Re: [Harp-L] Gifted Players, Who I Play For

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another spin on this is that "gifted" people are often gifted in more than
one area, and as a result, have difficulty focusing on that one area that
may be the most highly profitable, beneficial, or rewarding both to
themselves and to others, in a marketable sense.

My dad was such a one. He was a successful and somewhat well-known operatic
star in the thirties and forties, designed jet fighters for Lockheed in the
fifties, invented multi-functional gunstocks for movie cameras in his garage
during the sixties, and was in the process of building a business in sound
recording when he passed away, in the late sixties. He was very talented,
and people would tell me as I was growing up how important it was to
understand that I had a very intelligent father, with much to offer a
father-son relationship. Me,,I just wanted to go surf, skateboard, or bike
around West LA with my buddies. I had no interest in learning what he knew,
until he had passed away, and I had grown a bit. It simply took it for
granted.

However, in spite of his musical, engineering, and other areas of talent, he
left us penniless when he passed on. He had wasted my mother's inheritances
on bad investments, and she ended up living on the mercies of his business
partners, while I ran off and joined a religious commune somewhat like the
"Waco" phenomenon. They even had their own, isolated, Texas compound.

Talent and gifts don't amount to much, if there's no focus. They simply work
to "impress" others, and perhaps oneself, and one ends up with a storehouse
of compliments and a lifetime of "impressions".

>From my own perspective, though I somewhat treasure the memories our father
left us, I have to admit the regret I feel that his talents couldn't have
made our lives a bit easier. Maybe that's why I eventually became an
electrician, instead of a professional musician. I hated electrical work,
but it paid the bills, to some extent.

Ironically, one of the few books my dad ever gave me was a book on basic
electricity. My parents, musically talented as they were, never once
suggested I make it my profession. I don't think they felt it was a gamble
worth taking, having seen it from the inside. At that time, I was a rather
quiet sort of boy, and not yet ready to "cut heads".

Ah well,,c'est la vie.

Bob Laughlin,,Melancholy Baby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "fjm" <mktspot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "h-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 4:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Gifted Players, Who I Play For


> lil Buddha writes:
>
> > Genius only flowers with
> > effort.
>
> That's a given.  What I was trying to communicate about that was the
> gift may be an ability to intensely focus a lifetime's worth of effort
> into a single area.  fjm
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