Is there any such thing as a small talent?
Well yeah. Look at this guy (and I'm not referring to his stature. It's that itty bitty musical instrument between his teeth):
Dude. That's a harmonica. A humble and somewhat reviled musical instrument if ever there was one. And yet this man brought down the house with it. And not just any old house: the rather august Carnegie Hall house.
That was some serious joy and enjoyment on those peoples' faces. And all because of a golly-gee-Tom-and-Huck-let's-sit-in-a-corn-field-and-chaw-some-straw-whilst-whistlin'-through-a-mouth-organ harmonica.
Good things come in small packages, don't they? I mean, forgive the cliché, but it's kind of true. It's also true that good things come in medium sized packages, large packages, square and trapezoidal packages. (Awesome word, that. Trapezoidal. It's fun to say. You try it. Go on. "Trapezoidal." See?)
The truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter what we look like, what obvious accomplishments are ours, what worldly recognition we may or may not have. As long as whatever we do, we do with everything we've got–every key, every note, every resonance chamber, every part of our heart, mind, and soul; in short, every part of our instrument–then our contribution is great. And if we get good at giving every part of our energy and soul to everything we do, doesn't our talent become great? A talent for adding our total awesomeness to the world?
There is no person who has nothing to contribute. You work hard and you throw it out there. The positive energy of that offering all by itself is enough to boost the goodness-factor in the world.
Go out there and DO it, little harmonica-man, little blues-harp-woman. You can worry that you're not good enough and not try. Or you can try and possibly fail. Either way it works out the same. Except with the trying you have the self-respect of having tried. And the experience to apply to the next time. And the next time. And the next time. And finally the fantastic time when you try with everything you've got and bring down the house in Carnegie Hall.
Go You!
Dudette – that was AWESOME. All kinds of dreams do come true.
They do. And can you BELIEVE the notes that man was able to hit on that thing? The run down the scale, with all the accidentals, at the end of the William Tell Overture was spectacular.
Persistent hard workers make it more often than the talented–because they HAVE to work.
Girl, I just think the world of you. I love coming to your blog because I feel immeditaly calm. You have a crazy-good voice and are just flat out amazing. Love you, my dear friend.
Russ – You’ve no idea how it helped me to hear that today. Thanks for being my blog-buddy, my fellow gnome-slayer, and my partner-in-pretty-mild-adventures. 🙂