A perspective from Taoism on understanding, overcoming, developing, expressing and connecting as a Multi-Talent.
As a multi-talent we have many facets and yet we are one individual. Taoism is about simply accepting yourself. Discover who you are. Your nature is ever changing and is always the same. You experience many contradictions within yourself. Do not try to resolve the contradictions; instead learn to accept your nature. Taoism is the acceptance of your life.
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Taoism and Developing Talents
We have multiple talents. We have multiple interests that lead to talents. We do many things easily and yet experience the perception we are an imposter. Even with intrinsic talent, skill development lends to greater expression. A simple example is playing the piano – it comes easily and yet to express fully, we need to practice and to learn. Gaining mastery is a journey not a destination.
With many interests and talents it can be difficult to choose. We can pursue interests by allocating certain periods of time for each. We can look at what aspect of each talent is most enjoyable for us and find the common thread. We can rank order our talents/interests and pursue them in that order. We can choose not to choose.
Mastery within Taoism is self-mastery. Self-knowledge and self-mastery are the primary Taoist accomplishments. They are achieved when individuals cultivate their inner mind; refine their instincts and intuitive response to the world. Through inner knowledge, one develops the ability to alter the world through small, effortless actions.
Our goals need to be right for us. It is not the goal itself. It is the process of working on it that makes us happy and wise. Enjoyment of the process is key to personal development. Our minds ability to gather, analyze, sort and store information is impressive. But it is capable of much more. It can think in new ways. Come up with new ideas. Find new solutions to problems. Learn to develop in harmony with yourself. The real progress of growing and developing is about changing inside.
We have strengths that have a key role to play. We have weaknesses that we need to manage. We can tune in to our inner nature and begin to understand them. We can then learn to use them more effectively. We all have limitations that we need to recognize and know we cannot do all things.
This doesn’t mean we should stop changing and improving. It means we need to know our strengths, develop them and use them. This will allow us to go from strength to strength. We also need to know our weaknesses, so we can have them work for us and not against us. We do not want them to get in our way, which is what they do if we ignore them.
As we strive to be useful and happy we will find things we need to change. Once we are aware of them, many will change of their own accord. When we trust our own inner nature, our strengths and weaknesses will find their rightful place in our lives.