I Am a Thief

I confess, sometimes I steal.  And so do you, if you are any good at your craft.  Allow me to explain.

Pablo Picasso said:  “Good artists borrow.  Great artists steal.”

Here is a small list of some of the things I've stolen.

Harold, my writer friend taught me some techniques in how to turn a phrase in writing, so I sole that from him.

Jim, my mentor/pastor, taught me some pretty nifty integrity principles, so I stole those for myself.

Jim, my college professor, taught me some choral directing techniques, so I stole those from him.

We watch, we listen, we try skills and techniques that we pick up from others, and if they work, we start using them more frequently until we make them our own.  We steal. 

But this is all a good kind of stealing.  It is what we use to help shape us, define us, and this borrowing of the stuff of life is what we each use to define and shape our own unique contributions in this world.

Do you know of someone in your field of expertise that is better than you?  Study them.  Learn a secret or two that makes them better and then borrow it.  Better yet.  Steal it.  Make it your own. 

I find this next statement to be so interesting.  Sometimes the young members of musical families often become the most talented. 

Consider these:

Andy, the youngest of the Bee Gees

Nick Jonas

Michael Jackson

Yo Yo Ma

Perhaps it is because they were ever the understudy.  They borrowed the best from their older siblings and made it their own.

If we have to be thieves, this is the best way to go.

Happy stealing!

P Michael Biggs

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