14 May
2014
Posted in: Talks
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Mindfulness and Creativity

Last night I listened to a fascinating exchange between Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Studios, and Phillip Moffitt, co-guiding teacher at Spirit Rock and former editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine. (The exchange was a talk given at Sprit Rock last Monday night. I listened on tape.)

I was especially touched by Ed’s story of how, after 20 years of trying to make the first computer animated movie (Toy Story) and finally accomplishing that and having the animation company he founded go public (the epitome of success!), he found himself feeling lost.

He realized that this was because he had accomplished what he’d set out to do, which meant that it was now done, and not something he could do any more. And while there was an exuberance — which lasted about a week or two — and although he was still quite busy…he felt lost. He had a kind of “is that all there is” experience, which eventually led him to meditation (thanks to his wife who signed him up for a 2 week silent retreat), which then led him to doing one-on-one work with Phillip Moffitt and to establishing an on-going meditation practice through Spirit Rock.

On the tape, both he and Phillip talk about what it means to lead a “learning” organization, about the best ways to facilitate creativity, about the importance of intention, and how mindfulness fits into all of this. It’s definitely worth a listen. To download or stream, click here.

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