My friend Bernadette likes to tell the story of a restaurant she used to know back east. There was a young woman waiting tables. Nice woman. Always talked about how she was going to be a singer.
“Yeah, sure,” they said, and to each other, “That Mariah.”
Carey.
So when a friend sent that now-famous YouTube video of a certain Scot who has captured everyone’s heart, I wondered, “Where were all those people when Susan Boyle was singing karaoke or recording that earlier CD?”
Yes, it’s helpful to know someone powerful. And let’s keep in mind that Susan Boyle was on a talent show at the time (she had also auditioned, had studied theater for years, and one can assume that she had seen the show and might have had other clothing in her closet, but we’ll leave all that for another day), and so she did connect to what Joni Mitchell once called “the star-maker machinery.” But she could have had support earlier on, and that’s something we can all provide for each other.
Remember, Emily Dickinson apparently never intended to have her poems sit in a drawer. She sent them to Higginson. Who didn’t see her talent.
So who do you know?
Not who do you know that’s famous. Who do you know with talent? Probably a lot of people. We all have gifts. It’s easy to do with your kids, but when was the last time you encouraged your friends’ or family menbers’ talents, just said, “You’re really good, you know”? Or, even more important: “Keep going.”
And who do you know that can help that person with talent? Maybe you know a singer and someone else with a recording studio. You could introduce that writer you know to your friend launching that e-zine, or put your friend the photographer together with the one looking to share a darkroom or selling some equipment. Someone in real estate might be able to help your friend the chef find that new kitchen. Think of how you can connect the people you know.
When Malcolm Gladwell made the rounds with his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, he did a great service. It’s time somebody retired the notion that successful people spring from the head of Zeus. Instead, Gladwell points out, success is about a combination of things, including timing (see the section about birthdays) and support.
And that support can take many forms. Barbara Sher, author of Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want, among others, tells of a time she was in the hospital and her “Success Team” (a group of friends who got together to encourage each other) came to visit. She had told the group she wanted to write a book.
“So, Sher,” one of her friends said, “How’s your hand?”
“My hand?” she replied. “They didn’t operate on my hand.”
“That’s right,” her friend said, and handed her a pen. “Start writing.”
And so she did.
(Originally published in “From Strength to Strength,” ideasmadereal.blogspot.com)
©2009, 2012 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.
No comments yet.