MyGiftedLife.org

** This thread discusses the Content article: With or without the label and accomplishments **

Not everyone wants or needs recognition.

Certainly Valerie Wilson didn't...

Many people have things in their past
which can be used to the detriment of
their present and future. Sometimes to
the detriment of their family, country,
and (stretching a bit here*) Mankind.

* That might easily apply to some here.

Some subjects remain closed because there
is a social taboo associated with it.

Some subjects remain closed because they'd
scare the general public...

...many subjects remain closed out of fear.

“Why is giftedness linked to achievement — that is, what I can or cannot do — instead of what and how I feel?”

There's a huge, HUGE, difference between "doing what we must", "doing what we want", and "doing what
we wish"... those measurements will always be subjective in nature.

That's my thought on the subject.
What's yours?

Many people might not want or need recognition, but for those who do, the frustration can be incredible.

My boyfriend is one of the most gifted people I've ever met, and is an incredible musician. It's a really sore point for him that he feels he isn't able to make ridiculous amounts of money (and lavish it all on me). He's deep and philosophical, and takes his frustrations out on God all the time - he'll drive out to the country where no one can hear him and shout his head off, call God the "c" word and tell him his universe doesn't work.

I think he feels that creative people in particular tend to have their gifts squandered by a society that tends to force them by means of economics into jobs where their natural inclinations are unused and often unwelcome, and I agree with him.

Neither of us had our gifts recognised when we were children; we were both tested by the education service for other reasons, but the results were promptly ignored by our schools and families. I can only speak for myself when I say that if someone had taken the trouble to take me aside at that age and explain why it was that I was different, I would have stopped thinking that I was crazy or defective. I certainly felt that the approval and regard of the adults in my life at the time was linked to doing well with my schoolwork or behaving in a certain way, and not loved and accepted as a person whether I achieved certain things or not. I was expected to "behave myself" and get the right answers...whereas I wanted to create my own subjects with my own answers (if that makes any sense).

One of the people in the book When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers: How to Meet Their Social and Emotional Needs, by James R. Delisle, PhD et. al., is Christine, 15, who asked, “Why is giftedness linked to achievement — that is, what I can or cannot do — instead of what and how I feel?”

The answer is this:
The world only values work done by hand, unless there is mind work that brings advantage through new technologies that lead to furthur consumerism. Heart work is almost never appreciated by society, as it is mostly societal duty or quality of life stuff. So, is an athlete who cannot "accomplish/achieve" still appreciated? Yes... because (s)he's a "team player" working on the concrete. Nice to know (s)he can fall back on effort through social loafing. There's no such safety net for a person who uses mind or empathic feelings because there's nothing concrete to show for the work, even if the work involves working in teams.