Back
when I was a child (to coin a phrase and a swell one too if I may add), I would
lock myself up in my room, turn my back to the world, set the muse to work and,
explore all the depths of my creativity. There were times I skipped meals and
just got lost in my muse creating lyrics. A feeling of nostalgia often
accompanies my recall of those early days of trying and failing and you can
readily associate if your childhood hobby morphed into a lifelong career.
Sir (if
you have read my post “On
Identity,” you know I called my father, “Sir”) was well
aware of my obsession—how could he not, I spent more time writing than I did
doing anything else. I recall one uneventful evening, that’s one day which has
evolved into one of the most memorable of my entire life. An unusual hush
garbed the entire household. The way I remember it I suppose my sibs were out
playing soccer on some stubbed patch of undeveloped lot.
My
improvised desk flaunted a clutter of school notebooks. I was buried in the
pages of an exercise book flanking the heap when Sir invaded the privacy of my
room.
“I haven’t seen you do too much song writing, lately,” He said, his fatherly aura eclipsing
my tiny frame.
The
smile, which abruptly, lit up my face, came uninvited and uninhibited because I
felt I just had my legs pulled.
Don't
get me wrong, though. Sir was a big fan-he loved me and loved what I did.
“Seriously.” He eyed me the way fathers do
when they're trying to make you pay attention. “You've not been writing those
lyrics of yours like you used to.”
Sir
went on to tell me something that rearranged my overall psyche and
triggered a new sense of purpose within.
1.
Your Talent is
‘Who’ You Are
You
can't discover the inner self and not find your talent. Towing the same line,
you can't straddle your talent and not know who you really are.
“That’s one reason sloths can’t
discover who they really are,” Sir said.
If
someone has talent, they still have to work very hard if they want to be very
good at something. Some people become quite good at something even if they do
not have much talent, but if they are willing to work very hard at the skill.
Some people “waste their talent” (they have talent but do not work hard at it,
they do not “use their talent”). — Wikipedia
"Inspiration
exists but it has to find us working." Picasso
2.
Your Talent Ought to Define Your Career
This
line rather blows its own trumpet. Nevertheless, that's not the situation much
of the time. With unemployment and underemployment running the game and as we
all know, a man's gotta eat, sometimes, we defer.
Fact remains you can't be waist deep in your talent and still be,
metaphorically speaking, out of a job.
Once
you find something you love to do, do more of it. You will improve your skills
and refine your technique this way. WikiHow
You
should consider making a career of it and help change the world with something
only you could rightly show off.
3.
Your Talent is No. 1 Priority
Here's
what Sir said to me, "Education was invented so gifted people could
learn from like-minded folks who have through drill perfected
their craft." (I can name a few of my high school teachers who signed up
for the job because they ran out of options, though.) "People get an education
to polish raw talent. The intent wasn't to get a qualification you can't defend
for beans so you can apply for a fine job that pays handsomely."
You
should nurture your talent by finding a teacher, even if it's just somebody
else with more experience at something who can give you advice. WikiHow
“Thomas
Edison (electricity), Benjamin Banneker (clock), Garret Morgan (traffic light),
Henry Ford (automobile), and Alexander Graham Bell (telephone) had 8th to 12th
grade education.
Bill
Gates (Microsoft), Ted Turner (CNN), Bill Lear (Lear Jet), Soichiro Honda
(Honda cars), and Howard Hughes (Hughes aircraft) never earned a college
degree.
These
geniuses had average IQ but made the world a better place by using their
intuition.” — The New York Times
That's
my idea of a well-rounded education. As Sir said, “In a difficult
situation where your talent is pitched against 'formal' education,
choose your talent.” Put differently, do it in a heartbeat. No
questions asked (to coin a phrase).
Keep
your pen bleeding!
Akpan
Posts
