Hidden Talents

A friend was talking to me about his ‘reckless’ tendency to, as he put it, undertake an action when he knows there is no way of succeeding. Driving that day, he took a turn he somehow knew was wrong and ended up making a major detour (this is in Canada, so you can imagine). I couldn’t help teasing him about being a typical man and refusing to look at the map…

But think about it: don’t you have this tendency too? Climbing up a precariously positioned ladder when you know you should ask someone hold it in place; squeezing a pimple when a voice in the back of your head screams at you to leave it alone; putting a final touch on a drawing you know looks perfect already. Et cetera. We do it all the time, no?

But is it recklessness, or stubbornness even? Maybe it’s just being open minded, willing to experiment a little, to test our capabilities. As kids, we do this all the time. So why stop? Because we’re supposed to know better, right? But the thing is, it might just work. And you might surprise yourself with talents you didn’t know you possessed: circus artist, beautician or bush tracker…well, why the hell not?

And, alternatively, what’s the worst that could happen? Having to start a new drawing from scratch, maybe. Or walking around with a big red booboo on your cheek for a week. And, hey, don’t they do casts in cool colours these days?