The anticipation, celebration, gift giving and gift receiving is over and now we stand on the threshold of a new year, a new century and a new millennium. Pausing to reflect that every ending is a new beginning, what will we bring to the 21st century? One gift that each of us has is our talent. It gives us our unique identity and is rooted in a self-awareness that grows with self-knowledge and reveals itself in self-expression. It requires enthusiasm more than discipline and brings satisfaction, joy and a sense of well-being when it is used. Talent is often overlooked when it is undeveloped. It is not rare but its fulfillment is rare when it is not cultivated, guided and utilized. Sophocles said "Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected."

History is filled with talented people who took responsibility for their talent and gave it back as a gift to future generations. Franz Schubert was educated to follow in his father's footsteps as a schoolmaster but after three years of teaching, he chose to devote his life to musical composition. Robert Schumann was the son of a bookseller. His mother insisted that he study law but he only occasionally attended lectures because his ambition was to become a pianist. An injury to the tendons in his right hand caused him to turn to composing and he expressed his feelings about his life's work in these words: "Often I feel such a compulsion to compose that even if I were on a lonely island in the middle of the sea I could not stop.. It makes me altogether happy, this art."

Our talent may not be of the magnitude of Schubert or Schumann but it is unique to us and we have a responsibility for it. We may be listeners who appreciate a relaxing evening of Mozart or Liszt; we may play the piano for our own enjoyment or for the mental stimulation of working out the complexities of a musical score; or we may be taking lessons toward the goal of sharing our music-making with others. It doesn't matter how our talent is expressed but that we appreciate it and use it.

As we engage in our own pathfinding and pathkeeping for the 21st century, let us remember that our talent is unique and should be treasured, cultivated and shared as a priceless gift to ourselves and to others.