What does it mean when someone tells you "You're a diamond in the rough"?

What does it mean when someone tells you "You're a diamond in the rough"?

Everyone in the world has unique skills and talents that make each one of us so special. Different people are skilled in different fields. It can be drawing, sketching, crafts, playing instruments, singing, dancing, creative writing, sports, acting and so on. The realization of what is best in the people comes at different stages of life. While many people recognize their talent at an early stage, many recognize it at a later stage of the life. But whatever the stage of life be every artists like to perform in front of the society in order to share their feelings and thoughts. People like to share their skills with the community. The level of talent that one possesses at a particular stage keeps on varying. Talent keeps on increasing with regular practices and polishing.

Most of the artists hear the phrase after their performance - “You’re a diamond in the rough”. This states that the artist have a great talent that can be made better by more practice, training and polishing. The term diamond refers to an extremely hard form off carbon that is crystallized. It is a piece of precious stone that is transparent, flawless and takes the form of a valuable gem when properly cut and shaped. Thus the saying diamond in the rough states that by proper shaping, cutting and polishing it will be easy for a person to improve his/her skills furthermore and would help them stand out from the crowd. The phrase is used in a number of scenarios and has a very deep meaning. It is a very good compliment form the well-wisher that acts as both compliment and a feedback. It gives a person appreciation and at the same time helps in understanding what more is needed to be done for future improvements.

A diamond in the rough is generally a diamond that is not cut and shaped. The term has its origin from the 1600s and the phrase first appeared in John Fetcher’s A Wife for a Month that was written in the year 1624. It refers to a hidden quality. There are examples of a number of artists who have unimaginable talents without even practicing from the childhood and had they practiced from the childhood they would have been better off than many legends of the world. As a matter of fact there are many legends even who became eminent without such practice since the beginning and who realized their talents at a very late stage. If the big screen shows are considered, there are a number of artists who had the talent but got rejected at the very first. They however worked hard and have become legends of the world. Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star by stating that he lacked imagination and thereafter he worked hard and made his own production, which is a world success. Talking about Bill Gates, he was a drop out from Harvard. His initial business with Paul Allen was a failure but however their trial and effort made them give birth to Microsoft. Eminent personalities like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Abraham Lincoln have kept on polishing themselves in order to become the legends they have become.

A wide variety of hidden skills and qualities can lie behind the faces we are familiar with in the society. There can be talents within a doorman, a sweeper, a delivery boy or anyone in the neighborhood as well. Whenever we see these talents coming up live we are surprised and feel that they could have been better off if there were much more opportunities available for them. Their talents surprise the people because of the fact that they were hidden all the time and they could have flourished a lot. Our surroundings are full of inspiring and beautiful talents. It is full of artistic creativity but we are rarely aware about it. So whenever we notice these hidden talents we expect the best out of them and hence the compliment diamond in the rough is being used. It means that the first impression is not as well as the later ones and if one will keep on polishing the impression will keep on getting better. No one likes a rough stone but a diamond. These rough stones go through a very complicated and hard process in order to become a diamond and similarly all the talented artists need to undergo proper training and hard work to get exposure and get the limelight.

Many people also call several talents as hidden gem, which possess the similar meaning like the diamond in the rough. It means that the artist has got the capability of exposure but is still hidden. Exposure in the community requires a lot of hard work and connections. Diamonds are usually found hundreds of miles beneath the earth. This states the fact that talents are hidden. Carbon dioxide that is located deep beneath the surface of the earth forms two substances – one is coal and the other is the diamond. Coal is the one that contains the other impure substances along with carbon dioxide whereas diamond is free from all these impurities. A diamond requires a lot of heat and pressure to be formed. Under extreme pressure and heat the carbon atoms in their structure of crystalline become bonded to each other, where each atom gets linked with three other carbon atoms. This creates a strong and firm substance. This diamond then needs to undergo a number of other processes in order to get a shape and value in the market. It undergoes special techniques like cleaving, sawing, cutting and polishing. The rough diamond is first cut by a steel blade with great force, In case of harder rough diamonds; a phosphor bronze blade that rotates at a speed of about 15.000 rpm is used to cut the diamond. Then the diamond is given shape by bruiting through machines. In this stage a diamond is used to cut another diamond and once the shape is given the diamond is polished through the polishing wheel.

It is evident from the above paragraph that a rough diamond needs to undergo a number of heavy processes in order to reach its final shape. An artist similarly needs to undergo several techniques in order to create his/her masterpiece socially acceptable. An artist needs to invest huge time and effort and provide hard labor and mental strain in order to reach the success. A lot of endurance, patience and strength are required to become as polishes ad a diamond. In order to become a successful artist one must give up comparisons, making excuses, taking unnecessary advices, perfectionism, feeling selfish and the need for praise. Once an artist is selfless and determined he or she will become the gem that his or her society feels that the person is capable of. So the word diamond in the rough means a compliment. It means that the person has already managed the extreme heat and pressure and has become a diamond but yet it needs to follow the remaining phases so that it can shine bright like the real diamond. It means that the person has the ability to be someone out of the box and unique if more efforts are given.  Dreams do not turn into reality through magic instead it takes a lot of energy, sweat, hard work and determination. Working hard and investing more on one self for betterment is the key to success.