Good morning, Readers!
This beautiful piece is by deviantart.com user Araxel. I love it. They've got great stuff you should really check out. Click the image to check it out.
So, last night was weird. I practiced guitar for a little bit, then collapsed into a sobbing mess while listening to a really beautiful cover of Hello by Lionel Ritchie on repeat. The sobbing may or may not have been brought on by a rejection I received yesterday. Ordinarily, rejections don't get to me, and I was expecting a rejection for this particular submission (word to the wise, make damned sure you send your most recent draft of a manuscript when submitting. Okay?). I didn't even so much as flinch as I read it. Why it hit me later is anyone's guess, if that was the reason. It's been been a long while since I've had a good cry. I scared Galahad, who was curled up with me.
That was my evening.
How was yours?
While noteworthy, that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about the word talent.
I have a love/hate relationship with that word.
It's easy to love it. Having talent is generally considered a good thing. "You're so talented" is generally considered a high compliment. Being talentless is similarly a terrible thing.
Thinking on it, however, it's not that much of a compliment. "You're so talented" is a compliment, but it completely obliterates the incredible amount of work behind the success someone is remarking upon. Behind the word talent is the assumption that what you achieved was relatively effortless. Behind that word is the deletion of all the hard work, the frustrations, the tears, the insecurity, the set backs, the struggle, the almost-quits.
The word talent just assumes you can do the thing, not that you had to work hard at it.
And here's the thing, there are actually people who find that things come more naturally to them. There is, I think, such a thing as a talent. Some people can sing on key, and have always been able to. People like me just can't. Even though I would love to be able.
Simply being talented at something, however, doesn't guarantee success. Talented people all over discover this sooner or later, when they find themselves amongst peers who are equally if not more talented than they. Suddenly, they're no longer effortlessly at the top, and they have to suddenly work really hard to even approach it.
The ability to work hard is what sets people apart.
Nothing is effortless.
So, I like the idea that maybe I have a natural proclivity for something. I don't like that maybe having that detracts from the understand of just how much work I've put in. After all, it's the work that's important.
Anyway, just thinking out loud about a word I have mixed feelings about.
Now I have to go write some words and hope they're in some sort of intelligible order.
Ciao!
That was my evening.
How was yours?
While noteworthy, that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about the word talent.
I have a love/hate relationship with that word.
It's easy to love it. Having talent is generally considered a good thing. "You're so talented" is generally considered a high compliment. Being talentless is similarly a terrible thing.
Thinking on it, however, it's not that much of a compliment. "You're so talented" is a compliment, but it completely obliterates the incredible amount of work behind the success someone is remarking upon. Behind the word talent is the assumption that what you achieved was relatively effortless. Behind that word is the deletion of all the hard work, the frustrations, the tears, the insecurity, the set backs, the struggle, the almost-quits.
The word talent just assumes you can do the thing, not that you had to work hard at it.
And here's the thing, there are actually people who find that things come more naturally to them. There is, I think, such a thing as a talent. Some people can sing on key, and have always been able to. People like me just can't. Even though I would love to be able.
Simply being talented at something, however, doesn't guarantee success. Talented people all over discover this sooner or later, when they find themselves amongst peers who are equally if not more talented than they. Suddenly, they're no longer effortlessly at the top, and they have to suddenly work really hard to even approach it.
The ability to work hard is what sets people apart.
Nothing is effortless.
So, I like the idea that maybe I have a natural proclivity for something. I don't like that maybe having that detracts from the understand of just how much work I've put in. After all, it's the work that's important.
Anyway, just thinking out loud about a word I have mixed feelings about.
Now I have to go write some words and hope they're in some sort of intelligible order.
Ciao!
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