It's a question I've been asking myself the past few days. It's also a question I've been asking a few of my friends.
I feel a lot of people don't really care for a lot of talents, except what they're being educated/trained for. They get educated, get a degree, land a job and that's that... well, if everything goes well at least. Add in that a lot of people don't really want to spend a lot of time in doing what they like... or so it seems. A lot of people are dealing with peer pressure and "what society expects of them". Apparently, there's a fair share of "geeky interests" that are being frowned upon as "weird". Why paint toysoldiers if you can buy a car and date gorgeous women? Well, clearly the answer is; because I want to, and because I can. Add in that I might be good at things I do, even if society doesn't deem them having some kind of "added value". But that rationale does not apply to a lot of people I guess. You can't market your personal touch to the world... you can try to market your talents in a specific brand or niche, but that's about it. And especially with arts, trying to make a living out of it is hard, if you want to keep on the track you want planned out. For perspective; musicians usually make more money by doing live gigs than by selling albums. Well, what if I'm a musician that does not want to play live for whatever reason? Does that make me a bad musician? Or does it make me a bad commercial talent?
Granted, I take a look to dutch culture (and thus not US or UK culture where a lot of people on this board are from). But just like "growing up" you are being given responsibilities and probably even chances, yet no one ever wondered if one can deal with those. I confess I had a lot of chances and options and I blew a lot. But in hindsight; when is something a chance? Is the ability to start college and get it funded a chance? Of course! But is it when not one course appeals to your interest in the very least? Even for college you need a few things; money and interest/perseverance. Money in general wouldn't be the issue with student loans... that's something I'm not losing sleep over. Interest and in the long run, perseverance is a different deal. You actually have to want it. That's a responsibility that is expected. It's not expected to quit... but likewise it's not expected for you to start a course that does not fit your needs/interests. You need to shine in what you're in college/university for, it should match your personality, your character, your outlook on life... stuff like that.
Last night I was having a walk with a friend who, like me, is on the spectrum. And I'm seeing him go bad, and kinda mental over the past few months. He's currently in college and has an internship, but he's pretty much on his way to a therapist right now because he cannot deal with the time and energy college and work requires of him. Adhering to social etiquette tires him out and quite often he'll sleep away the stress in 16 hour runs only to sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep, work... and so on. Now he's getting depressed because he cannot find a lot of fun in things to do on top of the fact that he does not have enough time to get a decent breather). So he's skipping school and work over here and there. Add in the fact that he recently stumbled upon some issues in school, school had him over for a talk and he told them "look, I'm having ASD and here's my papers". to where the school told him; "Fine... we don't want you around the next semester, we cannot see you finish college with such a condition". School doesn't want people with any "disorder" around apparently, especially not when you're going for a degree and actually want to make something out of your life.
Yes; with this comes the big question. "Do you tell an employer you're on the spectrum?". Well, to be honest, I can see why a lot of people say no, but likewise, if you feel that being on the spectrum interferes with your job, then yes. My friend got in trouble over it because they found he was a slow learner sometimes, thus they asked him "are you retarded?" (well not in those exact words, but it kinda came down to that). It wasn't a matter of insult but an honest question where they asked "are there any disabilities we should now about... cause you act as if there's some disorder with you going on."
It got me to talk about what things he does, things I do, talents he has, talents I have.
In order to keep his interests and passions alive, all while keeping himself out of the depression zone; He does some work at a tattoohop. So yes, he can draw. He has that talent. However, he's not an extremly skilled one. Some things he cannot do, some he can, thus he'd be ok if a job center would require someone to do "assembly line tattooing". And that's not a job someone can or will offer. He plays in band, he plays guitar, but exactly, what does "playing a guitar" mean. He does perform live every now and then, yet, if I'd ask him to read notes and play a song from sheet on his guitar, he cannot. And being a musician isn't a "real" job according to a job center. Besides that... yes, we can have decent conversations about philosophy, social sciences and a lot tech stuff. So in that sense we rarely end up in not understanding what topic the other is touching. Thus I think I can say he's not stupid nor does he lack any skills.
And I'm somewhat in that same boat. Yes, I know how Photoshop works, I can make illustrations (and apparently people even like those). Yet, I can make them MY way, not the way either school or a job requires me to do. I'm quite sure that if the local store asked me to design them a flyer, I'm quite sure it'll turn out a gritty design and not a cheerful thing, because I do not have a clear understanding in that, nor an interest in that. And just like my friend, I play some instruments, yet I feel that in a lot of cases, it's not that I enjoy playing it, it's that I enjoy what I'm doing with it. I like using it as a tool to create what I want.
And creating MY things with any tool I desire actually IS a talent. But if it's commision related (eg. doing it for other people or commercial purposes) I'm not talented at all. The times I was asked for either school or someone asked me to do a website it came down to "there is no passion in your work"... No there isn't. To be honest, I don't care about. Money does not trigger my passions and interests. It's as if the moment it's being marketed as "a job" I have a mental black-out and have no understanding in what I'm doing.
My talent lies in my drive to do something, not in application.
And that is totally not marketable (as of yet).
I feel a lot of people don't really care for a lot of talents, except what they're being educated/trained for. They get educated, get a degree, land a job and that's that... well, if everything goes well at least. Add in that a lot of people don't really want to spend a lot of time in doing what they like... or so it seems. A lot of people are dealing with peer pressure and "what society expects of them". Apparently, there's a fair share of "geeky interests" that are being frowned upon as "weird". Why paint toysoldiers if you can buy a car and date gorgeous women? Well, clearly the answer is; because I want to, and because I can. Add in that I might be good at things I do, even if society doesn't deem them having some kind of "added value". But that rationale does not apply to a lot of people I guess. You can't market your personal touch to the world... you can try to market your talents in a specific brand or niche, but that's about it. And especially with arts, trying to make a living out of it is hard, if you want to keep on the track you want planned out. For perspective; musicians usually make more money by doing live gigs than by selling albums. Well, what if I'm a musician that does not want to play live for whatever reason? Does that make me a bad musician? Or does it make me a bad commercial talent?
Granted, I take a look to dutch culture (and thus not US or UK culture where a lot of people on this board are from). But just like "growing up" you are being given responsibilities and probably even chances, yet no one ever wondered if one can deal with those. I confess I had a lot of chances and options and I blew a lot. But in hindsight; when is something a chance? Is the ability to start college and get it funded a chance? Of course! But is it when not one course appeals to your interest in the very least? Even for college you need a few things; money and interest/perseverance. Money in general wouldn't be the issue with student loans... that's something I'm not losing sleep over. Interest and in the long run, perseverance is a different deal. You actually have to want it. That's a responsibility that is expected. It's not expected to quit... but likewise it's not expected for you to start a course that does not fit your needs/interests. You need to shine in what you're in college/university for, it should match your personality, your character, your outlook on life... stuff like that.
Last night I was having a walk with a friend who, like me, is on the spectrum. And I'm seeing him go bad, and kinda mental over the past few months. He's currently in college and has an internship, but he's pretty much on his way to a therapist right now because he cannot deal with the time and energy college and work requires of him. Adhering to social etiquette tires him out and quite often he'll sleep away the stress in 16 hour runs only to sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep, work... and so on. Now he's getting depressed because he cannot find a lot of fun in things to do on top of the fact that he does not have enough time to get a decent breather). So he's skipping school and work over here and there. Add in the fact that he recently stumbled upon some issues in school, school had him over for a talk and he told them "look, I'm having ASD and here's my papers". to where the school told him; "Fine... we don't want you around the next semester, we cannot see you finish college with such a condition". School doesn't want people with any "disorder" around apparently, especially not when you're going for a degree and actually want to make something out of your life.
Yes; with this comes the big question. "Do you tell an employer you're on the spectrum?". Well, to be honest, I can see why a lot of people say no, but likewise, if you feel that being on the spectrum interferes with your job, then yes. My friend got in trouble over it because they found he was a slow learner sometimes, thus they asked him "are you retarded?" (well not in those exact words, but it kinda came down to that). It wasn't a matter of insult but an honest question where they asked "are there any disabilities we should now about... cause you act as if there's some disorder with you going on."
It got me to talk about what things he does, things I do, talents he has, talents I have.
In order to keep his interests and passions alive, all while keeping himself out of the depression zone; He does some work at a tattoohop. So yes, he can draw. He has that talent. However, he's not an extremly skilled one. Some things he cannot do, some he can, thus he'd be ok if a job center would require someone to do "assembly line tattooing". And that's not a job someone can or will offer. He plays in band, he plays guitar, but exactly, what does "playing a guitar" mean. He does perform live every now and then, yet, if I'd ask him to read notes and play a song from sheet on his guitar, he cannot. And being a musician isn't a "real" job according to a job center. Besides that... yes, we can have decent conversations about philosophy, social sciences and a lot tech stuff. So in that sense we rarely end up in not understanding what topic the other is touching. Thus I think I can say he's not stupid nor does he lack any skills.
And I'm somewhat in that same boat. Yes, I know how Photoshop works, I can make illustrations (and apparently people even like those). Yet, I can make them MY way, not the way either school or a job requires me to do. I'm quite sure that if the local store asked me to design them a flyer, I'm quite sure it'll turn out a gritty design and not a cheerful thing, because I do not have a clear understanding in that, nor an interest in that. And just like my friend, I play some instruments, yet I feel that in a lot of cases, it's not that I enjoy playing it, it's that I enjoy what I'm doing with it. I like using it as a tool to create what I want.
And creating MY things with any tool I desire actually IS a talent. But if it's commision related (eg. doing it for other people or commercial purposes) I'm not talented at all. The times I was asked for either school or someone asked me to do a website it came down to "there is no passion in your work"... No there isn't. To be honest, I don't care about. Money does not trigger my passions and interests. It's as if the moment it's being marketed as "a job" I have a mental black-out and have no understanding in what I'm doing.
My talent lies in my drive to do something, not in application.
And that is totally not marketable (as of yet).
