Most of the people I work with on a daily basis have at least some innate artistic talent. A couple of them can sing pretty amazingly, at least three of them have at least some skills on a guitar,
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and one has mad-drum skills (or so he says).
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There is some songwriting ability amongst the group, and one guy runs and DJs his own Internet radio station (as did a past coworker.)
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Some of them are even pretty good at designing Photoshop-type crap. Working in an environment like that, for someone who has the creative skills of a lump of coal, can be disheartening. Hell… it can be down-right depressing.
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I got no mad art skills. I can’t sing or play guitar or draw or dance or act or design or much of anything else that could be considered creative. I watch some mean TV, but I don’t think that counts for much. I can eat like there’s no tomorrow, and that kind of creatively expands my circumference… but I may be grasping at straws. Although there is reward, there is no award for couch-potatoship.
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The really sad thing is… you can’t “learn” creativity. You can develop talent, but it’s pretty hard to take someone with no inherent ability and teach them a skill that involves creativity when the talent and creativity are completely foreign to that individual. Anyone with two hands can learn to play the guitar. If the person lacks actual talent and creativity, they will never really master the skill (or even get close). I think there needs to be a little passion thrown in with the talent-creativity-mix as well. I’m passionate about music… I love listening and I wish I could create, but I have neither skills nor creativity when it comes to music. I love listening to a song that makes me think of a particular time, or a voice that calms me, or see a live performance that gives me goosebumps… and I’d love to be able to evoke those thoughts and emotions in complete strangers…
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… but I can’t.
I think that people who have creative outlets, even if they aren’t making a living with their “art”, lead a more satisfying life. I have nothing to back this thought up with, but it seems like it makes sense. I know I’ve read stuff that says this is true… but I don’t feel like turning this into a research paper 🙂
Given the fact that I want to increase the satisfaction of my life, I figure I need to find some hidden talent for the creative that must be lurking somewhere deep within me. Some of the motivational guru-types tell us that we should practice our “art” in whatever career related task we are doing. By this, they are implying that every job can be looked at as somewhere one can apply creative talent, and you will do a better job if you hone your “artistic skills” when performing your job. The problem with looking at a random job as a place to meet those creative aspirations is the “passion” I mentioned earlier. We aren’t all going to be able to learn to be passionate about our jobs, and some of us have been through too many jobs to still believe we are ever going to find a job that fulfills us on a creative level. To convince yourself that you can find a creative outlet in something you aren’t passionate about seems to me to be a little like settling.
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“Things aren’t ever going to get any better, so I need to do what I can with what I’ve got.”
Deciding to settle (giving up) may make life less stressful (for those with no creative outlet), or it might make make you want to pull your hair out…
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… or lose your mind.
On one hand, realizing that you may never have a creative outlet and accepting that fact must be kind of liberating. You don’t have to worry about what that stupid life-satisfaction must be like any more. On the other hand, it may not be liberating at all.
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All I have for a creative outlet is this stinking blog, and if you’ve read it, you know it’s not that creative at all. Me bitching about stuff and posting pictures I’ve found on other web sites; I guess it’s a start. What I need to do now is find my true calling… my true creative ability… the one skill that I can be passionate about using that will move or entertain others. I need to figure out how bring my couch potato act to the stage…
I think it take a lot of talent to write all of the stories you do on this blog. Heck, no one can find something wrong with everything the way you do. 🙂
You might have a point, Ron. I can think of no single greater pessimist than myself. Can being a pessimist be a talent? Oh… I hope so 🙂
I always thought that being a good couch potato was the reward in itself.
Thats right Rich. You have mean writing talent.. And you must enjoy it, cause you do it for free. Maybe its time for that novel.. I feel like you (or at least I think I feel like you) I dont feel I have any real talents. Oh sure, I have some learned skills, but so does everybody, or at least most people. I like to think I used to have some physical talents, but that was back when I was still in shape. I could jump like a frog and run like the wind, but I lacked the interest to really take it anywhere. If I could write like you, I would be blogging on a daily basis.
Oh, and dont go appointing yourself greatest pessimist ever, I may just take offense. If that were a talent, I am definately a hell of a lot more talented than anyone ever knew.
Matt, it’s relaxing and enjoyable and mind-numbing… but there is little reward 🙂