Happy Talent Day

 

Unique Talent Day vs. Hidden Talent Day: A Writer’s Confession

Today, November 24, is either Unique Talent Day or Hidden Talent Day, depending on which corner of the internet (or local news anchor) you ask. Honestly, I think they should team up and call it “Show Us Something Cool Before We All Scroll Away Day.”

And since I can’t touch my nose with my tongue, juggle flaming torches, or fold a fitted sheet without summoning a mild existential crisis, I’m going with the one talent I do have:

Writing.
(Wait—don’t roll your eyes yet.)

The Unique vs. Hidden Debate

A unique talent implies something rare and unmistakable—like being able to whistle backwards or identify 76 species of bees by sound alone.

A hidden talent is something different: it’s the thing you didn’t know you had, the thing buried under years of “that’s not practical” or “other people are better at that.”

So, which is writing for me?

Trick question.
For decades, I didn’t think it was anything at all.

My Talent Wasn’t Hidden—I Was

I grew up believing I had no creative talent to speak of. Writing wasn’t on my radar. It certainly wasn’t on anyone else’s. The world didn’t tap me on the shoulder and say:

“Hey, by the way—you’re a writer.”

Nope. I just lived life, collected experiences, and quietly assumed my imagination came with a removable battery I’d simply forgotten to install.

But talent has this funny habit.
It doesn’t stay hidden.
It waits.

Sometimes it waits so long that by the time it finally bursts out of you, it’s wearing sparkly boots and a dramatic cape shouting, “Surprise!”

The Reveal

When writing finally showed up in my life, it didn’t arrive fully formed. It crawled in through a side door. It whispered in blog posts. It nudged through poems. It strutted into short stories. And one day, it tapped me on the shoulder and said:

“By the way, I was never absent.
You were just busy believing the wrong things about yourself.”

That’s the messy beauty of hidden talents.
They aren’t really hidden from the world.
They’re hidden from us.

Unique talents? Those are fun.
Hidden talents? Those are revelations.

What I Celebrate Today

I’m celebrating the talent I once thought I didn’t have—
the one that quietly rebuilt my life, one sentence at a time.

I’m celebrating the unexpected.
The late bloom.
The “I never thought I could do this.”
The creative spark I spent decades assuming belonged to everybody else.

So today—Unique Talent Day, Hidden Talent Day, or Whatever-Your-News-Station-Calls-It Day—I’m cheering for every person whose talent isn’t flashy, viral, or circus-worthy… but life-altering all the same.

And if you’ve got a talent that’s whispering instead of shouting, here’s your sign:

Lean in. It might just be the part of you that’s been waiting the longest.