Talent

“Talent” is a word that is bandied about …one of those words that is so dense with meanings that it tends to describe nothing. Some see talents as gifts, while others cite nurture, milieu and genetics as possible sources. The idea of gift has value as a descriptor because we know that one cannot be taught to throw a 98 mph fastball, or schooled to have perfect pitch. You either can or cannot do certain things and if you can -without instruction- you have certainly been gifted. Talent is also understood in a three part context that proceeds from the gift, to skill development, to mastery. As hard to define as “talent” is, most of us think that most of us have some.

When we are confronted by a brilliant flash of talent many of our prejudices come into focus. One prejudice is hierarchical, nearly classist, and we are somewhat offended. For 500 years, some scholars can not accept the possibility that a relatively uneducated, provincial man could write the finest plays of English literature. We are convinced that it must have been Sir Francis Bacon, The Earl of Southhampton, Marlowe or someone with high qualification and elite status. It goes against nature for a nobody to become a big somebody. Certainly talent is distributed at random and it pays no attention to economic or social status. We now have talent searches on television, in recruiting and in many other aspects of our culture …because talent might be hiding anywhere.

Lately I have been on the hunt for talent among my friends and acquaintances and in the search, other prejudices are challenged. The gifts we call talent are not necessarily dramatic or earth shaking. Not everyone writes timeless music as a child, as Mozart did; many talents are more domestic, simpler and equally amazing.Talents like motherhood, partnership, kindness and optimism abound around us. Even in this less dramatic realm, some are truly gifted. Friends that have a talent for optimism and kindness are jewels as rare and meaningful as Hamlet or The Magic Flute.

When it comes to kindness and optimism, I have not been gifted. I must practice them daily and I often fail in the attempt. I am on the skill development path and that path can often be a slog. Somewhere in the far distance lies mastery. Einstein said, “mastery demands all of a person” and thus far, I have not pushed all of my chips to the center of the table. I have to remember the insight of Law Tzu: “mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.”

Love to those who are doing the work to master kindness and optimism. They are truly powerful.