I have only recently come to realize I have a gift. I don’t know where it came from. It’s been there for as long as I can remember. It’s manifested itself in many different ways over the years and I never thought much about it, figuring everyone could do it.
Got you wondering now, don’t I? As you know, I write for a living. I actually do other things in my job, too. I am fairly adept at graphic design and have designed perhaps 300 to 400 websites over the years, going back to the dark days when everything was flush left and had gray backgrounds.
But these are just the nuts and bolts of the gift I was given in life… the gift of creativity. While I can’t add up two and two (five right?) I can endlessly spin and re-spin seemingly unrelated things into something that has never existed before. It is often effortless, and I don’t know why it is. As I said, it’s just something that has been with me since my first memory.
I like to think it’s because I grew up alone and I was my own playmate for much of that time. My mind became the playground. But I think researchers would disagree with my nuture vs. nature interpretation.
I didn’t start out to be a writer. As I think I have mentioned before, I got a D in English from Mrs. Heistman when I was in 8th grade. I told her that I would never write for her again and she made me despise the very concept of writing anything for anyone who would judge my work by their standards.
Ah, the creative… ever disdainful of being judged by others. We just chalk it up to the fact that the person doing the judging just doesn’t get it. We never think what we do is outright, unadulterated crap.
And here I am today, a writer. I get paid by others who judge my work every day. You’d think that would really bother me. But long ago, I came up with a way to handle the criticism. When I complete a project for a client, it is perfect in my mind. It is ready to see the light of day. I am in a state of Zen about the work, knowing that given the time available, the information I was given and the budget, it is solid and complete. From there, I don’t give a rat’s ass what the client does with it or thinks of it. The vast majority love what I do. Others want desperately to feel creative too, so they want to put their one fingerprint in the work I did so they feel like they’re just as good. Fine with me. Some are. Others aren’t. Some people do indeed have better ideas than I and I readily applaud it.
I was lucky enough to stumble on my gift early in life and make some use of it. I just never really owned it until recently. People have remarked countless times: “You are so creative,” “You are amazing!,” “What a terrific writer” and that’s all well and good. I just never internalized it. I appreciated their kudos, but a creative always thinks he can do better, again, given the resources, time and budget. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t redo if given the chance. I always think I can do better.
And that is what brings me to the true subject of my litany today. We can all do better. Everyone has a talent. I know some people in my world who have discovered their gift, even after years of being totally unaware of it. They always had the talent, but perhaps never stumbled on the avenue for exploring it and letting it sing.
Too often, I think we set our life in a certain direction and ignore our own true gifts. Even if we know they are there, we may not be brave enough to use them, because they can carry a high cost. After all, it takes a pretty courageous person to find out in a painting class that they are an absolutely brilliant painter and walk away from a six figure job to pursue their art.
I don’t judge others for taking the safer route. But I can’t help stirring their soul up a bit by asking them to tell me what jazzes them in their life. Somewhere, there is a talent and with that talent, comes the possibility to live a life where you can’t wait to get up in the morning, where even the most mundane task is exciting to you and you get to share your gift with others enthusiastically and unapologetically.
We all have a special gift that was given to us. So how do you find yours?
A couple years ago I purchased The Artists Way. It is a book that is about finding the creativity in you. It helps you discover the things that jazz you, that excite you about life, and it teaches you how to remove the roadblocks that are in the way to exploring whatever gift of talent you were given, whether that means learning to play the piano for your own enjoyment or tackling that novel you often thought about but never had the confidence to set down on paper.
That book really changed my life. Now, I’m not telling you to go out and buy this particular book. It was just the one that worked for me. What I am saying is to look around your everyday world and find the catalyst that allows you to find that talent you have, something that was given just to you, something that makes you unique. Find it, explore it and discover how to express it. Your soul desperately wants you to do this. It’s that little voice in you that always asks, “what if…” Take the time to answer it. You may just find that it changes your entire life and answers even more questions about who you are and what you were put on this earth to do.
Out on the Left Coast, serving as a muse to my friends today,
– Robb