Somebody asked me the other day what I thought talent was. “It’s a special natural ability to do something” I replied.  As we talked, we decided that it was different than “skill”. Wikipedia summed up our conversation with, “Talent (in the sense of natural ability or giftedness) is not the same as skill, which is a learned process.”

I’ve spent a lifetime searching for talent in others and I live in a place where it exists in droves – New York City – though we certainly don’t have a corner on it.  Actually I think each person has his/her talent.  Some people find it and develop it to a high degree; some people find it but let it founder and some people have it, but never have the opportunity to find it.

I’m fascinated by it and have basically dedicated my life to exposing it in others and developing it in myself. It’s why my partner, Jim Birch, and I founded and developed Watchfire Music.

It certainly is one of life’s special attributes. It draws us to one another like magnets. It elicits love from each of us like few other words.  It sparks immediate curiosity in each of us and inspires awe like nothing else.

People flock to it. Crowds pay ridiculous prices to get a peek at it. People stop in the dirty tunnels of the subways, late for work, to stand and gawk at it.

Most people connect it with show business and fame, but it runs far beyond just that. In fact it has little to do with fame.  I’ve known great teachers with talent and a house keeper with a superb talent for cleaning kitchens and a computer nerd who had an intuitive talent for fixing software that ran far beyond skill.

Some people have talents that people seem not to recognize, but they’re still talents. For instance, I can make my wife laugh at things that no one else on earth would ever laugh at. My own son has a talent for driving me crazy, and my dad had a talent for moving his toothpick nimbly around in his mouth with his tongue.

Then there are people like Judy Garland and Chick Corea and Rudolph Nureyev and John Lennon – giants of talent.  The list alone could go on for several pages.

My desk is covered with Post-its. They comprise the myriad reminders of all I have to do in life – each one (Call Brad Ross, Colin Boatman called, Sign Gracie Vandiver, Get contract from Richard Glasser, Raise Jenny’s key, Send Chariots to Alvin Ailey, Sound system for Eric Lennon) each one a human being with great talent. Each person has come into my life because of his or her talent.

I’m presently working with a young woman named Megan Neal. Her talent is as big as a house, yet she’s only yet discovered the front hall.  It’s my business to see the whole house. I get to show her around her own house and help her discover the rooms and attics that lay waiting for her.

I’ve had the opportunity to watch my wife’s (Julia Wade) talent grow by leaps and bounds these past years. I’ve played my part in that and it’s been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.

I work with a graphic designer, Watchfire Music’s Sara Gray, who each day churns out one gorgeous creation after another and runs a team of designers around the country.

I worked for over 20 years with the talent of Jenny Burton – a talent that never failed to drop my jaw and make me laugh at the wonders of life.

I share ownership of a company with a partner whose talents as a businessman and entrepreneur run a different course than mine, but amaze me each and every day of this journey together.

I live and breathe each day to explore my own.