Nothing Out of Something

Nothing out of Something

The speaker I chose is the author, Amy Tan.  She has written books such as, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses. In this speech, she discusses creativity, its sources, and specifically her creativity.

            Tan talks about how there are two principles to being creative, nature and nurture.   Nature, she explains is the belief held by some, that there is some kind of muse chromosome that causes genetic creativity. In other words, an individual is simply born creative. I believe that there are people in this world who look at the source of creativity with a logical objective point of view rather than subjective.

The next principle in the creativity debate is nurture. Tan discusses her personal nurture experiences, childhood trauma, that proves to be a source of creativity. Growing up, Tan was held to high expectations. Her parents expected her to become a doctor or concert pianist.  She was able to withstand these pressures and can now joke about them, but they no doubt impacted her life. In addition, Tan unfortunately experienced great loss as a child. Her brother and father both died of brain tumors just six months apart. Whenever anyone experiences such tragedy, it is only natural to ask questions such as: Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? Where do I go from here?

When writing a story these questions are the framework. When looking for answers, you want to find pieces that fit together, or what matters in the story, the essential the meaning. When seeking inspiration when writing, there are all these hints along the way, pointing you in the right direction.   Whether you see the hints or not, they are still there. Tan says that when you notice one thing it seems to be more frequent. What you need then is a focus, a focus to write the story and answer the question.  

Related to this topic, is the concept of fate. Does everything happen for a reason? Or are some events simply coincidental? Tan talks about how things randomly happen. It’s like the universe is telling you to do something. It’s almost like fate is taking a hand. When someone or something is creative is does not always have an explanation. It can be random or fate depending on how you look at it. But nonetheless, it all feeds a person’s creativity.

Amy Tan on Creativity retrieved on January 27 2011, from http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_tan_on_creativity.html