Out of this body of work came the increasingly popular phrase “talent needs trauma.”10 “Trauma,” of course, lies in the eyes of the beholder. The death of a parent or imprisonment of a sibling certainly registers as trauma, but so, too, might being bullied in grade school or never being invited to hang out with the “cool kids.” Anything that someone experiences as disruptive, as fracturing their sense of self, could work to precipitate future passion and drive. “Trauma from times past,” says Gibson, “creates an inner-mongrel which refuses to give up until the ‘prize’ is won.”
