World of Words #22: Trust & Respect Our Talent!
It’s been a while since our last discussion. There has been plenty going on recently to include the release of our latest book, ”Nubian Voices Unmasked”, an incredible anthology of poetry available now in both hardcover and ebook.
In this post, I want to discuss the need for us to trust and respect our talent. As writers, or for that matter any creative-minded individual, it is crucial for us to trust and respect our talent. While this statement has broad applicability, we’ll focus on writing for the sake of this discussion.
Let’s tackle “trusting our talent” first. It may not always feel like it, but we’ve been blessed with a talent for wordplay, storytelling, word-smithing, whatever you want to call it. We are writers and that IS our talent. GOD given or whatever you believe in, we have a talent for writing and this is what we do. Now, determining how much talent we have and exploring the possibilities and limits of our talent is something for each of us to find out during our own personal writing journeys.
It’s important to understand that trusting our talent is crucial for success. If we don’t believe in and trust our talent, then who else will? Not many, I’m willing to bet. So, what do I mean by “trusting our talent”? One example is when we are working on a project that suddenly seems too big or too daunting or maybe we aren’t sure which direction we should pursue. We have to trust our talent to guide us. Just because we can’t see the way ahead at the moment, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Trust our talent by putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, and see where it takes us. We may be surprised by the result.
Another example of trusting our talent is when find ourselves presented with an opportunity like a job or a book deal or even a movie deal. Before we jump at the dollar signs, we should ask ourselves: “Is this the best fit for my talent?” “Does this align with the values I’ve set for myself and my talent?” “Am I being asked to compromise or sellout my talent?” “Does this opportunity respect my talent?” We have to trust our talent to guide us.
There are many other examples we can dig into, but I think you get the idea behind “trusting our talent”. Our talent is what got us where and our talent is what fuels our skill (more on this in another post), and our talent and skill are what will carry us when there isn’t anything or anyone else to rely on (more on this in another post too!). At the end of the day, we each have to figure out what “trusting our talent” means to us as individuals and how best to implement and manage this trust. Also, this is a perfect segue to discuss “respecting our talent”.
The late, great Aretha Franklin famously sang “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care T-C-B!” Respect can mean different things to different people. Respect can manifest itself in different ways. Some people may feel a healthy respect for talent means using it to the maximum extent possible and in every way possible until there isn’t any more to use. Others may feel respecting talent entails protecting it like a finite, rare resource and using it judiciously and in a very focused manner. Just like “trusting our talent, we all have to figure out what “respecting our talent” means to each of us.
Regardless of how we each define “respecting our talent”, there’s are a couple of absolutes we can all bank on: Talent isn’t guaranteed to be permanent. It also isn’t guaranteed to thrive. If we take our talent for granted, if we don’t invest in it and grow it, if we don’t treat it well and set it up for success by finding good situations for it, if we don’t pair our talent with complementary skills, it will at some point, like a lover neglected for far too long, abandon us. So, what’s the best way to respect our talent? Well, simply put, we have to use it. The most detrimental thing to talent is inactivity. Talent is like a muscle. We have to exercise it, put it to good use, and find ways to grow it, or it will atrophy and become useless.
We all know how hard it can be to find time to write. Look at how long it’s been since our last World of Words discussion, but we have to do it. If we don’t, we are disrespecting and abusing our talent and that shouldn’t be acceptable to any of us.
More to come on talent and skill.
Until the next time, “WRITE ON!”
