A rich tradition of inventiveness

We imagine we’re not very talented, for the most part. Sure, there are artists and musicians, writers, inventors … individuals in various walks of life, who see themselves as talented, or gifted. But most of us don’t readily fall into one of the categories of the gifted. We don’t think we’re anything special and we just work for a living, sometimes doing the most menial of jobs. And if ever someone suggested we’re special in some way, or that we do indeed have latent skills and talents, we’d shrink back and think, “Who, me?”

But we’re from very good stock, all of us. Our forebears, down through the ages, have been massively inventive. It’s one of the things that separates us from the animals. We alone seem to have the brain power to question why things are the way they are, and to imagine how they could be (well, correction, there have been some recent isolated discoveries of some animals and birds making use of tools, of a kind).

We have the gift of being able to see things that haven’t existed yet, and imagine ways they could be brought into existence. Almost every one of use has at some time come up with an idea that could literally change the world, but few of us ever pursued it to its conclusion. Sometimes, when someone does pursue an idea, it propels them to millionaire status almost overnight. And it’s not so much the idea that was so amazing but the fact that the person who had the idea pursued it relentlessly and tirelessly, until it yielded all it had to give.

It’s not that I’m so smart,
it’s just that I stay with problems longer. ~ Albert Einstein

Great early inventors

But where does all that inventiveness come from? The very earliest inventors and innovators were perhaps the most amazing of all. They were in the worst possible circumstances and yet they came up with ideas and inventions that actually did change the world, and forever. I’m talking about people who had to spend almost every minute of the day foraging for food, or escaping from animals (or hunting them), or trying to cope with horrific weather conditions, or defending their families. These early humans had nothing, literally nothing, but they came up with inventions that changed their lives, and the lives of generations to come.

Someone, at some time, found out that it was worth spending time working on chunks of flint till he’d chipped enough away, and at just the right angles, to produce a razor sharp tool. It was a job that called for great skill and dexterity, and perseverence (it was quite a long, drawn out process), and great imagination, since nothing like it had ever existed before (except perhaps a random piece of flint that just happened to have the right shape). That tool could be used for stripping and cleaning animal skins. A smaller, but similar one could be used as an arrowhead that could be used to kill the animal in the first place. And a bigger version could be used as the head of an axe, and that could be used to work wood into useful shapes, and even to chop down trees.

These inventions were momentous, and the skills used in their manufacture were passed on from father to son. And all this was done at a time when the very idea of leisure time was undreamt of, when each and every member of every family worked hard, practically day and night, just to stay alive and stay safe.

And it wasn’t just the skills that were passed down the generations, the very DNA of the inventive father was passed down too, so that successive generations were smarter and more inventive than the last. And it went on for countless thousands of years, generation after generation. That’s why we can look around now and see such amazing buildings and bridges and tunnels, and why people travel from place to place in incredible vehicles, and we turn night into day with electricity. And the pace of modern tachnology is such that in a matter of months now we advance more than in previous decades, or even centuries. And yet we still feel we’re not very special …  :\

We need to wake up to our amazingness!

It’s probably time we recognised our true worth. We really are truly amazing! It only takes a matter of minutes for someone to undergo hypnosis and become totally convinced they are artistic, and immediately they start to fill sheets of paper with patterns and drawings and designs and splashes of colour in such a way that anyone seeing them would take them for an accomplished artist. This skill is within us, just beneath the surface. It’s lying there, waiting to be coaxed out and spring into action. Same goes for musical talent, or writing, or designing, or any number of skills and talents. They’re all there, only held down by our lack of confidence and our fear of failure. If we just let go and embraced our inventive nature we could do practically anything.

Stop selling yourself short!

Don’t think of yourself as ordinary, or untalented. Go out on a limb and tell yourself you’re actually quite skilled … you just haven’t got round to displaying those skills yet, that’s all! And take the plunge! If you’ve always fancied having a go at something, go for it! If you want to learn a musical instrument, it’s easy now (relatively!). This is the 21st century. You don’t have to hire a music teacher and put up with his methods if he’s a bit unorthodox or strange. There are countless ways you can learn any musical instrument you can think of online. What’s the point of all this technology if we don’t make use of it? Find a good source of online tutorials, and if they don’t work out, find some that do. It can be done, and easier than ever before.

The same applies to all kinds of skills, talents, interests, languages, etc. You can study and learn practically anything these days and all without even leaving the house, if that’s what you want. Why not devote an hour a day to a new hobby or interest and see how much you can progress in a month or two? What have you got to lose? Remember, even the great guitarists and pianists had to start somewhere, and they had to go through the boring, repetitive work of learning the basics.

“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes
with everyone else’s highlight reel.” ~ Steve Furtick

If there’s one thing you should keep in mind above everything else, it is this: YOU ARE TRULY AMAZING! Now, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to do, this is a really good time to do it. Right now! And prove yourself wrong (your negative self-talking self, that is). Time to find out what you’re really capable of … you could be in for quite a surprise!