Ramblings on skill, talent and our children

Off and on all day thoughts about skills, talents and personal value have been running through my mind.
I don't know if I can make this coherent since it takes me in several directions at once.
The first thing is the difference between skill and talent. It seems to me that talent is the basic. One must envision something before one can do it. But to do it well one needs skill. Now skills can be learned and I think that talent may be inherent in almost everyone but not acknowledged in many.
Personally I never thought I had talent or imagination to any great degree. And I must admit that I still scour books, magazines, catalogs and nature for inspiration. Agreeing to allow oneself to be talented, to overcome any disparagement from others or self is the first step to creativity of any sort.

JD fostered my own abilities, helped me grow in creativity. My mother built a foundation for it when she kept telling me I could do whatever I truly wanted to do and that what I learned was mine forever. The faith in myself came from JD's encouragement and the feedback from friends and even folks I do not know personally.

Talent and skill are very misunderstood, I think. They do not define a person. To become arrogant because of a skill or talent is rather juvenile. I think also that that arrogance is a vanity that covers up a certain insecurity. To require to be "number 1" is a fallacy at best. It is fleeting to be the #1 ball team, the #1 dancer, the #1 singer. All these things are relative anyway. Who is the final judge? What makes the judge right?

If one wins a contest then one is, by opinion of those judges, the best only of those who are competing in that contest. And judges have their own prejudices.

Don't get me wrong. I think "competition" can push us to do our best, strive a bit harder as it were. But competition in most creative areas does not foster real creativity. In fact the winners of most major jewelry competitions I've seen are pretty things that are so impractical that only the models can wear them and then only during a show. It is pure vanity.

Another tangent is the harm we do our children by pushing them to be "the best". What we should be teaching them is compassion, understanding, acceptance of things that are new to them, courage of convictions and the convictions themselves. To allow bullying in any of its forms is a crime against the child allowed to bully as much as it is against the child or children being bullied.

We need to teach our children how to create good effects so they aren't "acting out" and getting attention by creating bad effects. They need to have self respect and that doesn't come from being told "you are so special" but from teaching them to actually BE special bu doing good things and also how to know what is "good". That comes with education in ethics not morals. We impose ethics on ourselves. Morals are what "other people" decide are right. Ethics are much stronger and have a more far reaching effect.

One way in which we fail the children is to ridicule their questions and "failures". Rather should we encourage them to ask questions and try to accomplish something.

We flip back to the innate or learned talents at this point.

Nobody exists who has no talent. Someone may simply have a talent to be still, observe and appreciate. That is an important talent! One may clean well, cook well, draw, paint (as an artist or house painter), build, carve, design (anything!), write, sing, play an instrument, build instruments, sew or even THINK well. There is a talent to making others feel comfortable and safe, to having the courage to keep trying when all seems lost. There is no end to the things at which one may be talented.

Talents must have training (self or from outside self) and practice to grow. Talent needs encouragement. No one I've ever heard of painted a "Mona Lisa" on their first try. Or even their 50th!!!

The jealous and envious tend to attach to truly, obviously talented people which may be why so many seem to be half or wholly insane. So the talented need another talent! The talent to evaluate (not judge) others.

The extremely talented are not always those we should be looking up to. There is much more to a person than their skill at a ball game, as a musician or as an artist in physical media. And fame doesn't necessarily mean the person is the best at anything. It simply means that people in charge of whatever think they are. A more talented person may not even care for fame but simply go on creating their creations for the joy of it.

Just as money is not the definition of success (success is a personal thing having very little to do with money) so fame is not the definition of talent or skill. Money is, however, a great item of praise! If no one wanted to own any of my creations I would soon lose some of the impetus to continue to create them.

I would venture to say that pride in a job well done, no matter what the job, is a better indicator of both success and ability.

A comfortable, practical chair built with one's own hands is more valuable than a prize winning chair that can't really be used but is simple decor.

It is a mixed blessing to have multiple talents or skills. They can combine in interesting ways to make each better or they can scatter the impulse to create until one has no idea what to do.
Some degree of focus is required.

As for me, I find that writing helps me focus, clears my mind and allows me to decide what is most important to me. Just what gives me the most pleasure in creating? Some days its wire and gemstones, some days its beads and some days its wood. But I've taken sewing and almost all crafts off the table as they prove to be really only distractions from what most interests me.

I am NOT putting down crafts!!! Crafts beautify our surroundings, help us create order (shoe bags, purses, wall hangings, etc) and give a creative outlet to many who may have no time or space for other arts. In my opinion crafts are folk art. They are very valuable.

On this (these?) subjects I could ramble for a very long time but I think I've done enough for one post. As I said in my intro, I'd like to have your input too. That's why there is a comments section!