Every time I see my daughter painting, it reminds me of being a kid and watching my dad with a brush in hand and a stretched canvas leant against the wall. I don't know why, but he never really seemed to use any of his easels, nor did he use a proper palette, and instead would use old ice cream container lids. He was a "cheap" painter, despite being incredibly talented.
It is interesting when it comes to equipment in this regard, as for example, I know people who every time they start a new hobby, they go out and buy the best they possibly can. Inevitably, six months later they put it away in their garage and it is not seen again until they dig it out during a spring clean a decade later, and donate it to charity.
Having the right or best equipment, doesn't mean having the skills that can utilize them to their full potential and sometimes I wonder if it is actually a hinderance to improving skill. Perhaps having the "best" at the beginning of the learning curve could be a demotivating factor when it comes to the normal progression of skill, where even though I have the best, I am still not as good as I want to be. Maybe having lesser equipment overcomes this hurdle a little, where a person feels that they could be better, with better equipment and will stick with skill development longer until they are ready to buy it. Both paths might improve at the same rate, but the mindset and framing is quite different.
I remember when I started playing field hockey in the front yard, I used a stick that my older brother had used a decade earlier. At this point, I had never even seen a game of hockey, let alone knew what equipment was necessary, and spent my time hitting a tennis ball against some concrete steps, stopping the ball with the stick and hitting it again - as kids do.
I was about seven years of age and decided to try out for the school team, turning up to the practice with my brother's worn, grey stick and then noticed - other people's sticks looked different, but didn't think much of it. I ran some drills, hit some balls and was having some fun - until the coach came up to me and asked if I wanted to try a different stick. In the decade between when my brother played and myself, the style of the hook of the stick had changed dramatically and after a couple mishits, with this new stick in my hand I could pummel that ball and after playing only with a tennis ball earlier, taking the hard ball that barely bounced onto the stick was simple. I went on to play for a few years and did pretty well.
But I wonder, if I had started with the "proper" equipment, would I have learned the same skills and would I have had an edge over anyone else on that field, or is it because of the "poor" equipment that I was able to learn skills others didn't hold, as my body was forced to be more creative. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, but that isn't limited to innovating technology, it applies to innovating skills too. Using a tennis ball and needing to stop it on the stick face for example, forced my body to adjust itself and become far softer and flexible when taking the ball from a feed, meaning that the action was smoother and interestingly when playing later, gave me more room to play the ball, opening more options to feed it on faster and with more consistency.
It would be interesting to be able to get a big data view of the situation and see the progression of world-class professionals across their fields, cross-referenced with the equipment they used to get there. Would it be that those at the top as adults had the best as children? It is hard to say, but my intuition suspects that many of them likely had to overcome a wide variety of challenges in order to be at the top of their game as adults. Of course, there is a survivor bias at that point too and it likely is sport dependent, but I wonder how many of the top football stars in the world, came from a life of privilege.
Opportunity comes in many forms and while we often focus on what we don't have and how that holds us back, I do think that having these many life challenges in our way, provides an opportunity to face and overcome them, proving to ourselves that despite less than ideal conditions, we have what it takes. I believe that at a general level, the people who see themselves as survivors of experience rather than victims of it, tend to do better in their lives. And while these challenges are on a spectrum, we don't have to be at the extremes to feel empowered or oppressed - depending on how we ourselves frame our experience.
We want the best for our children, but it is impossible to guarantee the best outcomes, so the best for them is building the mindset where they are able to make the best out of the situation, whatever that means in the moment. I don't know what this means at a practical level in terms of teaching children, but providing the opportunity of the best equipment and the best teachers, might limit the possibility of those situations where a child can learn to overcome less than the best and prove to themselves that despite less than ideal, they can still improve and conquer conditions, or learn that failure, is not that bad.
A good craftsman never blames his tools.
This is about resource management.
Some people can create a lot with little.
Some people can waste a lot with much.
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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While I was reading your article, this video immediately came to my mind:
This is Joe Satriani, known as one of the best guitar players in the world, playing at a fan's house using their equipment which consisted of a cheap Stratocaster copy and a mid to low tier amp. He still rocked the loving hell of it!
I'm an amateur guitar player myself and I know many guys who swear by practicing on poor equipment at first so you can really get the most of your gear when you can afford the good stuff.
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Ah, Crossroads! Great movie!
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:)
Love that. Joe - great guitarist - should stay away from the mic ;D
Perhaps part of making it to the crossroads, is dealing with crappy equipment :)
Or they buy and put it somewhere, then forget for a long time till it becomes nonusable. I know this from my friend. I can call it being careless rather than a hobby.
Here in Finland, buying second hand is popular - it is always good to buy 6-12 months after a trend :)
Yea, we have many web-sites of second-hand products
This is definitely something to think about... I would imagine that not having or being able to afford the best might motivate some to keep on, with the dream of one day knowing that feeling of being the best, and having the best.
And yeah, having a harder challenge than the other kids definitely gave you an edge :) ...
Though I can't know for sure, I feel like the bar of hardship has come down a lot these days for many young in the developed world. They are triggered and "held back" by what used to be trivial things.
That's sad... I think a lot of it might be a lack of imagination? Someone recently mentioned having to teach the grandkids how to play outdoors instead of on a phone 😢
Yeah I think that necessity is the mother of invention for sure. I know I’ve created things a lot in my younger years because I didn’t have some things that others did. I was very fortunate for sure but being the middle kid, you tend to get what the others have used up at the end of the day lol
I was the 4th behind three older brothers and I was getting clothes from a different decade! :D
Skill is subconsciously made throughout the process of doing and learning.
And for some reason, best effort may come first and for that the progressive wave might look sloping down.
But this is an illussion. We keep improving, even the progress is low or high.
I think one of the benefits of being human is, we have some chance to create our surroundings and affect how we frame our experience. If we choose not to take any responsibility for ourselves, we can't direct how or what we learn.
So insightful.. 👍
most times little is much in the Sense that when there is a need for something and one can’t easily get access to it , improvising suddenly becomes handy . Life is not a bed of roses! The moment we can sail through the tough times, it’s always a better sight at the other side . After all if you’re not ready for the day it can never be night .
Resilience is one of the core skills to make it through this life - but no one makes it through unscathed.
Yeah right ! What doesn’t kill you , makes you stronger .
This is so true, for the fact that, a person has the best equipment, it doesn't guarantee that person to be the best, rather being the best is seen in our performances and our presentations, just as they said, "dress as you would want to be address" how we present ourselves is how Peoples around us would regards us, it is not all about fancy things because fancy things can as well fade, because not all that glitters are gold.
When it comes to the presentation of skill, the proof is in the pudding. A lot of people "dress" like they can perform, but when push comes to shove, they are empty suits.
This is so true 🥰
The truth is having best equipment alone can't bring the best out of us and sometimes we need to be talented. Having talent and best equipment at the same time can help us to develop very fast in a short period of time.
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Talent makes it seem like it is something born with, but that isn't necessarily the case for many skills.
I believe the ability to train oneself depends on the discovery and talent you have. We are gifted in so many ways individually which many may fail to understand or work towards it. I believe your daughter is talented and gifted as well which is why she can perform so many different technique or style towards a particular thing at that age and sooner or later she will definitely know what area she's likely to follow to showcase that talent when needed
At her age, I don't know if she is gifted, but at least - she enjoys creating a lot - which is more than I can say for some kids I know - considering they spend their time in front of a screen.
Having the ability to manage resources at most time is very vital and important.
Good to see your take on this content
beautiful princess paints, you really reminisce about your childhood days. have a nice day.
Difficulties that we face gives us the required experience that enables us get better in getting the better things out of life.
We are not held back by what we don't have rather the mentality that what we have is not good enough.
Appreciating the least brings forth the best but certainly, not settling for less.