Can You Pursue Too Close to the Sun?
Recently I saw someone say “talent is a pursued interest,” and I immediately thought about JLo. Not because I don’t think JLo is talented—I actually think she’s quite talented—but because the internet is sure she cannot sing, and is hellbent on proving it. I think it can be split into two things:
Can she actually sing?
Who cares? As long as you fully put yourself out there and try your damnedest, isn’t that act itself commendable enough?
Of course, there is also the element of access, commercial marketability, being a woman in the industry and how one has to navigate herself there, but I think Jenny from the Block is the perfect example of never giving up and backing down even when others hate on it.
But let’s go into the deeper conversation of—if your baseline talent isn’t strong, can practice make perfect? There are certain things we can’t fix, like if you’re tone deaf, you’re tone deaf. But what if no one tells you? I knew someone who was actually tone deaf and yet went to school for singing, and not a teacher raised the issue. And when she was unable to land a singing gig post-college, she ended up in a totally different profession. In that case, practice made no difference.
However, what if you’re just mediocre-gifted? Can that medium-level gift be turned into the gift? Can someone who started off seemingly barely talented pursue their way into a Broadway career or a Lincoln Center performance? According to my Instagram poll, almost half of you believe it can.
Isn’t this just a way of saying we can manifest delusion? That as long as you persist and believe, you can have that Oscar, even if, presently, there’s only 20% acting ability in your body. It really makes you think that the world is crawling with unfulfilled potential.
One of the best answers I got from a woman was:
I used to say that talent is purely desire-fueled: as long as you are passionate about something, you will develop the intelligence to understand your interest and become “talented.” And by that logic, I think in my level of understanding of life that innate talent comes from an intelligence based in the logic of your interest.
What a wonderful way to put it.
Another (very talented, I might add) friend of mine said his main issue is he sees that talent and craft can only get you so far. So even if you’re extremely talented, it ultimately comes down to the hustle. But this isn’t really the issue. We are assuming that the subject in question is barely talented to begin with, so with the hustle, could they succeed? And to succeed, in this instance, means in the standard, capitalistic sense. Can they get the record deal, can they book the role, can they win the chess championship? MJ was talented since the moment he opened his mouth, but if you pay attention, he practiced more than any human in any time or space. That man was making up dance moves, dressed in full performance gear at 3 a.m. He didn’t just have talent. He persisted straight into the sun.
But see, he never started as a mid-tier talent.
Now, back to JLo as a singer. Her voice still isn’t there yet, but I can say she’s succeeded in the classic sense. She’s up there singing her butt off as hard as she can, off-key or not, but she’s doing it. She’s living her dream, despite anyone’s criticism and laughter. I think that’s a talent in itself. The audacity to dare to do it. To be ridiculed. I wish we all had that.
Ultimately it’s all subjective, right? If Van Gogh only sold one painting during his life, then that means a lifetime of strangers said “nah, I’m good” to his art. And even if Van Gogh’s more talented at painting than JLo is at singing, there’s no law against preferring On the 6 over Starry Night.
Someone once said: you know you’re talented if it’s easy for you to do but hard for everybody else. And I think that’s actually the baseline measure for innate talent. But everything after that? It’s up to you to harness, pursue, and provide. Try to enjoy the ride.
Zeuxis Selecting Models for His Painting of Helen of Troy
Zeuxis is unable to find a model to pose for his painting of Helen of Troy, the idealized “most beautiful woman” in the world. The painter, Angelica Kauffman, inserts herself as one of the models. In Zeuxis’ pursuit of finding the perfect woman, the artist sneaks off with his paint supplies. In our own pursuit of the perfect tools, the perfect muse, the perfect talent, wouldn’t it be freeing to just—run with it?