NO SUCH THING AS TALENT!
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OK- I lost it yesterday.
I was sitting there next to mom and grandma waiting for Uncle Mickey's funeral to start. Thinking about a million other things (the drive home, mean short people, what kind of flowers where up front) when my Dad's Aunt Peral and Uncle Rhody sat down behind us.
I turned said hello and did the small talk thing. Uncle Rhody recognized me as "The one who played violin at that wedding . . . .right?" I smiled graciously and said that was me. AND THEN, he said "it" . . . . and I lost "it". Maybe I can blame it on the stress, or lack of sleep the night before, but More likely it was just one time too many where someone said "That's a great talent"
I know he ment it as a comliment, and I should have said "Thank you"
But I couldn't. I realy wanted to scream NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! (not appropriate for Uncle Mickey's funeral!) so I just said "No. There's really no talent involved - just a lot of hard work." (good answer!) Of course he disagreed with me that I was talented because he couldn't make music. I said that he was certainly just as capable of being a musicican and then offered to teach him! (dear mother was ever so embarrased that I couldn't just accecpt the compliment).
BUT I REALLY DON"T have musical talent. I'm not denying that Talent exists and some people have natural inclinations to certain things that others. BUT . . . That doesn't mean everyone who picks up a fiddle and can put over a tune or two has some natural gift or talent to it
I work SO HARD for my music. To Quote F.M. ALexander "ANYONE could do what I've done if they simply did what I did."
WHat I did was spend significant time in a tiny practice room everyday for several years. Anyone who had Jennifer pushing, and Julia encouraging, and a weekly studio class (YIKES! That's Peer Pressure!) would be able to play and perform as well as (or better) than me.
Didn't Thomas Eddision say something about 2% talent and 98% work. SO TRUE!!! Even the talented people would be nothing if they didn't work at it (and those talented people have to spend more than a couple hours a day cooped up in that practice room!!)
I don't mind the compliments -Actually I LOVE compliemnts - but I want it to be a compliment -- not brushing off everything I've worked at as "a great talent" If someone wants to compliment one's performance, why don't they say "I really enjoyed that last piece" or "Thanks for playing, it sent chills up my spine" or just sit there and cry (I LOVE to make people cry - Holcomb's performance goal always involved making the audience dance (or "move SOMETHING") but I want to see people Tear up and get weepy!!)
Part of me wants the word "TALENT" eliminated from our vocabulary, but I think destroying words is a bad bad bad thing - so, for now, I'm going to just keep saying "NO" when they try to "compliment" me with that word. Maybe Ill single handedly change the connotation of the word back to it's right and propper defn??
5-3-02
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I just found a whole chat devoted to this very subject on the Internet Cello Society's Chat Board --- I'll put the complied responses Here . Some good ideas.
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