Extremely Talented People

My WordPress user name – NOARTISTMYSELF – will, I hope, let everyone visiting this page know from the outset that this will not be yet another of the zillion blogs out there wallowing in megalomania and ruthless self promotion… In fact, I have exactly zero to say about me — beyond this one introductory essay, in which I will describe what I hope this blog will become, and why I am investing energy into it.

I live surrounded by very talented people. My wife is a prize winning painter, my children are artists, many of my friends are artists, authors, actors, people of great creative accomplishment… I am none of those things. I am NO ARTIST MYSELF. I work in an office. I think I’m a pretty good dad (my kids tell me so, and that’s enough for me!). I used to feel bad about being surrounded by so much talent, while having none myself, but I recently had a revelation that brought me to my senses, and which led to the creation of this blog. I DO HAVE A TALENT! My talent is recognizing the talent of others. I am blessed to have zero creativity of my own, because it frees my heart and mind and ego to genuinely appreciate the artistic expressions of those around me. I love to love other people’s creative work. I have come to realize that I’m actually very good at it, too. I recognize, for example, that 90% of what passes for art, music, poetry, literature and theater today is pure crap.

Celebrities like Brittney Spears and Fergie are — let’s face it — artistically revolting empty vessels. There is nothing there but hype. But the world is also full of genuine talent, and in this blog, I intend to expose you to some of what I have found of interest in my mostly on-line travels. A lot of what I post will be videos, because I find them compelling. The difference between reading a written poem and watching the poet express those same words in his or her own voice is the difference between night and day, between crap and soul nourishment. The same holds true for music, theater, visual arts…I know what I mean, but it’s kind of hard to describe here, in part because I am feeling my way as I go. I can’t say exactly where this blog will go because I don’t quite know yet myself. I only know that I love creative people, and I love all forms of art, and I am enthused to plunge deep into the opportunity this blog offers to celebrate what I love. I want to surprise myself as much as I want to startle and delight you in these pages.

I am hoping you will join me on a journey of exploration we can make together, an expedition to unearth the extraordinary gifts of ordinary people, wherever we find them. If you know of an extremely talented person with a video on-line (or just a website, it doesn’t have to be all video by any means), please e-mail me at extremelytalentedpeople@yahoo.com. Send me a link. I would love to check it out. Though I might occasionally tip my hat toward the already famous, I prefer to hear about ETPs (Extremely Talented People) the world has not discovered yet. You may be one of them — introduce yourself (and send me a link to your work on-line)!

Finally a word about the ETP Award. Yes, it’s just a mildly cheesy .jpg graphic I created using PowerPoint. But I would like for the award to be meaningful to those who receive it. It’s my way of saying, “You’re exceptional at what you do.” Everyone whose video or other work I use in this blog is an ETP Award winner, because if you were not worthy of the award, I wouldn’t post your stuff. Only Extremely Talented People are allowed within these pages, so if your work is here, pick up your award! On the main page, look in the right hand column for a page entitled “ETP Award Winners.” On this page, to the best of my ability, I will try to list the individual or group names I have for all of the awesome creative work that I post. That way, if you periodically Google your own or your group’s name to see “what’s new” out there (as most creative people do), you’ll probably find this blog eventually, and discover your work here. Grab your award! The ETP Award image will always be on the “ETP Award Winners” page, and you have my expressed permission to use it in any way on websites, in print publications, any way you wish that might help promote your work.

That’s enough about me! Now, on with the show!