Can't believe August is almost over! But there's still lots of summer to enjoy. It hit 95 degrees in Seattle over the weekend and we went to the lake to cool off. Wyatt is at church camp as of yesterday. Paul is recuperating from all the fun of fiddling for hours on end. My folks fly in from Kentucky next week. The garden is coming in nicely. So far we've had peas, potatoes, chard, beets, kale, and raspberries. Our wonderful dog, Digger, ate all the blueberries! Yep, he's the dog that didn't make it past the prologue in Courting Morrow Little:)An interesting discussion came up at fiddle camp and I thought I'd share it with you here. With over 400 musicians there, there were plenty of differing philosophies about music and the people who make it. The subject of giftedness came up. Paul's teacher said that she believes far more in persistence than in giftedness. Progress, not perfection. She mentioned the belief that 10,000 hours (at least) are required to master something like music (or writing). Another grand champion fiddler said he doesn't believe in giftedness, only "the gift of loving something."
I'm not sure what I believe. Is there such a thing as giftedness? Or do people become gifted at something by just plain loving it and doing it so much that they reach the level of mastery that earns them the gifted title? Hmmm. I don't know how to explain those folks who come along once in a century or so ~ individuals like Mozart and Dickens and Shakespeare and Einstein. I'd love to know your thoughts.
Our winner for Melissa Burton's historical, With Purpose and Promise, is...
Sally!
A man of genius is unbearable, unless he possesses at least two things besides: gratitude and purity. ~Nietzsche
Niether a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of a genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. ~Mozart
Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can. ~Owen Meredith, Earl of Lytton