A New Way to Look at Talent

People wonder why some of us are so good at what we do. We ask how someone came to be so talented. Were they born with it? Did they cultivate it? How does it work?

Yesterday night, I uploaded an interview to Youtube with the case manager at the local shelter. I felt that I did a very good job on it. I was surprised when I looked back at it and found that there were 5 more views.

Before deleting the background footage and storing the video file, I decided to re-watch it. One reason is to make sure I don't want to do further edits and the other reason is to vicariously try and see what catches people's interest in it.

I noticed 2 things. I made good choices in editing and I also learned things when watching it over that I hadn't before. I do feel that this project has the potential to help others because it is palatable and educational.

I am also proud of other work I've done in 2023 such as The Oglers short film, the Arms and the Man stage performance, the short story Sana's Dress and the play When I Was a Bully. In each case, I made the statement I wanted to make well and all the projects have been well received.

I do not have a high viewership on my Youtube channel so you can't call me successful by that measure. However, I think the high quality of the material, my honesty, and the morality of my projects shine through. That is something I have always wanted to achieve. Furthermore, I feel that using invasive marketing, strong-arming, or harassment may get more people to watch my videos but it would make me feel bad. I want people to be naturally attracted to my work. I infrequently suggest that someone look at a project I've made but when I do, it is only because I feel very good about the quality of the project, believe it's something they could benefit by, and believe it covers a subject they would find meaningful. Beyond this, I also feel that a successful project cannot necessarily be judged by the amount of people who see or hear of it. It must be judged by its actual impact on the individual viewer, which is something that is often difficult to measure. Changing the world for the better has always started with people who have a lot of love in their heart. And it only takes one person or a few people to start major change.

When I looked back over the interview this morning, I wondered if I chose the right spots to place background footage of the goings-on at the shelter. I could always go back and re-edit the footage. I could even take a class and learn more about where best to place footage and how to get better lighting and all those sorts of things. Some of this is subjective and these decisions are affected by how much time I feel ought to be devoted to a project. But I also know that the more you work to advance your skills in an area, the more you learn, the more economical your actions become, and the better your work becomes. I feel that hands-on experience is better than theoretical work. There is always plenty of time to reflect on your work as you do it and learn more from the interactions you have with others involved in the project. Finally, every project must have its end. Would you sacrifice the potential of other projects you could create to perfect the project you're working on? Imagine someone polishing a pearl for 80 years.

Let me get back on track about why I wanted to write this post.

I feel that the interview went very well and I'm very proud of it. Even if the number of people who watch it stays at 5, I believe an appropriate impact will be made on each of them and I am grateful that I could help make that happen.

But why did the project go so smoothly? That lingering question stays in my mind. I have always felt that my morality as an individual is my most important work. I postulate it like this, "If I am moral, my work will have a more lasting and valuable impact."

Although I have struggled with self-hatred and self-punishment, I do notice how friends around me encourage me. Learning when someone is telling the truth or blowing smoke at me has been tricky but I believe as I come to understand the potential God sees in me, it will become easier to spot the truth in others' words.

So if I feel good about my work and those around me feel good, then how did I make something good?

Did I do it all by myself? No. In each of the projects I mentioned in this post, I had a host of other people helping me.

Am I uniquely talented? No. I believe anyone can create amazing things when they learn how to follow their heart's desires. Our passions, as I understand it, are placed within us by our loving Creator. That makes them Divine and Sacred. They must not be discouraged, belittled, or judged.

Much of the work I do requires that I sit alone at a computer figuring things out, using different software programs, and putting in basic effort. I find this process mediocre and tedious at times and can become impatient with the speed of my progress. (By the way, as I am coming to see here, these represent angry emotions and more self-judgment that I must address.)

But am I really alone when I do my work? Since gaining a greater awareness of the spirit world and the many people who are more developed in love who may want to help me, I have to consider that I am being greatly assisted in the work I accomplish.

Did I get enough footage? Did I edit that footage down enough? Should I have included more of this? Did I put the background footage in the right spot? Although it is easy to work myself into a frenzy questioning these things, I can relax with the understanding that my loving spirit guides are helping me with my projects and will continue to help me. After all, if I am doing something loving on the earth that could mean influencing others in an important way, why wouldn't they want to help?

All these musings guide me to look at talent in another way.

We are often very focused on the amount of time people put into their work as being a key part of success. I don't want to discard this as an important factor. But I would like to bolster this claim with another. How we approach our work from a moral perspective is very important. That goes to my earlier point that developing your morality is important. But it also reminds me that I am put into greater rapport with my spirit friends who have major resources at their disposal to help me. God's Law of Rapport says that you gain more from relationships with loving people, the closer you come to their level of love.

Personally, I wonder how much they are actually doing. Do they actually guide my hand? How many of my short stories was 90% their work and 10% my work? Is the work not my own if I didn't do all of it?

I used to think I may be cheating if I use the help of spirits. But I've changed my mind on that.

The presentation of Arms and the Man in Taos could not have been done without the production company desiring to put it on or the director or the costume designer or the stage manager or the actors. The Oglers could not have been done without the team and actors I had or the assistance from my professor.

Can you create anything without the help of someone else?

It seems that part of God's fundamental design is that we work together in harmony with God's loving laws to create beautiful things to tantalize and amaze each other with.

I could say that because another loving spirit actually wrote Sana's Dress, that I should not take authorship credits. But I would have to at least take credit as the means through which that story could reach an audience on earth. Without me, that wonderful story may have been enjoyed in heavenly places in the spirit world but not by those on earth.

It's time to discard the idea that I have to do it all alone. I never really liked that idea anyway. It was a religious and cultural conviction I held that cannot help me on my path in life.

So perhaps we have here a new way to look at talent. Perhaps it can be defined as a quality in someone where they know how good it can feel to follow their passions and that they must not reject loving influences as they go about the important work of creating.