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CONTEST: What is Your Natural Gift?
We’re launching a CONTEST today. The prize is the exquisite new novel by Aimee Bender,
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, which has received some of the best reviews of the year, and a coveted slot on Oprah’s top summer reads. It’s easy to enter. But to win, get ready to brag.
Bender tells the story of Rose, a young girl, who discovers an eerie ability to taste feelings in food. We’d like to hear about YOUR natural gift. (e.g, here’s mine.) What comes most easily to you? What distinct talent does it seem you were born with? Your natural gift doesn’t need to be grand, nor do-goody, just authentic. Submit your entries using the Comments section. Include your full name, email address, and a U.S. shipping address, which we’ll need for delivery purposes (they will not be published). Enter as often as you like because the book is a gem, and hardcovers could soon become collector’s items. Deadline, August 9, 2010.
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21 comments for “CONTEST: What is Your Natural Gift?”
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[…] forget our new CONTEST. Deadline, August […]
I have a flair for writing natural dialogue and mixing fabulous Manhattans.
I have a flair for painting abstract paintings!
I also leave excellent voice mails!
Where to submit shipping address?
Voice mails? How cool! We’ll keep you posted, if we need your shipping address –
[…] Don’t be shy. Enter our CONTEST! […]
I was born with a unique sound. A textured voice that can sound like a ten year old boy, or any age female. I’m a 52 year old woman. So if you write the story I will voice the story. It takes a village.
I have an ability to make people laugh without trying. When I do try, I fail. When I say something that I’d consider ridiculous and hope that someone puts me out of my misery, THAT is when people laugh at me.
I was born to be creative. It is my natural gift. My mothers side of the family has produced artists, musicians, dancers and actors. And even though I grew up with my fathers family (yes, parents were divorced), I still sought and thrived in the arts. It is where I feel most comfortable, honest and confident. And that’s a good feeling.
I have the uncanny natural ability to be chosen, whether I like it or not, as the foreman of any jury I might sit on…
[…] CONTEST deadline, August 9th. Don’t miss out! […]
I give great advice. Family, close friends, and others that I would consider no more than casual friends will call me up and seek my opinion on all matters career-, love-, or life-oriented. While this is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse, I feel honored to be so many people’s sounding board.
I hate to brag, but winning contests is my natural gift, xx
Thanks for a great blog – I love some of your insights.
I seem to have a natural ability to make people trust me. Part of the reason I became a lawyer (and part of the reason I want to stop being a lawyer!)
I often find myself in the middle of conflicts because both parties find me to be inherently trustworthy and an excellent listener.
I feel that I have a natural ability to put people at ease. I love when I smile at someone, and I can feel them relaxing, opening up and then smiling back.
I’m patient. I’m easy-going. I look for the good. I can see both sides to any issue (except for why Conservatives care so much about whom I marry).
I also make great cheese.
[…] for contest submissions is […]
And another: When exiting the subway, I have a flair for being the first person out of the subway station. I know exactly which door to stand at in which car and how to position myself, so I can RUN before the masses begin to tumble out. I know which staircases and route to take out. I will be the first one out!
[…] Check your watch. Is it past midnight, Monday, August 9th? If not, there’s still time. […]
My gift is the lack of an internal filter. I speak what others think but will not say. I speak the verboten. My gift is attributable to two things: a keen desire to be funny, which was seriously rewarded by my family of origin, and an impulsive desire to throw caution and social mores to the wind, just to see what happens. More often than not, I get away with it. Either I really have caught the zeitgeist of the group’s thinking, or no one can quite believe I’ve said it. Or maybe others are really just being kind. Regardless, the freedom of speech is exhilarating and worth defending. And it’s far too late to stop now.
I have a special talent for seeing the negative. In any given situation, no matter how serene or joyful, I have a unique ability to pull out what is most disturbing or hurtful about it. I can’t help it. I just see it, and then it’s too late to shut it out.
This is a difficult gift to manage in a culture where books like “The Secret” are all the rage; where a negative view point is considered hazardous to one’s health and prosperity, and practically dangerous. (As though it were contagious, and I might infect other people with my negativity just by walking around and opening my mouth.)
But I have learned, over time, to see my negativity for the gift it truly is. It gives me great insight into myself and others and I find confronting, rather than denying or ignoring, my own suffering very reassuring. It has also given me much empathy and compassion for others and great tolerance for those who suffer most.
[…] CONTEST winner will be announced on Friday! […]