"Gifts and Talents"
I am Caden Rivers, super cool and generally whimsical, and I’ve struggled with the idea of gifts and talents. In my life, I’ve learned to put effort into my interests and skills so that I can grow my talents.
My dad told me constantly that one of the most important things I needed to do was branch out to find my gifts and talents. He pushed me into so many different sports, and I tried so many different clubs, trying to find something that immediately clicked. From basketball to soccer and hockey, I knew sports generally weren’t for me. I also tried robotics, general coding, and a program called Michigan Youth in Government, none of which stuck.
I loved to draw. I used to do it all the time, and I could have seen myself doing it forever. However, I started comparing myself to artists around me and on the internet, and I grew discouraged. I stopped all forms of art for a long time, and I had no real skills that I was interested in pursuing and growing. Having nothing felt awful. I remember constantly being bored with the things I used to love and not being able to find interest anywhere else.
In my freshman year, when I took art and started drawing again (though out of necessity), my brother stressed to me that art classes are kind of pointless. The only way to improve in art is with practice, and that stuck with me. Applying that to my art and to my other skills revitalized my interests. I felt that it was okay to not have natural talents and that sometimes we must grow into our skills.
My dad had good ideas about branching out and finding out what it was that I was interested in, but it is also important to know that while natural talent exists, it often takes time to excel at the things you love.
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