Talent – Lost and Found
Photo Credit: Metrognome0 @Flickr
Getting to know yourself is a conversation that never ends. And, like all conversations, you get bored, change subjects or pause for brief moments while you figure out what to say next.
When (re)discovering talent, the process can be compared to unexpected interruptions from a third party that is looking to have an opinion heard – no matter what.
Interestingly enough, discovering lost and hidden skills is also the equivalent to finding loose change in between couch cushions. It’s great that you found it, but it would’ve been mighty wonderful if you had found it sooner.
Once they become sedentary (or outright lost), talent and skill are hard to get back into the habit of exercising. Getting into the groove of using those muscles almost has to happen by accident (but, ideally, it shouldn’t). The scenario plays out by being confronted with no other option but to run for your life and literally find yourself panting breathlessly after sprinting a mere 3 blocks.
In other words, you become forced to tap into hidden talents and skills via professional pathways or otherwise because it becomes a matter of immediate necessity. Pressure, deadlines or even professional jealousy can sometimes be the contributing factors to digging up zombie skills from the Lost Talent Graveyard.
My own example is a 5-year hiatus I took from writing – anything. Unfortunately, things happened that caused me to cast my gifts aside and replace them with doubt. I convinced myself, weirdly enough, that writing wasn’t a suitable way to make a living and I had no discernable talent that would make me a great writer. Instead of embracing my gifts, in one swoop, I dismissed my own talents to only embark on a fruitless search of acquiring new (more seemingly valuable) ones.
Letting my love affair with writing languish for years, I eventually became a pretty miserable soul. Professionally, I neglected my (real) aspirations since I believed giving up writing was a necessary sacrifice to be done in the holy name of developing skills better suited for starting a “real” career. The problem was, none of those talents were of interest to me and, eventually, of no real use.
Wistfully, I read my favorite magazines, scrolling articles by thought-provoking authors and relegating myself to secretly, enviously wishing I was one of them. Instead of acting on my creative instincts, I killed any remaining proclivity I had to continue developing my talent. Finally, my love of writing (reluctantly) receded into the vestiges of the Lost Talent Graveyard.
So, in an effort to tone my writing muscles, I took small steps to slowly jog my way into the familiarity of writing again. The simple catalyst was a desire to perk up the stagnation that permeated my life.
And, I desperately wanted a career change.
By thinking I had to stifle certain kinds of talent in order to develop new ones, I resorted to ignoring parts of myself that deservedly sought to be included in my life’s dialogue.
Buying a non-descript, green, suede book with lined pages that said “Journal” on the front cover was the first, innocuous step. Initially, I wasn’t writing anything interesting. My beginning entry was centered on courses I could take at the local universities and colleges – not too writerly, but I was thinking about something and putting it into written word.
Later on, I began to cut and paste excerpts of blogs and articles I found interesting and were relevant to me (all of them centered on finding one’s “way” and pursuing career aspirations). Then, I began to write comments next to the excerpts. At this point, I wasn’t even using complete sentences, just scribbling stuff as I thought it out. A while later, I wrote an idea an article inspired.
Not an official story or anything, just an idea that came to mind.
Eventually, I steadily morphed into…this. To be frank, I’m not sure what that means, but it shows that I’m writing again. And, I’m enjoying it. I still have long way to go, but, it feels good getting there.
The conversation continues.
