Talent

Callie with her sister Irelynn holding her second place trophy.

Callie and her prop right before hitting the ice

Callie competed at Oktoberfest tonight

April, Callie & B

Amanda right before competing in her Waka-Waka program and finishing second in Preliminary.

Although it is still September, the Oktoberfest skating competition started tonight. Both Callie and Amanda skated great and each of them finished second in their respective divisions. Toni and Amanda compete tomorrow as well. At age fifteen Amanda compiled a list of everything she wished she could be: a world-class ice skater being at the top of her list, a list of all the talents she wanted was very, very long.

In reality I knew that although Amanda had talent, she would not be able to compete at the Olympic level. I struggled hard to find the right words to tell her that most of the girls her age were already at the Olympics. She has tried many sports and dancing and was somewhere between good and mediocre at all of them. Her natural ability and her excitement enchanted me, but I found myself stumped somewhere around her second year. I was also painfully aware that when it came to actually competing in front of people she was terrified. Not too promising. Still, what if? What if she had some support to make her dreams come true? It just wasn’t fair that she got such a crappy deal. Her aunt tried to be supportive and bring her to skate more often but it just wasn't possible while she was raising her five children. Now that Amanda has moved up here to go to school, she is closer to the rink and able to skate everyday. She has passed off two of the eight levels needed to be able to compete on the world-class level.


What’s a girl to do when she’s talented but doesn't have the support?

When I got my Patriarchal Blessing at eighteen I was excited to find out what talents I might have. Both of my parents’ blessings had detailed accounts of things they were good at and what gifts would strengthen their lives. But my blessing said only that the Lord has blessed me with talents and that I may discover them. No gifts were mentioned, spiritual or otherwise. But it did say that I "may know the joys of motherhood."

One year early in my youth I sat in Atlantic City, watching the Miss America pageant, the annual event produced to crown a winner. I couldn’t resist watching. Especially when it came to the talent competition. “What if,” I joked out loud, “your talent is something like skating? Would they let you do that onstage?”

For the first time in my life it really hit me that there are all kinds of talents. More than just the kind that can receive gold medals and rhinestone tiaras. I had heard that sort of thing a million times; there are lots of different talents, blah, blah, blah. But it struck me with force watching that pageant.

How do I find my talents? I wondered. What if my talents were things like parenting or photography? Things I’d never be good at because I’d probably never have the opportunity to try them.

But talents are magical things; when the time is right they will find you. I think there is some sort of God-given homing device that attracts people to the things they’d be good at. They may not be dazzling or even very interesting. We tend to think of “real” talents as things that win awards. If it’s not something fancy and stage-worthy it’s not good enough. What a silly, narrow definition of a talent!

It turns out I have a talent for cuddling babies. I can comfort just about any ones baby and make them feel at ease. Who would have thought that would be a talent? But it is and boy, does it come in handy (a lot handier than ice skating!) Eighteen-year-old me sure couldn’t comfort. I’m pretty sure that even if it had been listed in my Patriarchal Blessing I wouldn’t have appreciated it or even cared.

This is the other wonderful thing about talents: they aren’t supposed to be given to us like a shopping list. They are hidden inside of ourselves to discover at different parts of our lives. We won’t have discovered all of our talents by the time we are eighteen or forty. Or even sixty. I think if we keep trying we can develop talents until we’re too old and senile to think straight.

Listen to your heart. It will tell you about your talents if you let it. You’re not allowed to say, “that’s not a talent!” Just about anything can be a talent: lifting people’s spirits, crafting hair clippies, organization, scrap booking, gardening. The best way to find your talents is to try to find your talents. They don’t need to be impressive and they don’t need to be done perfectly.

Talents are the gifts given to us to enrich our lives and enrich the lives of others. It’s not about showing off or getting compliments. It is this spirit of love that gives meaning and purpose to life. As it said in my blessing: "There is no greater way to find happiness and joy in life than to live the gospel and to give unselfish service and love to your fellowmen."