The Art of Losing an Art.

We all have that one thing that we are naturally great at. It may not necessarily be academics, music, painting or dance. It may be a good understanding of people’s thoughts and actions, or a sixth sense about something that has a greater possibility of happening.

Then there’s this one thing we all can effortlessly make possible: letting go of the thing we are naturally good at.  There isn’t a specific sequence that one needs to follow to detach itself from its natural talent. All we need to do is engross ourselves in other apparently more (actually less) important things we have to (forced compulsion) do in order to fulfil our duties and responsibilities.

It comes to us naturally. He loves to play football. But he is working in this seven-figure-salary-providing MNC which eats up all his time and energy. She had an undeniably special bond with canvas. But her two year old baby deserves undivided attention. He’s working his ass off to survive in the Law school he doesn't even belong to. Her love for fashion and design has been reduced to a couple of crumpled sheets lying between the pages of Eighteenth century classic literature.

Whatever the reason may be: forced decision, societal expectations, self-induced responsibility or foresight of future, we end up dismissing the only stress-relieving mechanism we have and end up feeling trapped in this vicious cycle which entangles us into a state of incurable depression.

My sister was a person who was so easygoing with pen and paper that even her rough draft looked like a marvel to me. Then, she got married, and call it difficulty of procuring resources or responsibilities of a house and a baby, the number of her art pieces reduced to a zero. Her mind was an upheaval, until last December, when I encouraged-rather-forced her to start painting again. And not only did her peace of mind return to happy levels but she also produced two beautiful paintings within just three weeks.

This isn't a cooked up story, it is a tried and tested technique. I tried finding excuses to not write any post for about a month and a half, and this is the conclusion that I arrived at:  Our art is the only thing to hold on to in situations of emotional and mental exhaustion. And losing it is like getting a hundred thousand dollars and making a huge paper boat with it and trying to make it float in the ocean. After all,

“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”

-Bronx Tale, 1993

If you could relate to even a single line of this post, the clock is ticking and this is your wake-up call! *Ding*