The Importance of Recognizing Your Talents

Check this essay out:

http://www.designobserver.com/archives/023156.html#more

It's one design professional's account of how realizing he was "good at art" as a child changed the way he grew up. I found a couple things about the essay to be interesting, as well as moving.

One was the distinct giving of credit where credit is due. His teacher, and his parents, and many of his peers, were all important influences for him as a child since they allowed his curiosity to expand on what he felt was a talent, and ultimately carve out quite a bit of confidence on the tablet of his personality.

Secondly, I like how his talent translated into his life. There's a correlation between what we are naturally good at and what we decide to do with our lives, and that connection is something I think a lot of us post-college people are coming to terms with. The trick is, it seems, one does not predict the other, and our talents, as intrinsic elements of our personality, are not to be rejected or embraced on the basis of their utility in our vocational search. Our talents are with us as a part of who we are, and no matter how specialized a profession is, there must be room for one to be oneself. And like most things in life, there are very few circle slots and square pieces and vice versa; fitting in is a matter of adaptation and improvisation.

Finally, it's important that the essay points out whether or not he would have realized his particular talent today, as a child. Since children have such advanced graphic tools to design everything from their paper covers to their birthday banners, would a child be as likely to recognize talent? Would an onlooker? If anything, it may be more difficult to see who's "good at art" than it was before, in science projects, and other school activities, but it is also true that today's young artist, once he realizes his abilities, has tools to manifest, amplify, and disseminate his creative products in ways unimaginable to previous generations...