BY BONNIE LEE STRUNK

Special to The Press

What are you good at?

If your response to that question is “nothing,” I don’t believe you.

When I showed a friend a photo of a craft project I created for the Allentown Fair, she exclaimed, “You have more talent in your little finger than I have in my whole body.”

She added that she was not creative enough to make anything, which, of course, is not true.

Her homemade chocolate truffles are richer and better than any I have ever tasted, including the expensive commercially-prepared treats I have received as gifts.

One of my sisters joked that the only thing she is good at is shopping.

I doubt that, since she has taken care of her grandchildren since they were infants. That endeavor takes skills and patience that I don’t think I have.

My point is this: All of us have our special talents, just as all of us have a story. But many folks bury their creativity, never allowing their light to shine.

One retiree I know excelled at artwork in school, until he graduated and life got in the way. Almost 60 years later, he has rediscovered that long-suppressed talent and is now creating beautiful jewelry and art pieces from various recycled metals.

Another fellow, now in his 80s, says he loved building models in his youth. When he retired he began dabbling in that craft again and now is busy constructing elaborate models requested by his church and friends. And he is doing much of the work simply from photos supplied to him.

A girlfriend of mine started her needle crafts and quilting again in her 60s, after a long hiatus to raise a family and have a career. She says she learned all sorts of needle arts as a child, but she put the hobby on hold for decades and did not think she would remember how to create anything. Obviously her talent never disappeared.

Some senior adults I know have started writing poetry, a few of them for the first time and others who resurrected a skill they last used in college. All are enjoying sharing the products of their imaginations with fellow poets.

Whether you are good at dancing or painting or crafts or photography or baking or even thrift-store shopping for treasures, everyone has some talent that makes the world a more exciting place.

We can find our hidden talent by thinking back to childhood and remembering what we most enjoyed doing. What were our interests then?

In my case, I am doing today everything I loved to do in my youth — writing, cooking and baking, dancing, reading and crafting. All of these activities provide a sense of satisfaction and come naturally to me. But I wanted more.

It is fun to explore new experiences, for they may help us discover talents we never knew we had. Several of the additional hobbies I enjoy today started out as experiments outside my comfort zone, and now they have become passions I would not want to give up.

If you can’t think of anything you are good at, ask friends and family members what they think your skills and strengths are. What compliments do you often receive?

Whatever activities bring you joy or come more naturally to you than to other people may be clues about the talents you are overlooking.

There is no better time than now to begin your search.