His almost universal excellence
Is starting to disturb me
They asked how in the world he does all these things
And he answered “Superbly”–Elvis Costello/My Science Fiction Twin
Accomplished people are annoying as hell, aren’t they? Even if they don’t say a word, they exude smugness. Or so we would like to believe. We don’t want to think that someone who is extremely talented can also be nice. It seems unfair–the super-talented shouldn’t be nice, too. It’s just too much.
Except that a lot of talented people ARE nice. Bastards. Yes, Mollie. I am looking directly at you. Bitch. Beautiful, talented and nice. Funny, too. Utterly impossible to dislike. You suck. How can someone who is such a total performer at heart be so…genuine? It’s a conundrum. No it isn’t. I just like that word a lot. You aren’t nice because of your talent. You aren’t nice in spite of your talent. Your winning personality is a whole different thing. Like your stunning physical attributes. Your kids are even cute. Sigh. Why can’t I hate you???
Oh, sorry. I got off track for a sec.
Ahem.
A lot of talent, physically expressed talent in particular, seems to go hand in hand with confidence. Sometimes an excess of confidence. It generally seems justified to me. If you have a talent that you have really worked at, physically or intellectually, and if you’ve achieved levels that most people couldn’t get to, you should own it. Maybe not to the point of beating us all over the head with it. Not to the point of expecting special treatment in other areas of your life because of it.
What about talents that just sort of are there without requiring any special effort to cultivate them?
Those people shouldn’t be cocky about it. Pure luck of the draw. I’m great at learning languages, but it’s not like I have ever done anything to earn it. It just is. It isn’t something to be proud of any more than the color of my eyes or my height. Maybe if I spoke more languages I would consider it more of an accomplishment. Or if I busted my brain trying to learn Finnish, or Russian, or one of the other really hard languages. French or Italian? Not so much. I don’t think of it as something I can really brag about, because I didn’t have to expend any effort to do it.
My main talent is learning things quickly. Anything. It is, sadly, tempered by a propensity to get bored just as quickly. I am awesome at diving into something for several months. I go a little obsessed around the edges and then..yawn.
Well, maybe I’m not bored. It’s more like I’m attracted by some other new thing, and then I flash on that instead. I have great focus in very short bursts.
Piano that’s fun! Oooh French lessons! No, drawing! No a new book! Ooh, a new notebook to write in. Look, cashmere..maybe I should weave something pretty. No, knit!
Shiny!
The blog, I suspect, may be doomed…
Did someone mention learning to weld?
(No, seriously..who can teach me to weld?)