TALENT SEARCH

Potluck With Tonya Penrose

Welcome back for another Potluck With Tonya Penrose. I’ve been stewing over another expectation that’s been served to me. And I’m past ready to get it off my plate. This is written tongue-in-cheek and will maybe bring a smile or two into your day.

The social experts out there proclaim that we each possess special talents-something no one else does quite like we do. And more, we should seek out those talents and apply them liberally. Further, we’re to embrace that more new gifts will continue to appear on life’s journey. Oh goody, something else to have to navigate.

So okay, I don’t mind feeling special. I’m even open to discovering some new hidden flair that’s meant to be shared with the legions. Yep, I surely am, but I’m also a devoted skeptic of this calling. But hey, I’ll play along and answer the call.

I decide to cancel my morning plans. I’m mission-driven and on a quest to discover something new that I do well. My talent list is embarrassingly short, so this might prove worthwhile.

Sitting in mediation offers me the greatest hope for success. I simply need to quiet my chatterbox mind to discern the answer. I sit and listen to nothingness—lots of nothingness.

Thirty minutes later, I’m still waiting for any unknown gift to be revealed. Nothing comes. Nada. I glance over at the plethora of books lining the shelves, all promising enlightenment and calling to know thyself. If they didn’t help me the first go-round, they won’t now. Why they’re still taunting me from the shelves is worthy of a future Potluck With Tonya Penrose.

Giving up, I devote the next minutes to freeing myself from the lotus position and joint pain before calling my best friend of many years. Surely, Ellen (name changed to protect the guilty) can shine the light on something she’s noticed about me lately that flirts with being called a special talent.

I get Ellen on the phone, asking her to name something I have an affinity for and excel at. Too much time passes in silence. “Well?”

“Special, huh? See, that word colors my answer for you,” explains Ellen. “Let’s take out special. Maybe that will help me. Eureka! I’ve got it. I definitely think you’re a gifted shopper. No one but you could’ve pulled off wearing that tangerine-colored dress to the after-hours work shindig. It looked hideous on the hanger, but you saw the dress’s potential. Of course, the long fringy ivory shawl did help tone down the orange.”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment? It didn’t sound like—”

“Never mind all of that. Listen. You’re what I’d call an inspired shopper. That’s a new talent that I’ve recently noticed. Go with that.”

“Seriously, Ellen? That’s all you have to offer me—that I’m some kind of shopping intuitive. Never mind. You’re totally missing the point of this exercise. And I don’t see myself as any inspired shopper.”

“Wait. You can write, but that’s not a new talent.” Ellen sighed. “Sorry, I’ve got nothing else for you.”

“Forget I called. Take your newly discovered quilting talents and get back to sewing more squares on your creation. I’ll figure this out.”

Resigned that claiming a dormant talent wasn’t my fate, I awakened my laptop. Ellen’s birthday was a week away, and I had an idea for her present. I found the perfect book: Recognizing Your Friend’s Many Merits. Perhaps I’d discovered a new flair after all: selecting self-help books for others. But that doesn’t make me a shallow, inspired shopper. That makes me an incredibly thoughtful friend.

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I'm closing on a serious and reflective note…I believe everyone has special talents waiting for discovery or activation. They could become hobbies, shifts in work or lifestyles—anything. Ultimately, it’s about finding joy in the talent search journey and sharing our special gifts with others.