A Life Lesson From Kurt Vonnegut — Of All People
A cranky author presents a gem about embracing your art.
A week or two ago, a long-ish Kurt Vonnegut (1922–1977) quote was passed around Facebook. I’d come across it via a variety of Facebook friends — and friends of friends — to the point where I can’t reliably credit the original poster, but the quote itself is the point of this piece.
So let’s start with the words of noted author and professional grump, Kurt Vonnegut:
“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of ‘getting to know you’ questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
“And he went wow. That’s amazing! And I said, ‘Oh no, but I’m not any good at any of them.’
“And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: ‘I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes…
