My problem with the word "Talent"

I have a real problem with the word "talent", I am going to try and explain to you why it doesn't sit well with me whenever I hear someone talking about it like it is a mystical entity. In my humble opinion, talent is a non-existing phenomenon that people use in order to better explain the certain things they think they cannot do themselves. In reality, everybody is capable of doing anything they set their minds to. Anyone can become a surgeon, a musician or an engineer with enough practice, study and determination combined with dedication of your undivided attention. You cannot achieve greatness without sacrificing a big chunk of your life in any field you wish to pursue and the fact that you can indeed become the thing you want to be makes the subject "talent" completely obsolete.

Let me tell you exactly how I feel when someone tells me how talented I am. I feel cheated. I feel unappreciated. I feel like all my accomplishments are being stripped away from me and are given to a supernatural entity that doesn't exist. There goes all the hours of practice, sleepless nights before difficult recitals, classes or workshops, stress of not being able to get enough done knowing that you're far behind but there isn't much you can do other than to practice until your fingers bleed. I made my fingers bleed countless times, yet talent eats the cake. I cannot stress enough how much it bothers me every time I hear people talk about talent like without it we'd be screwed. It is even more disturbing and depressing whenever I hear my fellow musicians discredit their own hard work by talking passionately about the importance of talent. I just want to keel over and die right then and there. I know at this point I cannot change anyone's mind but that doesn't mean that I can't talk about how I feel about it. Anyways, thank you for reading through my rant, you take care of yourselves folks!

#Talent #Playing