Talent
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A talent (or gift, or aptitude) is the skill that someone has to do something very well that people usually like and that is difficult. Someone who has talent is called talented. Talented people may have more than one talent. Talent is sometimes learned, but in some cases is natural born.
What is talent? When you look up the word in the dictionary, the very first word of the definition is a big clue: "natural aptitude or skill."
Talent is natural. It is something you have naturally, which implies that it is not something you can obtain. Talent is likely something that can be developed, however.
Talent is something you're good at, or at the very least something you have the likelihood of being good at should you choose to develop that skill.
The great artist Picasso understood that talent is natural and inherent in every person. He insisted that Our work is to retain our access to it.
In 1993 the volume “Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times: A Book of Meditations” by David Viscott he similarly said:
The purpose of life is to discover your gift.
The work of life is to develop it.
The meaning of life is to give your gift away.
Skill
A skill is something you can learn. You might have a natural aptitude for a particular skill, which gives you an advantage in your effort to learn it. If you don't have a natural aptitude for that skill, you can still learn it but will have a longer or more difficult time obtaining that skill.
People’s work does improve considerably as they build skills. The quality (and speed!) of our work also improves drastically as we gain experience. Creative work is not different than any other type of work. The more you do it, the better you get at it.
It’s when you combine skills, experience, with the “you can do no wrong zone”, you end up with genius work. Every human can achieve this.
Skills and experience also build our confidence, and our confidence is the critical elements to finding our genius zone.
However, you don’t need years of skills and experience to begin the work of reclaiming your childlike ability to feel confident – and find your talent.
As people gain skills, experience, and confidence – they shine.
In Our Story...
As we read we learn that Chester has exceptional musical talent and loves music. He uses his wings like a violinist to play songs of his own creation and, later, songs that humans enjoy. Harry Cat comments, about Chester's playing "Lovely - very Lovely... This cricket has talent." (p. 30)
In Chapter 9 there is more talk of Chester's talent while he and Mario have supper with Mr. Fong and the professor. They then ask ""What is your talent Mario?"
Mario stopped chewing as he tried to think of what his talent was." "Mr. Fond could see the wheels spinning in Mario's head. "Sometimes a grain takes time to shed it's husk. That mean, talents don't always show themselves until later."" (p. 77)
How about others though?
The truth is that we all have hidden talents—skills we don’t even realize we have. Simply put, we’re not always good at figuring out what they are. They may even be there in front of us at times and go unnoticed. How do you discover your hidden skills then?
Open your mind to all paths. Because you are likely blind to what some of your talents really are, a good place to start when evaluating your talents is to just open your mind to the possibilities. Keep in mind that talents extend beyond just playing the guitar or dancing like a pro. Talents come in all shapes and sizes and extend into many areas of life.
Open up time for new things. Your life needs to have room for discovering your talents! If you spend all day on the couch after school or work then you're going to have very little time for self discovery. Your talents will often lie in activities that you've not tried yet and if you don't make time for those things, then you'll never expand beyond what you are now.
Try things you would never have tried before. Sometimes you may tell yourself that you can't do things, but you will never know what you are capable of unless you go outside of your comfort zone. Maybe you think you're not good enough or not smart enough. However, you don't know you're that kind of person until you start becoming that person. You have to give life a chance to surprise you. You're much more incredible and interesting than you give yourself credit for. Take a risk and try activities totally different than anything you've ever tried before.
Everyone has one...
Talent is not rare; it is resident and innate in every individual. Every person has unique and unusual talents and gifts.
Every person has been given unique skills, talents, and capacities. We are diverse from one another since we have various interests and tendencies. One person might excel at music, but struggle with painting, while another person might excel at a dance but struggle with writing. Any artist’s creative form is the best and most significant to them. A painter’s sense of art can be the beauty of colours, yet the music is to a singer the most beautiful art form.
This implies that the most beautiful kind of art in a creator’s eyes is the type of art that the creator creates. This does not, however, imply that other types of art are less important. Every person possesses a unique quality that sets them apart from others.
What's your Talent?
The interesting question and the one that consistently leads to surprising results, is how to find the talent that is already there – in every human.
Look Within
Reflect on yourself in search of your talents, start by looking at your past. Look at the things that you've done. Look at the things you've enjoyed. Look at the times when you really excelled. Ask yourself questions like "What am I most proud of that I've done?" or "When was I so proud that I didn't care what anyone thought?"
Another thing you can think about are the times in your life that you've been challenged. Think about the tough situations that you've had to deal with. Times of trial can often reveal your hidden skills.
Think about times you were successful. Look back on your life and think about times where you really succeeded, times where you felt about to burst with the pride of your success. This can indicate a talent you possess.
The things that make you happy can also reveal your talents. Think about the things that you love to do. Do people ever give you compliments on it? Do they ever ask for your help with it? You might not think of it as a talent but it probably is.
Reach Out
One of the best ways to find your hidden talents is to ask the people around you. Your family, friends, and coworkers will know you best and can easily point out some of your strengths even when you can't see them. If you think about it, people have likely been telling you what you're good at for some time.
Your perception of yourself is very complex. Similar to how you cannot see your own nose, you may often be blinded to the things that you are best at. It can be really hard to identify your brightest talents and they are often in the places you least expect. You may even be very good at things that you perceive yourself as being bad at.
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TALENT IS THE ABILITY TO BE YOURSELF
TALENT IS THE ABILITY TO BE YOURSELF
Works that lack talent are colored and tainted by our never ending attempts to please and capitulate and compromise and contort ourselves to what we think people’s expectations are. When we’re being completely ourselves, our unique talent could shatter glass.
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