Skills That Can’t Be Taught

Instagram features a wide spectrum of talent. There are people who take amazing photos with their phones. There are people who carry expensive gear to the most beautiful places on earth and come home with awkwardly composed images.

There are skills that can't be taught, but I believe that any skill can be learned. Someone taught Stephen King about nouns and verbs, but he taught himself to tell amazing stories.

Anyone who has a story to tell can learn to express it, but learning how requires persistence, courage, humility, and an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses. It takes nerve to expose one's vision to the world and guts to admit when something that we worked on really hard could have been better. The people who make that bold self-assessment are the ones who can capture breathtaking images on a mobile phone, while someone less in tune with their limitations fills up hard drives with megapixels of mush.

Be kind to yourself, but be candid as well. Realize when you could be doing something better. You don't have to admit that to anyone else; this is only for you and only so you can push yourself to reach your full potential.