Kurt Vonnegut wrote: When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of "getting to know you questions" you ask young people: Do you play sports? What's your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don't play any sports. I do theater, I'm in choir, I play the violin and the piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW. That's amazing! And I said, "Oh no, but I'm not any good at ANY of them."
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: "I don't think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you've got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them."
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn't been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could "win" at them.
I really like these words. Perhaps I favor the message because I enjoy doing a variety of things, none of which I am expert at. Variety brings happiness into my life, flexibility, and meaning. I believe that some things which seem to have no relation are interrelated and are beneficial to one another.
This is a life-principle which, had I to do over again, I would strongly emphasize with our children. I would say, "Join a team, or a choir, or a club. Don't feel pressure to be the best--just do it for the joy of participating and learning."
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