Talents

[Msterbeau]

Someone in another thread bemoaned their lack of talent in a certain area yet I KNOW they have other great talents and abilities. I've noticed that people do this especially with artistic talents like drawing or playing music. So.... um... why? why do we spend time griping about what we don't have instead of appreciating what we do?

[BrassFusion]

hmm... there's also the option of nurturing yet unrealized talent. i enjoy practicing instruments i suck at a LOT more than practicing instruments i'm already awesome at. same with drawing, poetry, pumping iron...

[torn asunder]

Someone in another thread bemoaned their lack of talent in a certain area yet I KNOW they have other great talents and abilities. I've noticed that people do this especially with artistic talents like drawing or playing music. So.... um... why? why do we spend time griping about what we don't have instead of appreciating what we do?

i don't know who that loser was but for me just because you might be good at something, doesn't mean it's the thing you want to be good at - and the two you've mentioned happen to be the two that i wish i was better at. i did draw a picture of myself once, using a digital picture as a guideline... gauge seems to think it was pretty good, but i'm my own worst critic... (if i can find a scanner, maybe i'll try to post it sometime soon & see what everyone thinks) anyway, that brings up another topic for me... why are we (most of us, anyway) our own worst critics? is it because society says we should be humble? is it because we have inferiority complexes, or because we need outside approval/validation? i don't know, really, just wondering...

[BrassFusion]

i know people who AREN'T their own worst critics, and they never seem to improve...

[JaneDead]

Someone in another thread bemoaned their lack of talent in a certain area yet I KNOW they have other great talents and abilities. I've noticed that people do this especially with artistic talents like drawing or playing music. So.... um... why? why do we spend time griping about what we don't have instead of appreciating what we do?

for me it is that i don't really have any talents and there are things i am interested in i wish i could do.

for example - i like to sing but i don't know that i sound good? i would like to sound good because i like to do it and maybe people would like to hear me sing. on the other hand- i don't want to do this in front of people or make a cd or anything so i guess it doesn't really matter. i want to play guitar but i only tried once and it hurt my fingers so i gave up. i want to draw but the only thing i ever used to draw were clowns and trees and that was when i was young and never tried anything else. so i have no idea if i could draw anything at all. i'd like to write but i am too lazy to even put any effort into writing something that's a worthwhile read for anyone but me...

some things i have never even tried/gave up on right away so maybe i would be good at them i just don't know

[Steven]

i don't know who that loser was but for me just because you might be good at something, doesn't mean it's the thing you want to be good at - and the two you've mentioned happen to be the two that i wish i was better at. i did draw a picture of myself once, using a digital picture as a guideline... gauge seems to think it was pretty good, but i'm my own worst critic... (if i can find a scanner, maybe i'll try to post it sometime soon & see what everyone thinks) anyway, that brings up another topic for me... why are we (most of us, anyway) our own worst critics? is it because society says we should be humble? is it because we have inferiority complexes, or because we need outside approval/validation? i don't know, really, just wondering...

I sing like a mutha.

and I know it.

and I like it.

there. I feel much better.

[pomba gira]

I guess it's one of those things where it takes a lot longer to FEEL something that it does to KNOW it... that is to say, even if you intellectually know things with regard to your own talents and worth, you still may not feel them in your heart.

I've finally learned to appreciate my own talents... but I'm still jealous of my brother who is a gospel/classical musician... because he has a talent that (a) is marketable & enables him to make a good living, and (b) profoundly moves people... no one is ever overcome by emotion while looking at my jewelry or watching me teach or reading anything I've written or looking at one of my half-assed artistic creations, ya know?

My nephew has inherited all of my brother's musical talent (and none of the flaws my brother & I share)... last time I saw him perform I felt so terrible about myself... because instead of being purely proud of him I kept looking at my mother who was just overwhelmed, crying, shouting (in the church sense), etc... and all I could think was "she never got that excited over anything I ever did". So I felt like some kind of petty jealous bitch as well as feeling like the talentless family fuckup.

[Steven]

I guess it's one of those things where it takes a lot longer to FEEL something that it does to KNOW it... that is to say, even if you intellectually know things with regard to your own talents and worth, you still may not feel them in your heart.

I've finally learned to appreciate my own talents... but I'm still jealous of my brother who is a gospel/classical musician... because he has a talent that (a) is marketable & enables him to make a good living, and (b) profoundly moves people... no one is ever overcome by emotion while looking at my jewelry or watching me teach or reading anything I've written or looking at one of my half-assed artistic creations, ya know?

My nephew has inherited all of my brother's musical talent (and none of the flaws my brother & I share)... last time I saw him perform I felt so terrible about myself... because instead of being purely proud of him I kept looking at my mother who was just overwhelmed, crying, shouting (in the church sense), etc... and all I could think was "she never got that excited over anything I ever did". So I felt like some kind of petty jealous bitch as well as feeling like the talentless family fuckup.

hey babe,

I'm 40 years old.

recorded an album

had radio rotation, tv exposure

sang for lots of people in lots of places

and my Father has never ONCE heard me or seen me or read my stuff because he disapproves of me.

you got to love what you do for you first. after that everything else is gravy.

[Homicidalheathen]

Maybe it is some inherent human quality that makes us strive to be more......better......to work with others......to look outside of themselves.....

Maybe it is boredom......

But I to have this in me. I sing quite well but its not enough.....I want to play other instruments but dont have time.

I do yoga well but wish I could do gymnastics.......hand springs......but my joints don't allow it.

I draw and paint well but wish I could do pottery, my pottery always falls apart or looks like crap.

But now I am finding in my old age I barely have time for the talents I do have let alone time to develop new ones so thats one good thing about getting older, being busy....

It makes me appreciate the things I do have.

[mallochai]

why do we spend time griping about what we don't have instead of appreciating what we do?

Because it's much more becoming to bemoan our shortcomings than to brag constantly about how awesome we are at other things. Thusly, we sound pathetic and in need of guidance, instead of the assholes we truly are deep down inside.

[Hellion]

I don't know everything but I know alot

welding and fabricating

Precision grinding

Model building

some drafting

gothic jewelry making

just some of the skills I know and are proud of.

[n0Mad]

Only by knowing everything will we truly know what we really love. You order a few things off of a menu. Can you be happy with only those items forever? They may be your favorite items and you may be happy with them forever, but how will you know until you've tried everything on the menu?

[mallochai]

And is it best to try and order it all at once, smorgasbord style, or on a one item per trip basis?

Can you really know the ins and outs of every skill/menu item if you don't experience it multiple times?

Oh the many things this could apply to.

[n0Mad]

And is it best to try and order it all at once, smorgasbord style, or on a one item per trip basis?

Can you really know the ins and outs of every skill/menu item if you don't experience it multiple times?

Oh the many things this could apply to.

The universal analogy. lol

[Msterbeau]

Because it's much more becoming to bemoan our shortcomings than to brag constantly about how awesome we are at other things. Thusly, we sound pathetic and in need of guidance, instead of the assholes we truly are deep down inside.

You are so getting a nuggy next time you venture east....

[sass_in_the_pants]

I can't rollerskate backwards.

I know, I know, most people want to be able to sing, or achieve world peace, or something. My dreams are a little more, um, manageable. I just want to be able to skate backwards.

And, my husband laughs at me, but I have been going to the rink every chance I get to try to practice.

One day...

besides, I'm getting sick of five year olds passing me.

[n0Mad]

I can't rollerskate backwards.

I know, I know, most people want to be able to sing, or achieve world peace, or something. My dreams are a little more, um, manageable. I just want to be able to skate backwards.

And, my husband laughs at me, but I have been going to the rink every chance I get to try to practice.

One day...

besides, I'm getting sick of five year olds passing me.

I couldn't skate backwards for the life of me until some friends convinced me to play some roller hockey with them. I was on defense and an opponent came skating towards me with the ball. My eyes are focused on him and I strip the ball away and pass it up to a teammate on offense. Only then did I realize that I had skated backwards the whole time I was making my defensive play. It's one of those things that I couldn't do concentrating on it but it came naturally when I did it reflexively. After that moment I could do it ever since.

[Steven]

did you guys know that Marblez does a mean "Jalapeno on a steeek"????

[JaneDead]

I can't rollerskate backwards.

I know, I know, most people want to be able to sing, or achieve world peace, or something. My dreams are a little more, um, manageable. I just want to be able to skate backwards.

And, my husband laughs at me, but I have been going to the rink every chance I get to try to practice.

One day...

besides, I'm getting sick of five year olds passing me.

i always wanted to be able to do that too

[pomba gira]

I can't rollerskate backwards.

I know, I know, most people want to be able to sing, or achieve world peace, or something. My dreams are a little more, um, manageable. I just want to be able to skate backwards.

And, my husband laughs at me, but I have been going to the rink every chance I get to try to practice.

One day...

besides, I'm getting sick of five year olds passing me.

Wow. I always wanted to learn that skill, too... back in the '70s at Northland and United Skates of America... I would've sold my soul to be able to skate backwards & do all the cool stuff the other kids could do... of course being the self-conscious little coward I was, it never occured to me to just TRY it and not worry about how I looked or what people thought.

I was pretty good at that "shoot the ducks" game they used to play at Northland, tho.

[JaneDead]

Wow. I always wanted to learn that skill, too... back in the '70s at Northland and United Skates of America... I would've sold my soul to be able to skate backwards & do all the cool stuff the other kids could do... of course being the self-conscious little coward I was, it never occured to me to just TRY it and not worry about how I looked or what people thought.

I was pretty good at that "shoot the ducks" game they used to play at Northland, tho.

what is shoot the ducks?

i just remembered one reason i never tried to skate backwards - just skating forwards i would sometimes get my feet stuck (one crossed over the other) when i was sort of gliding around the curve and i was always afraid i would fall one time doing that and get run over by other skaters so i never tried anything "daring" because that was about as daring as i could get and like i said i even got stuck sometimes like that. falling hurts. i didn't want to risk it.

[Msterbeau]

I played hockey for many years as a child. I can skate backwards.

[mallochai]

You are so getting a nuggy next time you venture east....

EEP!

[pomba gira]

what is shoot the ducks?

During one song they would yell out "shoot the ducks" and you were supposed to get down in kind of a crouch position with one leg extended in front of you and skate around like that. Anyone who didn't go down was fair game to be knocked down... once they fell they were out if they couldn't keep moving in the down position. If you went down but couldn't keep moving or lost your balance you were also out. Winner was the last person to still be moving around in the duck-shoot position.

Sounds thrilling I know... but this was a long time ago- people were more easily amused back then

[Rayne]

I played hockey for many years as a child. I can skate backwards.

Me too, but when I left my first husband my skates *mysteriously* came up missing ... like most of my stuff ... wtf would someone want with most of my clothes? No one he's ever dated, or anyone else he's ever married for that matter, has been REMOTELY the same size as me.

*Can you tell I'm still a bit bitter over that a little over 8 years later?*