That is an Albanian proverb that I read once, and it always comes back to haunt me. There are lots of things I'm not afraid of, like flying, but there are plenty of things I'm afraid of down inside, like painting.
I have a tiny adorable watercolor set that some very dear people sent me in a magical package on my birthday. There are 12 chunks of watercolor, each perfectly wrapped in plastic and a label that I couldn't bring myself to open. But the real reason wasn't the darling packaging. It was my rabbit heart.
Tonight in Dr. Porter's Behavioral Science class we had presentations on Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers. One presentation was on the 10,000 hour rule, which is simply this:
"Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours....Ten thousand hours is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert--in anything." Outliers, pg. 40
It's a little disheartening to think that it takes ten thousand hours to get really good at just about anything, and that's only if your ducks were in a row to begin with, the stars were aligned, and your mom's great uncle's half-sister-once-removed left you a substantial inheritance. I'm taking it all with a grain of salt, because I realize that there are a lot more factors involved in being good at something than just practice.
But the main thing that hit me was that, well, I can't stand there forever staring at the clouds, waiting for the storm to come. God gave work as a gift to humankind. Two hands, a mind, a will. Sanctified in Him. If I want to get good at something, I need to stop comparing and start creating. I need to quite whining and get to work.
I am aware of that fact also and often wonder if I am anywhere close to my 10,000 hours of writing . . . I promise I am going to write you a letter! It just might have to be typed because my finger is still a little sore right where I would need to hold a pen.
ReplyDeleteYour writing is work...Good work too. Keep going.
ReplyDeleteAnonju
So have you found the thing that is worth your ten thousand hours yet? :) I find no good reasons to give anything ten thousand hours of my life other than that I enjoy doing it immensely..
ReplyDeleteMrs. Burklin...surely you're close to 10,000 if not there yet...all those nanos :)
ReplyDeleteAnonju...thanks! Glad to hear from you again!
Minh...I'm trying to figure that out. For me it's not so much about the 10,000 hours but about getting started. Have you found anything???
This link includes a review of Gladwell's book.
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.com/books?id=QKuWRAAACAAJ&dq=gladwell+outliers&hl=en&ei=P1ymTc7ZKYWmvQP-h5WCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA
Cassie, I think I found something :D started quite recently.. At least it gets me going and excited.. Might tell you later when it's more official..
ReplyDeleteSo.. get starting! Be excited!
I saw the post on your old blog and came right over to put the very first comment on this one only to find out I was beat by several days and a number of people : / oh well. I'm glad you've found time (or made time) to squeeze in a few snippits, short or not.
ReplyDeleteI love your sketch!
ReplyDelete