cantata wrote:
What about sport though? Why is Roger Federer better than Andy Murray (Tennis ) Has he practiced more? Does he love it more? I'm not sure...I think we all have the capacity for talent or whatever, but how do you find it? What am I great at?

andyh wrote:
Does he? I hadn't noticed! (Well maybe a little bit, lol!)

Mandy

irrepressible wrote:
Some great questions there! I would guess that we're all born with the capacity to be good at something, but not everyone will have the same opportunities or encouragement in life to achieve their full potential. I've dabbled in quite a lot of creative stuff, from writing to drawing and handicrafts, but as far as developing anything fully goes, I've been pretty much stymied by my poor health which really affects my stamina. As for sport - well, I've always known I was rubbish at that! Plus I have absolutely no interest in it!

I've often felt pretty frustrated by my inability to really get anything off the ground. I remember, ages ago, asking a Christian friend what on Earth God wanted me to do with my life and she brightly said "You can always pray"! "Whoop dee-doo", I thought, miserably. I mean, I believe in the power of prayer and all, and I probably don't do enough of it, but it wasn't really the answer I was looking for, lol...!

Sorry, I've gone a bit off topic, there! I think that the urge to create something - anything - runs deep in the human psyche and it can be pretty frustrating when that urge is thwarted, or we see people becoming famous for doing nothing worthwhile to speak of!

Mandy

@ Mandy

With me, I don't seem to have that strong creative desire. So I'm wondering where my talents actually lie. If we've all got the same potential to be great at something, what am I great at?
Does it all come down to practice and serendipity and that?

Where does fate, destiny, come into it? There's too many questions and not enough answers! I think we're born to do what we're meant to do, I think To an extent, maybe

irrepressible wrote: Ever heard of this book?

www.amazon.co.uk/Bounce-Myth-Talent-Powe...id=1338314354&sr=8-6

Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice
I've been meaning to read it for a while. I'm not sure I fully agree with his hypothesis, but it is an interesting view.

@ wub

I think that book rings a bell. Sounds like a good read.

I'm not sure if it's just down to practice and luck. I think we each have a natural aptitude for certain things.

Where does creativity come from? A guitarist for instance, where does he get his music from? He's practiced for hours and years, he knows every note, etc. But where does that thing come from where he arranges it all in the way that he does, to make it all sound so right?

irrepressible wrote: I'm not sure, I think some people do have a gift in this area. But I have heard that Jimi Hendrix literally used to take his guitar with him wherever he went, even the toilet, and play it almost constantly. Bobby Fischer did little else in his life other than play chess, and famously got his pocket chess set out to look at some positions just after the closing ceremony when he was crowned world champion. I remember seeing Federer being interviewed after finally winning the French Open, and the first thing he said to the crowd was "I look forward to coming back next year to defend my title". I'm sure there are many other examples, and of course natural aptitude comes into it, but fundamentally, if you single-mindedly dedicate yourself to something, and when you're doing it, it doesn't feel like work, then you will get very good at it. Song writing has creative aspects that are harder to quantify, but if you hugely familiarise yourself with a subject or discipline, then I would suggest that the creative aspects become second nature.

Also, I think there's an important distinction regarding song writing, which is that no-one can tell you objectively what is or isn't a good song, so it's much more open to interpretation than sport, for example.

That's a good explanation wub.

Yeah, I think the key is that you've got to love doing it.