The Natural

[Keroin]

Saw an interview with this kid about six months ago and came across this on CNN today.

He's EIGHT for Codsake! That kind of natural talent just blows my mind.

What are you naturally good at? Is there anything that you have done naturally since day one? Do you still do it? Love it? Hate it?

Know any "naturals" that amaze you?

Off to bang nails, back later!

 

[sacrificedangel]

Saw an interview with this kid about six months ago and came across this on CNN today.

He's EIGHT for Codsake! That kind of natural talent just blows my mind.

What are you naturally good at? Is there anything that you have done naturally since day one? Do you still do it? Love it? Hate it?

Know any "naturals" that amaze you?

Off to bang nails, back later!

My lil cousin has been playing the electric guitar since he was about 7, with my Uncle teaching him initially, but he took to it so darn fast. When my Uncle died, Stew continued learning mostly by himself, and is phenominal, even better than my Uncle was, I can say for sure. Maybe that is biased, being that he is my cousin and all, but still, I think he is pretty amazing.

 

[culloden]

Using tools, particularly woodworking tools. It all seems so easy.

Ever heard of the Meyers/Briggs personality test? It's kinda fun - you can find it online. I took it some years ago. While I forget the nomenclature, the key personality trait it identified in me was "tool user." It was both demeaning and validating to be so easily and accurately slotted into one of a limited number of personality types.

 

[sacrificedangel]

Using tools, particularly woodworking tools. It all seems so easy.

Ever heard of the Meyers/Briggs personality test? It's kinda fun - you can find it online. I took it some years ago. While I forget the nomenclature, the key personality trait it identified in me was "tool user." It was both demeaning and validating to be so easily and accurately slotted into one of a limited number of personality types.

Ha, just did it, facinating! Never seen that kind of thing before. Top job based in Natural science...which is actually what I was studying before I ran out of money and had to move home. lol

A friend of mine who I work with has been an artist all her life too, and was selling paintings from when she was as young as 14. Some of her work is just incredible, beter than a photograph, as it actually looks alive, moving.

 

[graceanne]

I've always been musically inclined. When my sister and I were 1 and 2 we each got blocks and my says they showed the differences between us. Miss stacked hers, and I started banging mine together to music.

When I was 10 I was able to start playing an instrument. I ended up playing the clarinet, cause Mom said if I chose the trombone I'd have to practice in the orchard. My initial teacher was good, but that year we moved and the new school didn't have a band, so I didn't play for a year. The next year we got a band, but since it was new there was only the beginning band and the advanced band. I got put in advanced, because I definitely wasn't beginning. That meant I was taking class with the highschoolers, I was 12. The highschool band teacher was an asshole who objected to teaching a 12 year old and ignored me as much as he could. Plus my mom wouldn't let me practice at home. I taught myself well enough that when we moved again (I was 16) to a school with the second best highschool symphonic band in our district, I auditioned and got in as second clarinet, fifth chair. (There were about ten clarinetists.)

If I'd had a good teacher, and a mom who let me practice, I bet I'd have been first clarinet, first chair.

I also taught myself how to play piano, up to the third book, then lost interest. I bet I could teach myself to play sax (I want to learn), but I can't afford to buy myself a sax. *shrugs* Oh, well.

 

[KoPilot]

I've been drawing since day one. I'm pretty good, but I certainly don't count myself among the masters of illustration or cartooning.

What I do consider myself good at, and something I feel is a very niche talent, is worldbuilding. I also like to call it 'fabricating nostalgia'. Got my inspiration from various books and video games I devoured as a child, and a certain Mr. Tolkien that I encountered several years down the road.

Now let's see if I can make money from it.

 

[BiBunny]

I was pretty much a natural at riding horses. I had to have lessons, of course, but some people can only go so far, even with all the lessons in the world. Then, there are some people who just seem to have a gift. Years ago, I was considered one of the latter people.

 

[DVS]

Why do I think of Robert Redford when reading the title of this thread? I don't get into older men and I'm not even gay!

No, I'm not saying he's gay. Calm down, ladies. But wasn't he in some movie called 'The Natural' or something similar?

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I *wish* I'd had some natural above-the-run-of-the-mill talent as a child. I had some inkling of musical talent, but only in terms of performing it, once I learned it, with feeling/interpretation. Even after years of lessons, though, I never learned to sight-read music, nor play by ear, nor improvise, or learn a piece very quickly. It took repetition after repetition after repetition. Once I got it, though, I'd remember it for years.

My ear is good, though. I can stand in front of a marching band and tell you which one's (or ones') instrument(s) is(are) slightly out of tune. Drove our school band director crazy. I often used to stand with him and listen to them play; he'd say something didn't sound quite right, and I'd say, "It's the third trumpet from the left; he's a little flat." He tested me twice, bringing the band member over and checking the instrument against an electronic tuner. I was right both times. He quit checking on me after that, LOL.

 

[FungiUg]

What are you naturally good at?

Procrastination.

 

[thejabber27]

I'm a natural at cooking, I inherited that from my dad though but I was making flapjacks and eggs and the like since I could stand on a chair to reach the range. I guess I'm odd like that though.

 

[Seurat]

Originally Posted by Keroin View Post
What are you naturally good at?

Procrastination.

Hey, Iwas going to say that. I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

 

[Keroin]

Thanks for the great replies everyone. I had a big blah, blah, blah planned but I'm totally wiped. It's almost too tiring to watch TV.

Will comment tomorrow when I am, (hopefully), more alert.

 

[Homburg]

Accents. It's rather useless in any serious way, but can be handy in gaming.

 

[YourCaptor]

I’m good at frightening chicks. If I’m careful it can be a “wow, exiting”, kind of fright. Mostly it’s a, “I’m sorry, let me just move out of the way” kind of fright.

 

[YourCaptor]

Oh and hot new AV K. That drill is bigger then you.

I'm only getting gigs anyway so fly me up and I'll build that thing quick, once I get started i just don't stop. Except on the 11th, I'll be out of order.

 

[Keroin]

Oh and hot new AV K. That drill is bigger then you.

I'm only getting gigs anyway so fly me up and I'll build that thing quick, once I get started i just don't stop. Except on the 11th, I'll be out of order.

LOL, thanks. The drill is not THAT big - forced perspective. Deck is done today and thank Cod there are clouds this morning so it should be cooler! Wish we had you in our neck of the woods, could use some young muscle out there hauling the heavy stuff. Mind you, slinging around a 40lb pry bar is a good workout for yours truly.

What's up on the 11th?

Hm, guess I should answer my own question from the OP sooner or later. LOL

 

[Keroin]

I’d say my natural ability is storytelling – oral or written. I was no wunderkind, like the eight year old I mentioned, but I’ve been telling and writing tales since before I can recall. One of my favourite second hand memories is the parent-teacher conference my mom attended when I was in elementary school where she expressed her worry that I was reading so many books that she couldn’t keep up with my demand for them. My teacher said, “Don’t worry, when K runs out of books to read, she’ll write her own.”

University successfully killed my love of stories for several years.

L’s natural ability is definitely sports. Wow, if he had been discovered as a youngster, he would have been an Olympic athlete or a pro tennis player or something, without question. Unfortunately, he lived in a very small town and his parents just didn’t care about such things.

Sadly, the two things I wish I was a natural at, I am not – sports and music. I love both but any skill I have at either has come from years of self-abuse and a ridiculous refusal to quit.

 

[Homburg]

You know, I don't think of it as a skill, but, yeah, oral storytelling. My writing ability is tolerable, but I do really well telling stories. I grew up listening to the stories told by my dad's side of the family, and it was just a natural fit for me. In retrospect, it's a cultural thing, both in the South, and from the Scots side of the family.

Anyway, pretty darned good at it. The accent thing really helps with the storytelling, by the way, and is probably why I have so much trouble translating it to the written word.

 

[wicked woman]

I'm a natural at giving people advice. Have been for ages. Some people think I put more into it than I do but really it's just as natural as breathing.

Even in university for a laugh a friend cover the name plate on my office with a sign that said Ann Landers.

 

[00Syd]

I'm good at hugging.

 

[YourCaptor]

I'm a natural at giving people advice. Have been for ages. Some people think I put more into it than I do but really it's just as natural as breathing.

Even in university for a laugh a friend cover the name plate on my office with a sign that said Ann Landers.

How do you advice I go about getting filthy rich?

 

[wicked woman]

How do you advice I go about getting filthy rich?

Find something you love to do that you're good at. Work very hard. Set priorities financially. Educate yourself in how to invest the money you earn.

Find a way to remind yourself every day why you're doing this and what motivates you.



*and although I don't usually give unsolicited advice....consider adding an additional priority to your life. Money is great but it's not the be all, end all of life*

 

[DVS]

I think I figured out what I'm a natural at. I'm a natural complainer.

 

[midwestyankee]

Why do I think of Robert Redford when reading the title of this thread? I don't get into older men and I'm not even gay!

No, I'm not saying he's gay. Calm down, ladies. But wasn't he in some movie called 'The Natural' or something similar?

Yes, Robert Redford starred in The Natural (1984), along with Glenn Close and Kim Basinger.