{"id":2398,"date":"2013-11-11T06:05:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T14:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=2398"},"modified":"2013-11-10T21:18:22","modified_gmt":"2013-11-11T05:18:22","slug":"dont-hate-me-because-im-talented-because-im-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=2398","title":{"rendered":"Don’t hate me because I’m talented…because I’m not"},"content":{"rendered":"

His almost universal excellence
\nIs starting to disturb me
\nThey asked how in the world he does all these things
\nAnd he answered “Superbly”<\/p>\n

–Elvis Costello\/My Science Fiction Twin<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 \u00a0talented can also be nice. It seems unfair–the super-talented shouldn’t be nice, too. It’s just too much.<\/p>\n

Except that a lot of talented people ARE nice. Bastards.\u00a0Yes, Mollie. I am looking directly at you. Bitch. Beautiful, talented and nice. Funny, too. \u00a0Utterly 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. \u00a0I 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. \u00a0Like your stunning physical attributes. Your kids are even cute. Sigh. Why can’t I hate you???<\/p>\n

Oh, sorry. I got off track for a sec.<\/p>\n

Ahem.<\/p>\n

A lot of talent, physically expressed talent in particular, seems to go hand in hand with confidence. Sometimes an excess of confidence. \u00a0It 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. \u00a0Maybe not to the point of beating us all over the head with it. \u00a0<\/span>Not to the point of expecting special treatment in other areas of your life because of it.<\/p>\n

What about talents that just sort of are there without requiring any special effort to cultivate them?<\/p>\n

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 \u00a0earn it. It just is. It isn’t something to be proud of any more than the color of my eyes or my height. \u00a0Maybe 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. \u00a0I don’t think of it as something I can really brag about, because I didn’t have to expend any effort to do it.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Piano that’s fun! Oooh French lessons! \u00a0No, drawing! No a new book! Ooh, a new notebook to write in. Look, cashmere..maybe I should weave something pretty. No, knit!<\/p>\n

Shiny!<\/p>\n

The blog, I suspect, may be doomed…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Did someone mention learning to weld?<\/p>\n

(No, seriously..who can teach me to weld?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. … Continue reading Don’t hate me because I’m talented…because I’m not<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-CG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8348,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8348","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":0},"title":"An imaginary conversation about faith, hope and trust","author":"Michelle","date":"November 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this meme on Facebook the other day that has me a little worried. Only you would worry about a meme. It isn't the meme so much as the message. I'm sure it was very profound. Are you going to just fling sarcasm at me, or maybe try listening?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Conversation"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Conversation","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7764,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=7764","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":1},"title":"On a break..","author":"Michelle","date":"October 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Breakfast in Springfield with Sharon. After a gorgeous drive, I had lunch and a pint in Bend with Mollie, then went up to Crux for another pint and then headed over to Kelly and Diane's. Another pint. Then dinner. Saturday is pizza fest. Kelly cooked Friday night to get ready.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_1795.jpg?fit=540%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_1795.jpg?fit=540%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_1795.jpg?fit=540%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10172,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10172","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":2},"title":"Closet archeology","author":"Michelle","date":"June 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I was just going to tidy up a little. Nothing major. Just put a few things away and fold some things. Then all of a sudden, things went all tangential on me and my bed was covered with things I knitted or wove over the last several years.\u00a0 Ohhhh, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_2879.JPG","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_2879-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1341,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=1341","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":3},"title":"More than words","author":"Michelle","date":"September 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Poor head Can hardly move my lips for speaking I said So, what is this thing I cannot explain? I'd blame all the things I feel but can't quite place Perhaps they're written on my face Someone took the words away --Elvis Costello\/Someone Took The Words Away \u00a0 \u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1616,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=1616","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":4},"title":"spam spam spam spam spamity spam","author":"Michelle","date":"September 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Once in every show There comes a song like this It starts out soft and low And ends up with a kiss. --Spamalot\/The Song That Goes Like This This weekend, Ma and I went on a road trip to Bend to see our friend Mollie rock Bend as the Lady\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9999,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9999","url_meta":{"origin":2398,"position":5},"title":"Tiny heartbreaks","author":"Michelle","date":"May 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it's not for me to sayBut I can't see what you see in him anywayBut such righteousness in meIs not a nice thing to displayAnd who am IFor Christ sakes anywayOh, to judge a life this wayWhen my own's in disarray.--Everything But The Girl\/Two Star The other day, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}