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Are there any skills you wish you had that just seem to be beyond you?

I feel like most things I can learn to do to at least a mediocre/just getting by level. But one thing I've always wanted to be able to do, and can't, is draw. I really suck when it comes to those kind of artistic skills, and can't seem to improve in any way.

by Anonymousreply 78April 22, 2022 11:45 PM

My only marketable skill is typing. I have no others.

And please--no smart remarks about cocksucking.

by Anonymousreply 1September 20, 2021 8:43 PM

I wish I could sell drugs. To adults of course. I tried to do it before but I kept getting into the stash.

I would only sell weed because all the other drugs now are impure and sketchy. If I could make my own cocaine and sell it I would but others could cut it with fentanyl and it would come back on me.

If anyone has had success selling weed in a dry state let me know. When I do the math, I don’t see how the weed man makes a profit. Not much anyway. Without selling crappy weed for high prices. Otherwise the cost of good weed is too much to make a profit.

by Anonymousreply 2September 20, 2021 8:44 PM

Changing my m.o.

by Anonymousreply 3September 20, 2021 8:45 PM

Oh same OP. Can't draw for shit, handwriting is atrocious too. I'd really love to be able to write legibly.

by Anonymousreply 4September 20, 2021 8:48 PM

So, OP, your resumé lists your skills as typing and selling street drugs. Good luck with that.

by Anonymousreply 5September 20, 2021 8:48 PM

R1 You must be the lousiest whore then. Who are you gonna make cum with typing? LOL.

by Anonymousreply 6September 20, 2021 8:50 PM

I can’t ride a bicycle hands-free, like I see so many people doing.

Not exactly an important skill, but still, it bothers me that I can’t do that.

by Anonymousreply 7September 20, 2021 8:51 PM

I wish I learned how to code.

by Anonymousreply 8September 20, 2021 8:52 PM

Advanced math; you know, those upper levels that you need to work in I. T.

by Anonymousreply 9September 20, 2021 8:52 PM

R2, look into making gummies. I can’t believe how much they cost to buy (legal here).

by Anonymousreply 10September 20, 2021 8:53 PM

I would like to have the building and mechanical repair skills that come naturally to the rest of my family. Somehow I was the only one out of the bunch to get abstract intelligence instead.

by Anonymousreply 11September 20, 2021 8:57 PM

I have a baritone voice. I wish I had a wider range and a sharp, clear and resonant upper register like Freddie Mercury.

by Anonymousreply 12September 20, 2021 8:57 PM

I can draw but I don't like to. I'm lazy. Drawing requires work. I can type well and that's how I was able to have a 30 + year job with the state but I sucked at other things on the job. Like math, Power Point etc. I'm retired now with a small pension and will possibly get another job if necessary. I'm glad I have the typing skill to fall back on, hopefully.

by Anonymousreply 13September 20, 2021 8:58 PM

Dance.

Using chopsticks.

Poker face.

by Anonymousreply 14September 20, 2021 9:00 PM

As a visual artist and costume designer, I do well drawinf and painting. Post-Algebra math is really the one thing that seems to be absolutely beyond me...as in "I'll never be good at this, no matter how hard I try."

I will say that I do pretty well at geometry given I have to make three-dimensional costumes out of two-dimensional papers, plastics, and fabrics.

For fun, I'd love to wake up tomorrow, and be able to sight-read piano on sight, everytime. I play multiple wind instruments (saxophone and bassoon), but learning a piano piece for me, is akin to pecking at a computer keyboard with two index fingers. I do eventually get it, but it's immensely frustrating.

by Anonymousreply 15September 20, 2021 9:04 PM

Dancing other than a basic box step / shuffle. Any kind of more involved dancing is beyond me. Does not compute.

Sex in adventurous positions. How some people manage these pretzel type things, I don't get.

Being able to fix things like cars, motors, machines.

by Anonymousreply 16September 20, 2021 9:05 PM

Sing. Can't carry a tune in a bucket

by Anonymousreply 17September 20, 2021 9:11 PM

I wish I could cut my own hair. Not a buzz cut.

by Anonymousreply 18September 20, 2021 10:34 PM

Sing well. Grow decent-looking fingernails. Make friends.

by Anonymousreply 19September 20, 2021 10:35 PM

The interesting thing I wasn't expecting about this thread is that we all feel there's something we wish we could do that we feel we can't, but hopefully everyone else is seeing, as I am, that others are sad they can't do things that you can, which gives some perspective. For example, I can dance (I get a lot more cock from being able to dance than a guy like me ought to, I'd say) and I can sight read music. Hopefully others see this too and it builds them up a bit to think of their own skills.

by Anonymousreply 20September 21, 2021 9:50 AM

I wish I could wear hats. But every hat I put on makes me look like a complete dork.

by Anonymousreply 21October 5, 2021 1:32 AM

Anything mechanical. I just don’t have the patience

by Anonymousreply 22October 5, 2021 1:34 AM

To be a huge asshole and not care about it.

by Anonymousreply 23October 5, 2021 1:36 AM

Ice skate. I'm pretty unco and I've tried at various stages with no success. Too old now to risk the kind of knee and ankle injuries that come with failure.

by Anonymousreply 24October 5, 2021 1:37 AM

When I was younger, it was basketball.

by Anonymousreply 25October 5, 2021 1:38 AM

[quote] So, OP, your resumé lists your skills as typing and selling street drugs. Good luck with that.

Are you kidding? Move to Ohio and he’ll be a millionaire by Christmas.

by Anonymousreply 26October 5, 2021 1:40 AM

Play the piano well

by Anonymousreply 27October 5, 2021 1:47 AM

R26, Ohio has medical mj so everyone has the card and sells their scripts.

I always regretted not being able to learn a foreign language even after studying it for years.

by Anonymousreply 28October 5, 2021 1:55 AM

Cooking! Sure, I can follow a recipe and do basic stuff, but having that creativity of knowing which spices will do what, and which cheeses work with what dishes, is just beyond me.

by Anonymousreply 29October 5, 2021 1:55 AM

Sewing. It’s like my fingers are big, glomphy pods.

by Anonymousreply 30October 5, 2021 2:12 AM

Foreign Languages.

by Anonymousreply 31October 5, 2021 2:16 AM

As OP I have no idea what R5 is going on about, because I didn't mention typing or drugs at all.

R31, I have such a passion for foreign languages, but I'm only so-so at them. I would love to be better!

by Anonymousreply 32October 5, 2021 10:32 AM

I have a decent singing voice, but I'd really like to be able to master an instrument besides the skin flute, like the violin or guitar.

by Anonymousreply 33October 5, 2021 10:50 AM

It's funny how musical skills can be so divergent... I can play piano well, but am terrible at the guitar, no matter how much I try. The same way some people complain that using two hands on the piano is too hard, I struggle with the two different actions of the hands on guitar.

by Anonymousreply 34October 5, 2021 10:55 AM

I have a good nose but I would like my olfactory sense to be stellar.

by Anonymousreply 35October 5, 2021 11:00 AM

Lately, I've been wishing that I could make my own clothes, at least some of them. Imagine being able to buy some good quality material and make yourself a nice shirt or something and know that the only slave labour it involved was your own.

I might give it a go with something easy to start, but I know me. Patience is not something I have a lot of.

by Anonymousreply 36April 21, 2022 11:07 AM

Op, drawing can be incredibly frustrating at first. You have to stick with it. Start with easier things first.

You mess up, you erase and you try again. Even great artists make mistakes but they course correct in the moment and don't give up. You can develop the skill.

I had horrible time when I first started drawing but I saw someone else do and insisted on doing it myself until I could do what they did. Eventually what I drew started looking like what I wanted.

There's no reason why no one can do this too. It's all about desire to make something and not giving up. Concentrate erase erase erase and retry. Never give up.

by Anonymousreply 37April 21, 2022 11:17 AM

Thanks, R37. You are right, it takes patience and perseverance, desire and hard work for sure.

by Anonymousreply 38April 21, 2022 11:20 AM

^ Mentally outline and get control of the basic shapes in your mind first. Focus on the framing then work on the finer details.

Drawing is much easier than painting. Now painting is a harder medium for me to control. Oh can I fuck up a canvas. Not much joy in that.

by Anonymousreply 39April 21, 2022 11:23 AM

I cannot draw to save my life but my niece is an art teacher and she is actually teaching me. It's not easy, and it calls upon all her patience learned from dealing with 10 year olds. (I'm 61.)

The one thing I would love to do is be an expert at Microsoft Excel. I have been chasing that for 30 years. I can do enough to be better than most in my office, but for my work we just don't generate enough data to really master massive projects. I've even tried downloading statistics from the Census and the Labor Department to have large datasets to manipulate. I watch tutorials, Udemy, Khan Academy, and other options from services that my library provides. I guess without an end goal it's tough to learn beyond what is needed.

by Anonymousreply 40April 21, 2022 11:24 AM

Sing well and in tune

by Anonymousreply 41April 21, 2022 11:27 AM

R36, my library just bought a sewing machine and a serger. (I don't know what that is.) They offer classes too. You should ask. I think the days of gendered homemaking skills are long gone.

by Anonymousreply 42April 21, 2022 11:27 AM

I'm good at good at "big picture" concepts and managing large global design projects and am great at new concepts, art direction and color direction but I can't draw. I also wish I could play the piano.

by Anonymousreply 43April 21, 2022 11:43 AM

Cheers, R42, that is certainly an idea! To learn to do anything I'm pretty much kinesthetic, ie, I learn by doing, but I need to be guided in the beginning or I panic and ruin things.

I went to a painting class once, R39. As bad as a drawer I am, I am a worse painter. But this class actually walked everyone through it step by step, enough so that my painting was... not very good, but it wasn't terrible. And I learned I can paint a mean cypress tree.

Now painting walls and ceilings in a house - THAT I can do! My friend taught me when another friend of ours wanted help painting her house and it was a surprise skill I never knew I had.

by Anonymousreply 44April 21, 2022 11:54 AM

I wish I knew how convincingly to feign interest in others’ dull lives.

by Anonymousreply 45April 21, 2022 11:55 AM

R34 yes, isn’t it odd?

Myself, I am a poor (nigh illiterate) sight-reader, unable to manage instruments requiring more than one stave to play, and cannot really cope with tab either. I also find stringed instruments so challenging, unable to produce a decent noise from one.

However, by ear, I’m not too bad with a wind or reed instrument. Nothing virtuosic or impressive or worthy of first chair, but I can get by with folky tunes on them. I also happen to be a passable poet, or so I’m told, though regrettably not in the money-making mass-appealing Ed Sheeran/Taylor Swift way (otherwise I’d be typing from a mansion right now).

It’s as if the higher echelons of musical understanding hover over my head, which upsets and frustrates me if I dwell on it, because of my fascination for opera and orchestral music. Every few years I try again to learn more advanced skills, like sight-reading or piano or violin, but the ability eludes me still. Wish there was a mental switch I could flip to achieve this level, because grind really isn’t working.

by Anonymousreply 46April 21, 2022 12:09 PM

OP: If you’re sincere about learning to draw, let me suggest “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain,” by Betty Edwards. She bases her approach on teaching yourself how to see what you’re drawing. Fascinating.

I used her book to learn to draw, and I can tell you: it works!

by Anonymousreply 47April 21, 2022 1:16 PM

Higher level math. Seriously.

by Anonymousreply 48April 21, 2022 1:21 PM

Add me to the singing list. I can carry a tune passably well as I have an ear for music, but I have little range and no vibrato. I have singing dreams the way other people have flying dreams, and I love them so much. I feel so joyful and free as if I've finally become my true self.

In waking life, I have, as before stated, an ear for music not to mention languages and a passion for both. BUT, I have little self discipline or focus, and I piddle around with a language, say, until I get a yen to learn a different one, then piddle around with that. So, I am a master at none.

I also can draw, though I rarely do it anymore. It was literally a compulsion from the time I could first hold a crayon to about sixteen years of age. As others have said, you work at something long enough, you WILL get better. So, those of you who want to learn, don't give up! I completely lost the desire to do it anymore when I was in my late teens. I have yet to figure out why. I think it met a need for self-expression when I was preverbal that just continued on, and when I got older, I found other ways to meet that need, in addition to other interests. Plus, once I started getting accolades for my work, it became more about chasing approval than the simple joy of the act itself and so the joy leached out of it completely.

by Anonymousreply 49April 21, 2022 3:09 PM

[quote] once I started getting accolades for my work, it became more about chasing approval than the simple joy of the act itself and so the joy leached out of it completely.

This has happened to me with writing poetry & plays, and it makes me so depressed. It’s a huge part of why I feel antisocial and unambitious. It feels like the precocious ability of my youth was coopted, somehow, and I’ve not yet been able to get over it. Part of me longs to write again, like I once did, but when I go to try or even think about it, my blood runs cold and I become really down.

by Anonymousreply 50April 21, 2022 3:14 PM

Knitting

by Anonymousreply 51April 21, 2022 3:32 PM

Left handed here, but do everything right handed like using scissors, but it winds up looking like shit. Poor math skills, understand math concepts, but tell me a series of numbers, won’t remember it two minutes later. Tell me you live on Tutti Frutti Lane, and it will stick in my memory like Turkish Taffy on a molar. Can play a tune by ear but can’t read music and don’t understand beats to measures and am in awe of music site readers…

by Anonymousreply 52April 21, 2022 3:44 PM

R52 are we Twins?

By any chance, do you or did you have early developments in reading, listening or writing skills? Are you a sensitive personality? Do you have any diagnosed ADD, ADHD or ASD?

Seriously, I think someone high-profile and very intelligent needs to look more closely into studying the cross-lateral left-handed brain. It’s a specific profile all its own.

by Anonymousreply 53April 21, 2022 3:49 PM

For those wishing to draw things check out Life drawing. Drawing the nude figure is the ultimate lesson in drawing. Get a friend to take off there clothes and sit still. break out your biggest chunkiest crayon or ink brush and largest sheet of paper and draw what you see not what you know. It sounds easy but it is hard and amazing in that it requires total focus. You want to stay away from small careful pencil drawing because it leads to a rabbit hole of spot focus. Do that for your life and you will get good at drawing. see it as a process not a product. If you want photorealism there's photography.

by Anonymousreply 54April 21, 2022 4:00 PM

There's not much space for the technical in the creative nor the creative in the technical.. there are many spaces where they overlap but they each have a dominate mindset and culture.. which makes it difficult to operate from a place of balance. So, the majority tend to be one or the other. while, overall, I'm a jerk of all trades, master of none. I've just never had that singular focus. . . and attempts to do so, I end up perfectionistic, self destructive, endlessly frustrated and feeling isolated or regulated to the background. . .

It used to be that I thought I was envious of those people that could maintain such an intense singular focus and silence out everything else to reach their idealized destination... but I've come to realize it was more of editors, somebody that comes in and looks at the pile of shit we've made and turns it into something.

by Anonymousreply 55April 21, 2022 4:33 PM
Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 56April 21, 2022 4:46 PM

R52 and r53:

I, too, am a Southpaw. Here ya go!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 57April 21, 2022 5:01 PM

r42 r36 There are many project kits available today... not unlike hobbyist models or paint by number. The initial part when starting something new for people, especially as move into your adult years is building confidence and developing familiarity with the basic concepts.

One of the more popular kits on the market right now are for sneakers.

Although, a lot of people get started with alterations and upcycling when it comes to clothes. . . there's various tutorial guides and sites, I usually recommend instructables because many will provide a step by step guides plus they have some fun contests. Over there, you might try a hand at costumes and props.

If you're on a budget, shopping for scrap material is a good way to go. What's the phrase "Invention is the mother of necessity" -- when you gotta make due with what you have that's a bit more freeing, so, you can throw up your hands and say "fuck it. this is good enough" than investing too much, too soon and getting bogged down by the pressures of needing it to pay off one way or another.

There's also various gadgets out there to make things simpler... albeit, many of them are crap, usable, but crap. . . like the sentro (and sometimes under other names) knitting machine -- a turn crank (unless you've got a drill and adapter) way to churn out simple knit crafts (beanies are usually the starter) one after the other at higher speeds than by hand alone... there's a variety weaving, knitting, sewing machines but the better tend to be an investment and often require a bit of training to use if you're not self motivated. Finger knitting is also a fairly good, affordable, way to start. . . but very limited, still it's something you can do anywhere.

You might find yourself more motivated by seeking out other beginners and creating a social media group or email list, as you all begin to figure out. . . of course, there are many classes available online as well.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 58April 21, 2022 5:15 PM

I wish I could put things back 'where they go'.

I'm now 44 and I have been like this my entire life. I have probably spent years looking for things I just set down five seconds before. And I place things where they REALLY don't go, odd stuff in odd places. I don't realize it until someone asks me about it or if I'm taking pictures in my house and see it in the background of a still photo.

I would give ANYTHING to be organized. I daydream about downloading this skill to my brain.

(I went on ADHD medication for a year or two in my 30s but it stopped working).

by Anonymousreply 59April 21, 2022 5:25 PM

r34 You know, the halfway point might be trying the harp... it shares a close enough rule set to the piano. From the harp, you might have an easier time transitioning to guitar...

though with harps, better to go with a midsize at the smallest, the lap harps might look cute but it would be the equivalent of transitioning from a toy piano.

here's a vid with a lever. I'm more partial to pedal, myself... but lever might translate easier to guitar for you.

the reason I'm showing this vid is less for the actual lesson, I'm not sure how good it is - I just skimmed thru because they seem to go over the basics... and I think it might help you if just think about what a piano looks like from the inside as you watch.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 60April 21, 2022 5:26 PM

I am hopeless with tools unless they are of the fleshy variety.

by Anonymousreply 61April 21, 2022 6:12 PM

I am grateful for the gifts that I do have and realize that I can't have them all.

I was in the church doing something one day and a guy came in to tune the piano. We were the only ones in the church. He was well known in our parts and played a lot of gigs and he was very, very good. He would play a little and then tune, then play a little then tune. He did this for about 15 minutes. Then when he was done tuning he started playing. He played for about 30 minutes and I sat there and listened. When he was done, I stood up and clapped and clapped. He said, Oh, I didn't realize you were there. You liked it? I said Yes! He asked if I played and I said, sadly, no. He said Don't be sad because you can't play because it is people like you who appreciate what I can do. I realized then that even though we may not have a gift that another has we are still able to enjoy and appreciate it.

by Anonymousreply 62April 22, 2022 3:14 AM

Learning foreign languages. I can absorb vocabulary, read somewhat well and understand slow conversational speech, but cannot learn grammar for the life of me. Writing and speaking - forget about it.

by Anonymousreply 63April 22, 2022 3:24 AM

I can draw and paint. I can cook and bake. I can identify every plant by its common name. I can name a tune and artist in 3 notes. But I absolutely cannot make interior design work for me. I’ve read books, watched tv programs and even took a class. My home probably has too much art work, but I just can’t connect with it. I’m envious of so many friends that seem to have this talent.

by Anonymousreply 64April 22, 2022 3:31 AM

Exercising.

by Anonymousreply 65April 22, 2022 3:33 AM

I wish I knew a second language. And could do a cartwheel.

by Anonymousreply 66April 22, 2022 4:50 AM

R62 Yes! That's why I enjoy being an 'appreciator" of the gifts of others. Is that what 'salons' were back in the day? An appreciator would open their home for creatives to discuss and expose their work?

by Anonymousreply 67April 22, 2022 4:57 AM

Bottoming without bleeding.

by Anonymousreply 68April 22, 2022 5:03 AM

R47 thank you so much! I will definitely check that out.

R60, interesting suggestion! I actually do like the sound of the harp a lot. I was kinda thinking maybe I should start with the ukelele and move up from there, but honestly, the harp sounds a lot better to me (I actually dislike the ukelele quite a bit).

by Anonymousreply 69April 22, 2022 9:33 PM

All of them.

by Anonymousreply 70April 22, 2022 9:36 PM

Candle making, making preserves, kitchen candy making

by Anonymousreply 71April 22, 2022 9:38 PM

I feel for you, OP. In 4th Grade, my stinking school sent me to redmedial art (not only did I have to take the regular weekly art class, but they sent me to an additional art class once a week). They put so much emphasis on being able to draw that we had to take art class up through the 8th grade. And I stank at drawing.

The thing is, my talent was in theater. I joined the after school drama class starting in 4th grade and was really good at that. I went all the way through high school acting in plays (loved Shakespeare, the first one that comments about my Bottom gets a wedgie) and did a B.A. in Drama in college. And even as an eldergay, I participate in community theater productions when I like the play.

So screw you people who thought drawing was so much more important than acting. I excelled at being a character actor.

by Anonymousreply 72April 22, 2022 9:45 PM

Fancy finger fucking. Drinking African Champagne

by Anonymousreply 73April 22, 2022 9:53 PM

I want to make soap, not just the melt and pour variety, beautifully perfumed and gentle soap.

by Anonymousreply 74April 22, 2022 9:54 PM

Making love

by Anonymousreply 75April 22, 2022 10:13 PM

^Out of nothing at all?

by Anonymousreply 76April 22, 2022 10:20 PM

Twerking

by Anonymousreply 77April 22, 2022 10:40 PM

Shoplifting and other crime

by Anonymousreply 78April 22, 2022 11:45 PM
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