Greetings dear Bold Soul!
I hope this finds you happily ensconced in lovely, lively and interesting pursuits. I am enjoying the nasturtium flowering season and attempting to outrun a grass-seed-pocalypse in the veggie bed!
Today we’re talking about Jacks and Jills of many talents, sometimes known as Scanners (not the kind Epson make), Polymaths, Multipods or Renaissance persons. In brief it’s a person with many interests (which may or may not be work related). Click this to watch Emilie Wapnick’s short PuttyFest video explaining what a Multipod is. This is my response to Emilie’s recent call for posts on how being a multipotentialite has enriched your life. By the way, you might like to check out Emilie’s delightful music!
To represent juggling many interests I fine tuned Rain Girl to be ^^^ Juggling Rain Girl. Real jugglers tell me she has poor juggling form (your elbows are meant to be by your sides). She was drawn originally in a gratitude pose not a juggling one – so please view only for illustrative (not learning juggling) purposes!
My first clue that I may be not broken simply not suited to the world of full time work was when I got hold of Barbara Sher‘s book Refuse to Choose in which she coins the term “Scanners”. What a relief to come across this understanding writer/coach/cartoonist/teacher! In Refuse to Choose Barbara talks about building your life to suit both your interests and the kind of variety you prefer. I got the sense then that multiple activities (and perhaps income streams) might be actually workable. Ever since I’ve been juggling and balancing (haha, and not just metaphorically – one of my penchants is learning basic circus skills!) projects and keeping better track of new ideas!
As Melissa Dinwiddie says in her stovetop lifestyle design post, 4 different pursuits might be about right, or 3 or 5 may suit you better. Right now, I may have 1 or 2 too many! Oh dear! It’s an ongoing challenge to find a workable mix between the enrichment/enchantment of several projects and the overwhelm that comes from overload! I need to get my head around that some things work better for income and other fondnesses can be quenched as a hobby or simply having a try!
My interests range from making this website, bold art (natch), tiny movies, graphics & some game design for my friends’ music teaching resources to enjoying aerial yoga, HitBall, and playing a part at the local community garden.
It’s been many years now since reading Refuse to Choose and I feel lucky to have such varied days – happily learning to manage my activities with the understanding that I’m a multipod. I got great glee from seeing the sheer contrast in size when in the same week I made a 16 pixel square “favicon” (icon that appears in your browser window when you are on a webpage) and 2 penguin costumes for a parade (and helped with some costume/rig thingys for the stilt-walkers to be giraffes)!
I would at some point also love to: learn to surf, get voice training, improve my juggling and do 50 Paintings for my 50th Birthday (look for more about that in my next post). I look forward to painting my first mural and getting more education/practice with warm hearted marketing.
Thanks Emilie, for your puttypeep support and organising the Puttyfest. Massive Congratulations on 4 years of Puttylike – wishing you many more happy years :)
Love Meg x o
PS Have you read “Refuse to Choose”? Did you relate?
LOVE THIS: “It’s an ongoing challenge to find a workable mix between the enrichment/enchantment of several projects and the overwhelm that comes from overload!”
Fellow multipotentialite currently struggling with which path/s to choose lol :)
Thanks for your encouraging comment, Layla! Love what you’re doing aiming for zero waste – sounds like you’re juggle many fascinations, too! M :)
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