I realise it's a bit lengthy but just try and read it all :)
There’s a story in the Bible, in Matthew 25:14-30 about the men with the talents*, for those who aren’t familiar with it, in a nutshell it says: “Master is travelling, takes 3 servants, gives the first one 5 talents, second one 2 talents, the last one, 1 talent. The servants with 5 and 2 talents both work hard and double it, the lazy one with one talent simply stows it away and awaits the masters return, he is of course then condemned.”
Why did I think of this parable you wonder? Well, it so happens that I was speaking to a friend of mine and he, being an avid photographer after going on and on about exposure limits, lenses and how the best time to take pictures is twilight, suddenly stopped rambling and asked me straight up “What’s your ‘thing’?” I found myself in a bit of a state thinking of an answer. Some people are into art, fashion, music, literature but I couldn’t really think of a “thing” that I could call my own. Put in an immediate state of panic, coupled with the fact that the ‘D’ had changed into an ‘R’, I started to think back to something, anything I’ve ever been passionate about. After reeling off a list of potential answers in my head “Shoes? No this implies I care about more than how long they make my legs looks Perfume? Well I do love perfume but I’m not sure I could tell you if a scent had jasmine undertones or a mild hint of fresh roses :/ Photogra.. oh no, that’s HIS thing” I eventually came to the conclusion that I didn’t have a ‘thing’ and with an ever so slight hint of annoyance said “Not everyone has a talent that’s immediately obvious to the naked eye.”
Whether or not I believed this line of argument when I first said it was completely irrelevant but sitting here I realize that yes, I do believe it. Not in the context I was trying to use it though. I was trying to say then that only people naturally and artistically talented had the chance of showcasing their work for the world to see. What I realized though is that, you don’t have to be able to ‘showcase’ your talent in such an obvious way. For instance, a charismatic person could potentially be good, maybe even great at say, public speaking but would never know because they never bothered to invest in their ‘talent’ because it wasn’t as noticeable as others. The sad truth is that, we as human beings love praise and most people would do things better or to a higher level if there was consistent admiration. But just because you cant blog about it (oh hi, today my charisma went from level 3 to 5 today -____-) doesn’t mean it’s any less of a talent. Their talent may not manifest itself in a physical form but through practice charisma could easily become synonymous with their name.
I read a comment on a plaque that was given to my mum today and it said, “True stars rise to the top not by chance but through purpose and passion!” and thought to myself, this can’t be any more in line with this post! Basically the point of all of my ramble is that if you already have a ‘thing’ then keep working on it and making yourself better at it, and if you’re a bit ‘thing-less’ at the moment like me then think about it, remember it doesn’t have to be something immediately obvious. Besides, I think all the spaces for rappers, models and designers have been filled! I'd let you know when i find mine :)
Thank you friend for showing me that I should find my talent-thing and exploit it, allowing myself to reach my full potential. All this talk of things has constantly been reminding me of Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr Seuss! Random, I know, you like it ^_^*In the parable of the talents a ‘talent’ is a sum of money, worth more than approximately a thousand dollars
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