Hello everybody!
Today I would like you to think about what skill you have never been able to master. Think about what you are always going to suck at whatever you do and however hard you try.
For me it has always been drawing. Everyone knows that I draw like a five-year-old and I'm not going to use this post to prove them wrong. On the contrary, I'm going to admit it proudly, and you are going to learn why. Just give me a minute or so.
In the kindergarten, I was the kid who would always colour outside the lines. I don't mean that in a good way when smart and creative children are said to think outside the boxbecause their drawings have unexpected colour patterns. Oh no! My drawings were messyand pitifuland they were definitely not cute. Trust me on that.
What happened in primary school times? Let's just say that my brother's friends would outsourcedrawing to their sisters. (Boys will be boys.) My brother, however, would never let me nearhis art assignmentsand you have already learnt why.
In secondary school, I had to attend the art class where we learnt the theory of art and on occasions we were required to produce a piece of artourselves. I did strugglea lot and didn't enjoy this class one bit. Imagine worrying about history, biology, chemistry and on top of that – art.
Sad as this story sounds, there was an expected turn of events. It was during our abstract drawing assignment. The whole class got really engagedand were doing their bestto submitsomething impressive. That got me stressed out even more. But then all of a sudden I was struck by the thought: ”Screw that. I'm just going to do my best and if my best sucks thenso be it.”
And I got a 4 plus and I think that my teacher might have even called my work interesting!
But it's not the end of the story. There's a follow-upright in the middle of my studies. It was a writing class. Our teacher played us a conspiracy theoryvideo and asked us to write an argumentative essay based on it. I knew it was important to pay attentionand to write down as many details as possible so I focused hard and started doodling...
I don't know how it happened (I probably got bored) but at one point I drew a stick figureand added a speech bubble. The drawing looked similar to that:
I know it looks kinda lame to you but back then it seemed really funny. I showed the picture to my friends, Mick and Justyna and they loved it; especially Justyna, who later asked me if she could keep it. And she did and she even put it on her student apartment wall ;).
What I'm trying to say here is that no matter what you suck at and how badly you suck at it, you should still do it and have fun with it. Don't let other people judge how you draw, sing or play football and take away all the fun. As long as you enjoy doing something, you should carry onand if the results are appalling, there will always be loving people around who will tell you that your appalling picture is lovely.
GLOSSARY:
to master a skill – opanować umiejętność
to suck at something – być do bani
to prove somebody wrong – udowodnić, że ktoś się myli
on the contrary – wręcz przeciwnie
or so – tut. lub trochę więcej
to colour outside the lines – wychodzić poza line podczas kolorowania obrazka
to think outside the box – myśleć twórczo, kreatywnie
messy – niechlujny
pitiful – żałosny
Trust me on that. – Uwierzcie mi w tym przypadku.
to outsource – zlecać
to let somebody near something – pozwalać komuś zbliżyć się do czegoś
an assignment – tut. praca
be required to – mieć obowiązek coś zrobić
to struggle – tut. męczyć się
(not) one bit – ani trochę
on top of that – do tego
an unexpected turn of events – niespodziewana zmiana przebiegu zdarzeń
engaged – zaabsorbowany
to do one's best – dać z siebie wszystko
to submit – oddać
impressive – robiąca wrażenie
Screw that! – Olać to!
Then so be it. – Niech tak będzie.
a follow-up – kontynuacja
a conspiracy theory – teoria spisku
based on that video – w oparciu o ten film
to pay attention – skupić się, słuchać uważnie
to doodle – gryzmolić, rysować różne figury, kwiatki itp.
a stick figure – (kreskowy) ludzik ;)
a speech bubble – chmurka
kinda lame – raczej słabe
to carry on – kontynuować
appalling – okropne, fatalne
