I read yet another parable , elucidating how to follow dreams . like always it starts with a frivolous child who has no aim and aspirations , not the topper , stuck at wrong places at wrong times , hated and ridiculed by every one , and one day his life changes.
A friend, an acquaintance or an event makes them realize that there is one thing that they are good at , and they don’t put much thought into it. They start following it .
That one thing at which they are better than others, is so easy to be pointed out ,as that’s the only thing everyone thinks, they can do the best .Not sure if they would outshine others , but at least they are not bad at it like for all others things . So they nurture and hone this talent and land being successful in life .
The other stories are of those precocious children who are gifted . Who are the child prodigies and have no stopping in life, nothing is difficult for them, they are gifted , and they start teaching the world before learning from it. These ones are worth listening but have nothing much to learn from their stories! They are gifted children, and its just a simple "wow" with which you read and its all over after that .
Never have I encountered a story of a person who since child hood was good , not even average , but was "good" . Things were difficult but hard work was the key and they made it happen , there was not one thing that they were good at ,there were many .They made it possible eventually when they were asked to do .they can follow any dream if asked to follow . they are the ones if you put a finger they would get it !
They do, do well ,is it ? But never make stories , they are never as shocking for the world, as other counterparts are, they are just always good . They were always performers .They might cut every impediment with sword of hard work and always managed to move on . But my point is that they never make one of those allegories.
3 comments:
For a doer ,fame is incidental.
He may desire it but wont loose sleep over it .
In every field ,there are unsung heroes who carry the burden but would not show their faces.
More often we remember a song by the singer but not by the lyricist,music director.
We remember a movie by the actors but not by the directors ,script-writers.
A sound recordists creates a mood through various sounds in each frame ,not many know such a man even exists.
It is in our collective psyche that we have to create a hero .
You have read so many stories since childhood,have you read any story without a hero.
Can you even imagine a story without a hero ,can you write one ??
You cannot .
Stories in every part of the world invariably have a hero .
Why so ??
To me ,because the stories run a sort of trailer how an individual copes up with the world ,we derive pleasures&pains from the hero vicariously.
So heroes are necessary for our own anxieties in a complex society as ours .
So ,put heroes in proper perspective ,they are the result of society's wishes & desires.
Behind each hero there are many with similar or more abilities.
If I were suddenly transformed into a flag ,I would be perched high on top,although there are million pieces of wood & cloth doing a far better job than being just a flag.
There are many prodigies who never became heroes ,and many heroes who were not prodigies.
I like the journey ,my journey .If the fame comes ,,ok ---if not ,who cares .
i like what you proved by syllogism here .
my point was not just this fame battle and unsung heroes . another point of mine was to put forward The ease with which dullest ones or child prodigies put a finger on their most essential part of personality . on which they sole heartedly start working on . the ones who are good strive towards always being the best at everything , they want to be the whole sum performing package . But do they eventually land up being Jack of all trades and the master one none???
I missed this point in your write-up.
Doggedness as I term it .
One day you open a new magazine & see a beautiful photograph of a sun rising behind hills .
You are amazed by the photograph .
You marvel at the talent of a photographer .
Just wait.
Wait before you make a judgment.
Talent may have nothing to do with it .
One photographer left his cosy bed much before the sunrise in a biting cold when his more ''talented'' photographer friends were enjoying their sleep.
This dogged photographer was there when sunrise unfolded .And he clicked.
I know we both are talking the same ,I am deliberately elaborating to confirm what you have come to know already.
Talent ,toppers ,prodigies are nothing without doggedness ,they are bound to fail.
Coming to ''jack of all trades & master of none '',donot make it something to jeer at.
It depends on your basic paradigm.
Give it a shake ,a violent shake .
I love the following Jacks.
;Heads of the countries .
;Enterprenuers.
;Business Heads
;Industrialists
;CEOs--they have to leave their ''mastery'' behind & become a Jack if to be successful.
;Top bureaucrats
;Top diplomats
;Directors of a movie .
;Music Directors--they may or may not be a master of any instrument,nor may they be singers of any caliber .
;etc
;;etc
Jack is the one who may gather masters to work together.
Dont put value-judgment about who is better ---again prejudices & fixed notions clouding the judgment.
And just take deep breadth & see how this simple fixed notion is guiding you.
If you really want to be the master of one ,pursue it by all means .
Be a master ,but without deriding Jacks .
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