Have you ever met someone who is a natural athlete, musician or artist? It's like they just have this gift from heaven that gives them a clear vision or steady hand or unique perspective and when you are around them you suddenly realize that you are more normal than you ever imagined?
The scriptures come crashing to mind that we shouldn't compare... i.e. "all truth is independent in that sphere in which it was created" and "to every man is given a gift" but some people truly have more as illustrated by the parable of the talents. Now in the end, whether you have only one or a whole handful of talents you get the same reward, but in the meantime it is humbling when you are feeling pretty good about your three and you sit next to someone that has hundreds.
As you probably know, we just moved and I joined a writing group. Well, we have five members but only three are active. The other scout leader and I are strong writers. (SL is always grammatically accurate with no typos unlike me) but the young mother of five that we meet with is incredible. She makes me laugh every other Wednesday and literally dazzles me with her prose.
Luckily, she is on my side and I feel like I'm improving, just sitting in her shadow. It's a great thing. The same is true for the online critique group I'm with. There are a few members that are awesome- they see things I would never think of. What a gift!
I guess I want to publicly thank those great talents that are helping me along the way and hopefully with enough work I'll grow from three to maybe eight- over the next few years.
2 comments:
Your post reminds me of that film about Mozart (Amadeus?), in which the court musician, Salieri, is astounded by Mozart's abilities, but disgusted by his personal habits. Salieri attempts to torpedo Mozart's mind and ends up rather dotty himself. Myself, I have spent a lifetime comparing myself with others, myself with myself, myself with my expectations for myself, and it has led to a lot of frustration. Alas. Lately, I have tried to focus on quality. Have you read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? Absolutely one of the better books out there. In it is a discussion of quality that has stayed with me. When we can recognize our own quality (as writers or whatever), and then learn to replicate it and improve upon it, then we are in the groove, in the zone. That's where I'm headed, anyway. MW
Thank you. I know that is true and fight against my tendencies to see myself clearly. Thanks for the heads up- I'll put "Zen and The Art of MM" on my to read list.
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