Talents

For some reason, when people find something impressive about you, they'll express it to you by saying, "wow, I wish I had such natural talent" or "you definitely take after your parents". Which, alright, I see what they're trying to do, but honestly, that just sort of takes away from all the hard work that goes into what was done.

For example, I make movies. Just stupid little home videos mostly, but over the years I have come to be very familiar with editing, music, transitions, appropriate titles, framing, and so on. I'm no professional, but I'd consider myself very knowledgable. I have an entire YouTube channel filled with my work. Every once in a while, my dad has to make a video for church, work, or whatever, and always asks for my advice on something because I have a lot more experience in the area. (Of course he doesn't always listen to my tips, but…). So then people see his videos and think "wow, that was really great!". Cut to later and I'm supposed to make a video for somebody. I present the video and someone comments, "you definitely take after your dad". No, no, no! I know they are not trying to offend, but the issue here is that I am the one who has been putting so much work into making videos over the years and just because my dad's work is put in the spotlight more often, it is assumed that he has the talent and I "take after him". No! I work hard at developing my talents. In fact, he often asks ME for advice! And not to say that he doesn't have talent, but honestly. We're two separate talents! Sorry, I'm not here to get riled up, just to point out a flaw.

The other common response to talents is "I wish I had such natural abilities". Again, it's not meant as an offense, but it does take away some of the idea that I haven't worked hard at what I do. For example, my artwork. Art is hard even for people who are "naturally" good at it. And I get it, some people are better at it than others. Just like some people are better at math than others. I can't do math to save my life, but I don't consider it a "natural ability". When someone is good at something, even if seems to come easily to them, they still have to work hard at it on some level. I am a "natural" artist. However, I have taken several art classes over the years. I have sat through boring lectures on art history, I have memorized the color wheel, I have learned the concepts of depth perception, I've learned how shadows work when light falls on an object, I've learned how to mix colors, I've learned to use different art mediums, and so much more. It was not easy! I started out like anybody else did: as a three-year-old with a box of crayons and scrap paper scribbling random shapes. I just progressed as I got older because I love to draw. Honestly, I didn't produce anything truly impressive until high school when I began taking art classes.

Alright, my ranting is over. I do appreciate compliments and I will take what I can get. But I'm just putting this out there to help people become aware. I know it's hard to come up with words to express when you're just so impressed with something, and usually those are the two things that come to your mind and you think "yes, that sounds good". But if you can help yourself, try to just stick to "that is amazing/impressive/awesome" or something of the like. I may be the only one with this opinion, so you probably don't have to worry TOO much, but if you're looking for small ways to improve yourself, I'd say this is one way to go.