I Dunno Jack
I honestly don't know what's better -- being jack of all trades or being a specialist?
It was absolute horror the other day: I was laying in bed with my feet on my pillows and my face towards the ceiling. I was closely observing the cracks on my ceiling when I had an epiphany.
I. Am. Not. Good. At. Anything.
Oh god... let's assess this rationally.
For me, talent is a parable that was told by Jesus. A hobby is something that you enjoy doing during your spare time -- which makes mine shopping and eating (lots too). Sports? Doesn't exist in my vocab (or my world). Music? Well, I did take lessons when I was younger. I skipped most of them. 'Nuf said. Art? I can draw stick figures perfectly :) My major in college? Please... I went to business school to take up IT. So I'm half-baked in between business and IT. And my job? Well, that's precisely it. It's a job. Nothing more.
I did pretty well in school back in those days. I had my fair share of awards and honors... but come on, doing well in school is hardly any specialization. It simply meant I succumbed to the pressures that my (very Asian) parents have given me... and I worked hard. It doesn't really mean anything more at the end of the day.
And this brings us back to square one: I still am not good in anything. Sure, I can do a lot of things but none of those things I excel in. I can cook without managing to poison anyone; I can be artistic but only if it's abstract; I can write a computer program as long as it doesn't involve complex cases and as long as I have Google; I can sing karaoke; I can bowl, if you count that as a sport, and sometimes I can even hit a birdie when playing badminton... you get the idea. It's pretty pathetic, really.
So what's the deal? What do I say to St. Peter when I arrive by the gates of heaven when he asks me what my biggest accomplishments are?
That I have this blog where I pour out my hypochondriac thoughts?
He will totally keel over in laughter...
It was absolute horror the other day: I was laying in bed with my feet on my pillows and my face towards the ceiling. I was closely observing the cracks on my ceiling when I had an epiphany.
I. Am. Not. Good. At. Anything.
Oh god... let's assess this rationally.
For me, talent is a parable that was told by Jesus. A hobby is something that you enjoy doing during your spare time -- which makes mine shopping and eating (lots too). Sports? Doesn't exist in my vocab (or my world). Music? Well, I did take lessons when I was younger. I skipped most of them. 'Nuf said. Art? I can draw stick figures perfectly :) My major in college? Please... I went to business school to take up IT. So I'm half-baked in between business and IT. And my job? Well, that's precisely it. It's a job. Nothing more.
I did pretty well in school back in those days. I had my fair share of awards and honors... but come on, doing well in school is hardly any specialization. It simply meant I succumbed to the pressures that my (very Asian) parents have given me... and I worked hard. It doesn't really mean anything more at the end of the day.
And this brings us back to square one: I still am not good in anything. Sure, I can do a lot of things but none of those things I excel in. I can cook without managing to poison anyone; I can be artistic but only if it's abstract; I can write a computer program as long as it doesn't involve complex cases and as long as I have Google; I can sing karaoke; I can bowl, if you count that as a sport, and sometimes I can even hit a birdie when playing badminton... you get the idea. It's pretty pathetic, really.
So what's the deal? What do I say to St. Peter when I arrive by the gates of heaven when he asks me what my biggest accomplishments are?
That I have this blog where I pour out my hypochondriac thoughts?
He will totally keel over in laughter...
posted by Princess Banter at
1:05 PM
10 Comments:
Haha, what's wrong making bloggin the best accomplishments? It's better because we can pour out our thoughts rather than keeping them in our mind.. And also we can let others to know that we are/are not in trouble/problems =) Nice blog and I like your post XD
hohoho...u so funny (but not when u injured the poor birdie though)
more like specs with mirrors.
you can tell him you survived life till the day you died, thats an achievement in itself.
and why do blogs always want me to prove im human
From one jack of all trades to another - it's better to be a jack of all trades than a specialist. :P
You do seem to minimise your actual achievements though - why does your education not mean anything at the end of the day? I'd be proud of what you achieved there - don't be negative about it.
You do have achievements, you just don't seem to think they're that important. You're very modest.
You're only young too, you've got a lifetime of possible achievements.
Gosh. I've just reread this comment, and it reads like one of those lame assed comments that people write like 'awww, it's all okay hon'.
It's too much to delete now, so I'll just send it. :P
your blog will put up smiles on most of the readers' face for in the moments of depression even gods must be feeling this way .
What i think is a person cannot truly assess his/her situation when he is sad and he tends to take everything on the gloomier and "oh-not-so-good " side.I have my own moments of worries when i think am i worthy enough to get what i aspire for and in the moments of hightened spirit ,its like ki none other than the my convictions themselves(if it looses interest) can stop me .But as it is ,everything is future untill u keep trying for it and what we can do is to only not loose hope .
sorry for the boring ,droning reply.I guess it is as long as ur blog itself .
Hi, A good post... And, being a jack(or is it Jill) of all trades myself, I can easily relate to what you have written. The world does need generalists like us too. Take heart, Princess!
'I. Am. Not. Good. At. Anything.'
Who said so? You are mighty good at writing. At making your readers smile and clap. Keep this up.
You have inspired me to publish a post on similar lines. Will bring it out soon. Thanks.
What's your nationality?
This post resonates with me rather strongly. Sounds to me like you're being a bit tough on yourself, though. I suspect you're actually quite good at a lot of things (like, writing, for example).
But, I understand that you're distinguishing between "passable" or even "gifted" at various things on the one hand and "true mastery" on the other.
I think about this question all the time because I'm actually quite good at all sorts of things, but I don't think I'm truly great at any one. So, from my own perspective, I'd love to feel, just once, what it's like to be world-class at something -- whether it's a sport, a musical instrument, an art, writing... anything.
You've got my wheels spinning now, so I may have to do a whole post on this sometime.
(ps I don't believe in the St. Peter stuff, though.)
St Peter is not alone
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