Tuesday, September 1, 2009

There's Still Hope

I recently read this article by Malcom Gladwell, whose books I have all loved (The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers), about how not all geniuses- artistic, literary, or otherwise- are not all born. For many, it takes years to develop into geniuses or as he calls them "late bloomers." He provides several real life examples but the one that I related to the most was his comparison of Picasso to Cezanne. I have been to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona where I discovered that by the age of 19, Picasso could already paint realist masterpieces. He was such an artistic genius that he helped invent cubism because it was the only way he could develop. Whereas with Cezanne, his most valued works and those considered to be masterpieces came at the end of his career. So, that means that there is still hope for someone like me that I can develop some kind of amazing talent. Some may be born geniuses but others are created and develop over time. One of my favorite quotes that I heard when I was in undergraduate at BYU falls along these lines- "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself (emphasis added)" by George Bernard Shaw.

2 comments:

Donna said...

I got a little teary at the end of that article. I think that the reason that we equate genius with a young bright explosion of talent is because most people have the potential to be "late bloomers". In fact I am not sure that "late bloomers" is an accurate label, it seems that when Gladwell mentioned the endurance of these people that is where he most accurately defined them. What really separates them from many people is that these "late bloomers" just stuck with it where many stop.

How different was Cezanne from those of us who spend years in school then years at our careers before we really are able to make the impact that we desire. We learn and grow slowly and steadily becoming better today than yesterday; and thus we are successful.

Brekke said...

Of course you are a genius!