The Modern Day Renaissance (Hacker)man

11. Skill versus talent

What skills are you willing to learn…

Prompt:

What talents do you believe you have?

What talents do you believe you’re missing?

What skills would transform your work?

Does anyone else have that skill?

Do you care enough to learn it? What would it require for you to gain the skill you need?

Make an inventory and share it with us.

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What talents do you believe you have?

Ever since I heard the phrase Renaissance Man in my public school World History class, I knew that’s exactly the type of person I wanted to be as I grew up. Stemming from possibly one of the greatest eras promoting the creative possibilities of humanity, a Renaissance Man is a title given to a person who is knowledgeable in many fields, but not quite an expert at any in particular. While I don’t find any hobbies or activities I have a knack for to necessarily be a talent, I believe my true talent is having a voracious hunger to continually learn about the world around me and be unsatisfied with my current state of existence, always striving to be working towards the next best thing. My current career, Computer Science, thrives off of this hunger. The field is ever-growing and ever-presently changing the very world we live in, and to be part of the wave instead of being taken over by it is a rare and blissful opportunity.

What talents do you believe you’re missing? What skills would transform your work?

Time management, task prioritization, and a terrible ability at figuring out “worthwhile” people to spend time and prioritize tasks with. To be able to get along with anyone is a fantastic trait I picked up from my dad, but unfortunately I over-invest in others who may not necessarily be investing in themselves or others. My ideal group of friends would be a collection of people from various walks of life who continue to be “gifts that keep on giving” to each other, whether it be in feedback, challenging the norm, or just being emotional aware and available for those who are important to their lives.

Does anyone else have that skill? Do you care enough to learn it? What would it require for you to gain the skill you need?

There is a popular phrase, “You are the average of the 5 of your closest friends.” For most people my age, it seems as though that average is a combination of people you were close with in college mixed in with people you are close with at work. It took me a long time to realize this, but those are friends of circumstance more than friends of choice. How many of those friends understand the creative pursuit and journey you are embarking? Would they even risk a fragment of their stability to step out of their comfort zone to try something new? If the answer is yes, congrats, you have some amazing friends :)

For me, it seems I’m a little off the beaten path then many of my current close friends. When I speak about some of my more tamer ideals, they look at me wild-eyed as if I were suggesting something ludicrous. I sigh in disappointment because I used to be just like that up until recently, and I have crossed paths with some absolutely out-there people who I internally misjudged as crazy because they were doing something juuuust a bit different. It was a humbling moment, and now whenever I converse with someone new, I try to listen so much more than I speak, because there is always something worthwhile to learn from someone unlike yourself.

Eventually I will find this close-knit group of out-there creatives who are the gifts that keep on giving to each other, and I think I have found quite a few in this workshop already! :wink:

What are your definitions of worthwhile friends?