren inguruan urduritzen gaitu

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

beste lanbide batzuk egiten ez duten moduan, badakizue?

Like my dad, for example, was a chemical engineer

Nire aita bezala esaterako, ingeniari kimikoa zen

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

eta ez dut oroitzen behin ere bere ingeniari kimikoko 40 urteko bizitzan

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

inork ingeniari kimiko izateari beldur zion galdetu zionik, badakizue?

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

Hori ez zen gertatzen -- ingeniari kimiko hori, John, zer moduz dabil?

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

Besterik gabe ez zen gertatzen, badakizue?

But to be fair, chemical engineers as a group

Baina justuak izateko, ingeniari kimikoen taldeak

haven't really earned a reputation over the centuries

ez du irabazi mendeetan zehar

for being alcoholic manic-depressives.

alkoholiko maniatiko-depresibo erreputazioa

(Laughter)

(Algarak)

We writers, we kind of do have that reputation,

Guk idazleok,erreputazio hori dugu,

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

eta ez soilik idazleok, baita mota ezberdinetako sormen munduko jendeak ere

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

mentalki egonkortu gabeak izateko erreputazioa dugu.

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

Eta egin behar duzun guztia zera da, hildakoen zerrenda etsigarria irakurri

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

20. mendean soilik, sormen bikaina zutenen hildakoen zerrenda

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

gazte eta askotan beren buruaz beste eginda heriotza aurkitu zutenena.

And even the ones who didn't literally commit suicide

Eta suizidatu ez zirenak ere,

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

euren dohaiak ezin kudeatu zenbiltzan.

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

Norman Mailerrek, hil aurretik egin zuen azken elkarrizketan ondorengoa esan zuen

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

“Nire liburu bakoitzak pittin bat gehiago hil nau”

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

Bere lan bizitzaren inguruko azalpen izugarriak, badakizue?

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

Baina norbait horrelako zerbait esaten entzuten dugunean ez ditugu begiak kliskatu ere egiten

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

horrelako gauza asko azken aldian entzun ditugulako

and somehow we've completely internalized and accepted collectively

eta modu batera barneratu eta taldean ideia hori onartu dugulako da

this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked

sormena eta sufrimendua batera doazela

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

eta arteak, azkenean, beti eramango gaitu etsipenera.

And the question that I want to ask everybody here today

Eta gaur zuei guztioi egin nahi dizuedan galdera ondorengoa da

is are you guys all cool with that idea?

zuek gustura zaudete ideia horrekin?

Are you comfortable with that?

Gustura sentitzen zarete ideia horrekin?

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

distantzia txikira ikusten duzuelako, badakizue

I'm not at all comfortable with that assumption.

Ni ez naiz gustura sentitzen susmo horrekin.

I think it's odious.

Gorrotagarria dela uste dut

And I also think it's dangerous,

Eta arriskutsua dela ere uste dut

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

eta ez dut datorren mendean jarraitzen duela ikusi nahi

Gure adimen sormentsuak bizitzea nahi dut.

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 --

Eta baietz uste dut

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

nire kasuan oso arriskutsua izango litzateke susmoen bide ilunean sartzea,

of assumption,

batez ere

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

gaur egun nire ibilbidean nagoen unea ikusita

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

Zuek badakizue

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

beno, nahiko gaztea naiz, 40 urte inguru ditut soilik.

Agian oraindik beste lau hamarkada pasako ditut lanean

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

Oso posiblea da hemendik aurrera

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

idazten dudan oro munduan arrakasta izan zuen

the freakish success of my last book, right?

liburu horren ondorengo moduan zabaltzea, ezta?

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

zuzenean esan beharko nuke, guztiok hemen lagunak garelako

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

oso posiblea da nire arrakasta handiena pasa izana

So Jesus, what a thought!

Ene Jesus, a ze ideia!

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

Badakizue pentsamendu hori dela

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

pertsona bat goizeko bederatzietan ginebra edatera bultzatzen duena

and I don't want to go there.

eta nik ez dut hori egin nahi.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

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

Nahiagoko nuke maite dudan lan hori egiten jarraitu.

Beraz, galdera itzultzen da, nola?

And so, the question becomes, how?

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

Niri iruditzen zait, asko pentsatu ondoren,

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

orain lanean jarraitu behar dudan modua, idazten jarraitzeko,

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

babes psikologikoa duen zerbait sortu behar dudala, ezta?

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

Nire barnean distantzia bat egoteko modua aurkitu behar dut

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

nire idazle izaeraren

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

eta hemendik aurrera idazten dudan guztiaren erreakzioaren aurrean izango dudan ansiedade naturalaren artean.

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

Eta, bitartean aurreko urtean egin nahi nuen horren

for models for how to do that,

I've been sort of looking across time,

adibideak bilatzen aritu naiz,

and I've been trying to find other societies

eta beste gizarte batzuk begiratzen aritu naiz

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

sortzaileei laguntzeko moduei buruz ideia hobe

about how to help creative people

eta egokiagoak zituzten begiratuz,

sort of manage the inherent emotional risks of creativity.

sormenaren emozio arriskutsuak administratzeko.

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

Eta bilaketa horrek Grezia eta Erroma zaharrera eraman nau.

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

Beraz mantendu zaitezte nirekin, honek bira osoa emango duelako.

But, ancient Greece and ancient Rome --

Baina, Grezia eta Erroma zaharrean

people did not happen to believe that creativity

jendeak ez zuen uste sormena

came from human beings back then, OK?

gizakitik zetorrenik, bai?

People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit

Jendeak uste zuen sormena gizakiarengana joaten zen

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

espiritu izugarri bat zela, distantea eta ezezaguna,

for distant and unknowable reasons.

arrazoi distante eta ezezagunen ondorioz.

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

Grekoek sormen espiritu zoragarri horiei “daimones” deitu zioten

Socrates, famously, believed that he had a daemon

Garaiko jendeak uste zuen Sokratesek

who spoke wisdom to him from afar.

daimon bat zuela eta jakintasun handiz urrutitik hitz egiten ziola.

The Romans had the same idea,

Erromatarrek ideia bera zuten,

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

baina hauek espirituari “incorporeo jeinua” deitzen zioten.

Which is great, because the Romans did not actually think

Hori izugarria zen, Erromatarrek ez zutelako uste

that a genius was a particularly clever individual.

jeinu bat zerbait majikoa eta jainkotarra zela.

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

Bera bazela uste zuen,

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

bizi zela, literalki, artisten estudioan,

Dobby elfo domestikoa izango balitz bezala,

kind of like Dobby the house elf,

and who would come out

eta atera eta inbisible izanik artistarengana joaten zela bere lanarekin

and sort of invisibly assist the artist with their work

eta lanari forma ematen ziola.

and would shape the outcome of that work.

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

Hain bikaina – hortxe dago hortxe hain justu hitz egiten ari naizen tartea—

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

lanaren emaitzatik babesteko egoera psikologikoa.

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

Guztiek zekiten horrela funtzionatzen zuela, ezta?

So the ancient artist was protected from certain things,

Horrela antzinako artista hainbat gauzetatik babestuta zegoen,

like, for example, too much narcissism, right?

esaterako, nartzisismo gehiegi ezta?

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

Zure lana liluragarria bazen ezin zenuen meritu guztia zure gain hartu. Bere ordez,

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

guztiek zekiten jeinu horrek lagundu zintuela.

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

Zure lanak porrot egiten bazuen, ez zen guztiz zure errua, badakizue?

Everyone knew your genius was kind of lame.

Guztiek zekiten zure jeinua nahiko ahula zela.

(Laughter)

Eta hori da denbora luzez mendebaldeko jendeak pentsatu zuena.

And this is how people thought about creativity in the West

for a really long time.

Eta orduan iritxi zen Errenazimendua eta dena aldatu zen,

And then the Renaissance came and everything changed,

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

eta izugarrizko ideia handia izan genuen

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

ideia izugarri hori gizakia munduaren erdian jartzea izan zen

jainko eta misterio guztien gainean eta ez dago leku gehiago

above all gods and mysteries,

and there's no more room for mystical creatures

jainkotarretik diktaketa hartzen duten izaki mistikoentzat

who take dictation from the divine.

And it's the beginning of rational humanism,

Gizaki arrazionalaren hastapena,

and people started to believe that creativity

eta jendea sinesten hasi zen

sormena gizakitik zetorrela.

came completely from the self of the individual.

And for the first time in history,

Eta historian lehen aldiz,

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

artista jeinu bat bezala kontsideratu zen,

rather than having a genius.

norbaitek jeinu bat zuela esan beharrean.

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

Eta esan behar dizuet, hori nire aburuz hutsegite handia izan zela.

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

Badakizue, nire ustez norbaiti, pertsona sinple bati,

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

bera ontzia eta iturria dela

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

eta jatorria eta esentzia,

jainkotiar misterio oro, sormenezkoa, ezezaguna dela esatean

of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery

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

gizakiaren adimenerako responsabilidade handiegia dela uste dut.

It's like asking somebody to swallow the sun.

Norbaiti eguzkia irenstea eskatzea bezala da.

It just completely warps and distorts egos,

Deformatu eta distortsionatu egiten ditu egoak

and it creates all these unmanageable expectations about performance.

eta errendeminduaren inguruko itxaropen jasan ezinak sortzen ditu.

And I think the pressure of that

Nire ustez presio hori

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

gure artistak hiltzen aritu da azken 500 urteetan .

And, if this is true,

Eta, hori egia bada,

and I think it is true,

eta uste dut egia dela

the question becomes, what now?

galdera itzultzen da, orain zer?

Can we do this differently?

Hau modu desberdinean egin dezakegu?

Maybe go back to some more ancient understanding

Agian jendearen arteko erlazioa eta sormenaren misioak

about the relationship between humans and the creative mystery.

lehen ulertzen zituzten moduan ulertzera itzuli beharko ginateke.

Maybe not.

Agian ez.

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

Agian ezin ditugu besterik gabe gizakiak 500 urtetan izan dituen

in one 18 minute speech.

pentsamendu arrazionalaren diskurtsoak 18 minututan ezabatu

And there's probably people in this audience

Eta seguruenik audientzia honetan bada

who would raise really legitimate scientific suspicions

maitagarriak existitzen diren

about the notion of, basically, fairies

susmo zientifikoak dituenik,

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

maitagarrien zumoa jendeari proiektuetan igurtzen dizkietela eta horrelakoak.

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

Ez dut guztiak nirekin ados egotea lortuko.

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

Baina azaldu nahi dudan galdera,

you know, why not?

zergatik ez? da

Why not think about it this way?

zergarik ez dugu gure modura pentsatuko?

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

Entzun dudan beste edozeren beste zentzu bait du

in terms of explaining the utter maddening capriciousness

zoramenezko, ausazko faktore hauek azaltzeko,

of the creative process.

sormen prozesuaren faktoreak alegia.

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

Sormen prozesu hau, zeozer sortzen saiatu diren guztiek dakiten bezala,

---hau da, hemen gauden guztiok—

which is to say basically everyone here ---

knows does not always behave rationally.

ez da beti arrazionalki portatzen.

And, in fact, can sometimes feel downright paranormal.

Eta gainera, batzuetan guztiz paranormala izan daiteke.

I had this encounter recently

Duela gutxi Rutg Stonen poetisa amerikarr izugarriarekin aurktiu nintzen,

where I met the extraordinary American poet Ruth Stone,

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

jada 90 urte ditu, baina poetisa bat izan da bizitza osoan zehar

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

eta esan zidan, gaztetan Viriginian bizi zenean

she would be out working in the fields,

bera landan lanean ari zenean,

and she said she would feel and hear a poem

poemak sentitu eta entzun egiten zituela esan zuen

coming at her from over the landscape.

beregana zuzen zioazen poemak landen gainetik

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

Eta esan zidan airezko tren baten modukoa zela.

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

Eta beragana paisaiatik kontrolik gabe etorriko zela.

Eta etortzen sentitzen zuela, lurrak bere hanken azpian mugitzea eragiten baitzuen.

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,

Berak bazekien une horretan gauza bat soilik egin behar zuela,

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

eta zera zen, bere hitzetan “deabru baten moduan korrika egitea”

And she would run like hell to the house

Eta korrika egiten zuen etxera bidean

and she would be getting chased by this poem,

eta poemak bere atzetik jarraituko zion.

eta paper eta arkatz batez baliatuz paperean harrapatu behar zuen

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

eta azkar egin behar izaten zuen, barnean azaltzen zitzaion hori hartu

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

eta orrialdean arrapatzeko

Eta batzuetan ez zen behar bezain azkarra,

and grab it on the page.

And other times she wouldn't be fast enough,

bera korrika eta korrika arituko zen eta ez zen etxera iritxiko

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

eta poemak arrapatu egingo zuen eta galdu egingo zen betiko

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

paisain zehar aldenduz

and she said it would continue on across the landscape,

berak esan bezala “beste poeta” baten bila.

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

Eta berak zioen –

And then there were these times --

this is the piece I never forgot --

ez dut zati hori inoiz ahaztuko-

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

batzuetan, poema galtzear zegoenean

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

etxera korrika ziztu bizian eta paper baten bila

eta justu poema bere paretik pasatzen zenean

and the poem passes through her,

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

berak arkatza hartzen zuela esku batekin

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

eta beste eskua luzatu egiten zuen

eta orduan poema harrapatu, juxtu juxtu.

and she would catch it.

Poema buztanetik harrapatzen zuen,

She would catch the poem by its tail,

eta atzeraka tiratzen zuen bere gorputzaren barnerantz

and she would pull it backwards into her body

as she was transcribing on the page.

paperean idazten zuen bitartean.

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

Eta batzuetan, poema bikain eta garbi azaltzen zen paperean

but backwards, from the last word to the first.

baina alderantziz agertzen zen, azken hitza lehenengoa.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

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

Beraz, entzun nuenean pentsatu nuen – ze arraroa,

that's exactly what my creative process is like.

horrela da hain justu nire sormen prozesua.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

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

Hori ez da nire sormen prozesu osoa- Ez naiz tuberia!

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

Inozoa naiz, nik lan egiteko modua zera da,

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

egunero ordu berean esnatu,

eta izerditu eta lan egin eta guzti honetatik modu traketsean pasa.

and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly.

Baina oraindik ni, nire txorakerian,

But even I, in my mulishness,

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

ni gauza horrekin marruskatu naiz batzuetan.

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

Eta zuetako asko ere, imajinatzen dut.

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

Badakizue, baditut lan edo ideiak nigana iturri

that I honestly cannot identify.

intzo identifikagarria ez den batetik iristen direnak.

And what is that thing?

Eta zer da gauza hori?

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

Eta nola erlaziona gaitezke berekin burua galtzea eragin gabe,

but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?

baina, gainera, zuzen edo zentzudun matendu gaitezan?

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

Niretzako, adibide garaikide onena

is the musician Tom Waits,

Tom Waits musikariarena da,

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

duela urte batzuk aldizkari baterako elkarrizketatu nuena.

And we were talking about this,

Eta honi buruz ari ginen hizketan

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

eta badakizue, Tom, bere bizitzaren zati handienean

of the tormented contemporary modern artist,

artista garaikide moderno oinazetsuaren adibide izan da,

guztiz barneratuak ditugun

trying to control and manage and dominate

these sort of uncontrollable creative impulses

sormen inpultso kontrolaezin horiek kontrolatu,

that were totally internalized.

erabili eta menderatzen saiatzen.

But then he got older, he got calmer,

Baina, ordurako zahartu egin zen, lasaitu,

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

eta egun batean autopistan gidatzen ari zen, Los Angelesen esan zidanez,

and this is when it all changed for him.

eta bapatean guztia aldatu zen beretzako

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

Gidatzen ari da eta bat-batean

he hears this little fragment of melody,

burura etortzen zaion melodia honen soinua entzuten du,

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

bere burura inspirazio moduan etortzen da askotan, ihesbide eta iradokitzaile,

and he wants it, it's gorgeous,

eta nahi du, zuek badakizue, polita da

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

eta faltan botatzen du, baina ez du lortzeko aukerarik.

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

Ez du paper zatirik, ez du arkatzik,

ez du grabadora bat.

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

Beraz, ansiedadea handitzen joaten da,

“Gauza hau galduko dut,

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

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

eta orduan kanta honek betiko atsekabetuko nau.

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

Ez naiz behar bezain ona, ezin dut egin"

And instead of panicking, he just stopped.

Beldurrak jaten utzi beharrean geratu egin zen.

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

Prozesu mentala geratu zuen

eta guztiz berria zen zerbait egin zuen.

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

Zerura begiratu zuen soilik, eta ondorengoa esan zuen

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

“Barkatu, ez duzu gidatzen ari naizela ikusten?”

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

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

“Kantu bat orain idatzi dezakedala uste duzu?

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

Benetan existitu nahi baduzu, itzuli momentu egokiago batean,

when I can take care of you.

zutaz arduratzeko aukera dudanean.

Otherwise, go bother somebody else today.

Bestela, joan zaitez beste norbait eragoztera.

Go bother Leonard Cohen."

Joan zaitez Leonard Cohen eragoztera”

And his whole work process changed after that.

Eta bere lanerako modua guztiz aldatu zen honen ondoren.

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

Ez lana, askotan ordura arte bezain iluna zen.

But the process, and the heavy anxiety around it

Baizik eta prozesua, eta hain astuna zen ansiedadea

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

askatua izan zen jeinua hartu zuenean eta bere barnetik atera zuenean,

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

bertan arazoak soilik sortzen zituen, eta askatu egin zuen etorri zen lekura itzuliz,

eta orduan konturatu zen ez zuela barneratutako zerbait izan behar, oinazetsua.

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

Kolaboratzaile berezi bat izan zitekeen, bikaina, apartekoa,

It could be this peculiar, wondrous, bizarre collaboration,

kind of conversation between Tom and the strange, external thing

Tom eta kanpoan zegoen gauza horren arteko harremana,

that was not quite Tom.

Tom ez zena.

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

Beraz, istorio hori entzun nuenean hasi zen pittin bat aldatzen

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

nire lan egiteko modua, eta behin salbatu ninduen.

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

Ideia honek salbatu ninduen “Eat, Pray, Love” idatzen ari nintzenean

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

eta zerbaitetan lanean ari zarenean eta funtzionatzen ez duenean

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

eta pentsatzen hasten zarenean desastre bat izango dela

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

eta inoiz idatzi den liburu okerrena izango dela

Une horietako batean, desesperazio zulo batean erori nintzen.

Not just bad, but the worst book ever written.

Ez txarra soilik, inoiz idatzi zen okerrena.

Proiektua utzi behar nuela pentsatzen hasi nintzen.

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

But then I remembered Tom talking to the open air

Baina Tom aireari hitz egitenez oroitu nuen orduan e

and I tried it.

ta saiatu egin nintzan.

So I just lifted my face up from the manuscript

Beraz, burua eskuizkributiktik altsatu nuen

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

eta nire hitzak gelako leku hutsera bidali nituen.

And I said aloud, "Listen you, thing,

Eta ahots gora ondorengoa esan nuen: “Ei zu, gauza,

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

entzun, biok dakigu liburu hau bikaina ez bada

that is not entirely my fault, right?

ez dela soilik nire errua, ezta?

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

Nire gogo guztiak jartzen ari naizela ikusten baituzu,

I don't have any more than this.

ez dut ezer gehiago.

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

Beraz, hobea izatea nahi baduzu, azaldu eta tratuaren zure zatia bete behar duzu.

Bale. Baina egiten ez baduzu, badakizu, pikutara honekin-

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

Idazten jarraituko dut nire lana delako.

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

And I would please like the record to reflect today

Eta gaur hemen egon naizela

nire tratuaren zatia betetzeko islatzea nahi dut.”

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

(Algarak)

(Laughter)

Because --

Zeren

(Applause)

(Txaloak)

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

azken finean horrelako zerbait da, bai.

centuries ago in the deserts of North Africa,

duela mende batzuk Afrikar Iparraldeko desertuetan

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

jendea bildu egiten zen musikarekin ilargiaren argitan dantzatzeko

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

eta orduak eta orduak pasatzen zituzten horrela, egunsentiraino.

They were always magnificent, because the dancers were professionals

Eta beti ziren izugarriak, dantzariak profesionalak

and they were terrific, right?

eta izugarriak zirelako ezta?

Baina noizean behin, oso gutxitan, zerbait gertatzen zen,

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

and one of these performers would actually become transcendent.

eta antzezleet akore bat garrantzitsua egiten zen.

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

Eta nik badakit zuek badakizuela zertaz ari naizen hizketan,

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

guztiok noizbait ikusi duzuelako horrelako zerbait.

a performance like this.

It was like time would stop,

Denbora geratuko balitz bezala zen,

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

dantzaria portal moduko batetik pasatzen zen

eta ez zuen beste mila gauetan egin zuenetik desberdintzen zuen ezer egiten

and he wasn't doing anything different

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

but everything would align.

baina guztia lerrokatzen zen.

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

Eta bat-batean, ez zirudien gizaki sinple bat.

Argizkatua zegoen barnetik eta azpitik

He would be lit from within, and lit from below

and all lit up on fire with divinity.

eta guztia argiztatua zegoen jainkotartasunez.

And when this happened, back then,

Eta hau gertazten zenean, garai horietan,

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

jendeak bazekien zer zen, badakizue, eta bere izenez deitzen zuten.

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

Eskuak elkartu eta kantatzen hastzen ziren

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

"Allah, Allah, Allah, Jainkoa, Jainkoa, Jainkoa."

That's God, you know.

Hori da jainkoa badakizue?

Curious historical footnote:

Datu historiko bitxi bat -

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

Moroek Espainiar hegoaldea inbaditu zutenean, eurekin eraman zuten ohitura hau

and the pronunciation changed over the centuries

eta ahoskera aldatu zioten mendeen poderioz,

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

“Allah, Allah, Allah" "Olé, olé, olé,"izatera pasatu zen.

which you still hear in bullfights and in flamenco dances.

Gaur egun zezen plazatan eta dantza flamenkoetan entzuten da.

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

Espainian norbaitek ezinezko edo majikoa den zerbait egiten duenean

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

“Allah, Allah, Allah" a "Olé, olé, olé, bravo"

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

esaten dute, ulertezina, hor dago jainkoaren irudia.

Which is great, because we need that.

Barregarria dena, behar dugulako.

But, the tricky bit comes the next morning,

Baina, zati zaila hurrengo goizean iristen da,

for the dancer himself, when he wakes up and discovers

dantzariarentzat berarentzat, esnatu

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

eta ikusten duenean asteatrea dela eta goizeko 11ak eta jada bera ez dela jainkoaren irudia.

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

Belaunak gaizki dituen gizakia dela soilik ikusten duenean

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

eta agian ez du inoiz lortuko berriro ere maila horretara heltzea.

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

Eta agian inoiz gehiago inork ez du Jainkoaren izena esango birak ematen dituen bitartean,

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

eta zer egingo du bere bizitzan gertatzen den beste guztiarekin?

This is hard.

Hau zaila da.

This is one of the most painful reconciliations to make

Sortzailearen bizitzako

in a creative life.

adiskidetze mingarrienetako bat da.

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

Baina agian ez luke larritasunez betea egon behar,

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

zuek ez bazenuteke lehenengo

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

pentsatuko ezaugarri izugarrienak zuengandik etorriak direla.

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

Baina agian sinetsiko bazenute iturri imajinaezin baten mailegua dela

from some unimaginable source for some exquisite portion of your life

zure bizitzaren zati bat

to be passed along when you're finished,

norbaiti amaitzean entregatu beharrekoa dela.

with somebody else.

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

Badakizue, horrela pentsatzen badugu, guztia aldatzen hasten da.

This is how I've started to think,

Horrela hasi naiz pentsatzen,

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

eta laster arriskutsu, nire arrakasta arraroaren

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

aurrerapen beldurgarri bezala kaleratuko den

as the dangerously, frighteningly over-anticipated follow up

nire liburuan azken hilabeteetan lanean aritu naizenean

to my freakish success.

ere horrela pentsatu dut.

And what I have to sort of keep telling myself

Eta nire buruari esan behar diodana

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

benetan urduri jartzen naizenean zera da,

ez eduki beldurrik.

Don't be daunted. Just do your job.

Ez larritu.

Zure lana egin soilik.

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

Jarraitu zure burua aurkezten zure zatia egiteko, dena delakoa izanda.

If your job is to dance, do your dance.

Zure lana dantza egitea bada, egin zure dantza.

If the divine, cockeyed genius assigned to your case

Jainkotiarra bada, zure kasuan lanean ari den geinu zentzugabeak

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

gauza miragarrirenbat begiztatzen badu, nahiz eta une batean soilik izan

through your efforts, then "Olé!"

zure indarretatik egitne badu Ole!

Eta bestela, egin ezazu zure dantza halere.

And if not, do your dance anyhow.

And "Olé!" to you, nonetheless.

Eta Ole! Zuretzako modu guztietan.

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

Honetan sinesten dut eta erakutsi behar dugula sentitizen dut.

Ole! Zuri, modu guztietan,

"Olé!" to you, nonetheless,

just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness

maitasuna edukitzeagatik soilik eta saiatzen

to keep showing up.

jarraitzeko gizaki irmotasuna.

Thank you.

Eskerrik asko

(Applause)

(Txaloak)

Thank you.

Eskerrik asko

(Applause)

(Txaloak)

June Cohen: Olé!

June Cohen: Ole!

(Applause)

(Txaloak)