Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tinkerbell, talent and calling.

I was having this ‘conversation’ with a friend on face book about creativity and children and how formal education may hinder their creative streak, when I remembered one of the movies that my daughter and I love watching – Tinkerbell. The opening scene in the movie shows how Tinkerbell ‘comes to life’ and is given a choice of talents to choose from. She goes for things that fascinate her or that has members who are friendly towards her. But she ends with a talent that chooses her instead. Watch this clip and see what I mean.






This scene from Tinkerbell best exemplifies how we are all born with a special talent and we just need to discover what that is and make it our "calling". What this movie reminds me is how easily we forget that especially as we are not expected to find our calling till later in adulthood. Unlike Tinkerbell who lives out her talent from the moment she is born, we need to be ‘schooled’ with formal training and such before we can decide what we want to do with our life. But the truth is we don’t really decide. It’s ‘decided’ for us as we come into this world, that is god’s gift to us. Some of us are born leaders while others are born teachers and still others are born to make things with their hands. And others are natural care givers. Today’s world has put a profession and a price tag to each of these natural tendencies in us, which I feel marks the fundamental flaw in our social system.

The best gift give we can give ourselves is to find out what that talent is and not put a price tag on it. All we need to do is to rediscover what our natural talents are and live out our lives to cherish it and develop it to its full potential. Whatever it may be, let our talent shine through us and allow us a voice to exist in this world, with god’s grace and mercy.

1 comment:

W.B.Abdullah said...

Alhamdulillah, I find it a blessing when one can actually find a job that one enjoys (such as reading, writing, and making art), and then the price-tag becomes a bonus. Thoughtful post, sis, in a day when everyone is stressed about the economics of things.