#multipotentiality

Hey there! I know people have told you countless times to focus on and be good at one thing. I know you've been following that advice (terrible, by the way) I know you felt guilty and shameful for jumping from one skill to another your whole life. Joining courses that give everything you need but finding it hard to implement. I get you. I am like that. We've been living in a world where our thought processes are labelled as Shiny Object Syndrome. Or laziness and procrastination.

Sorry to say, but we've been following the WRONG people. We're neurodivergent, living in a neurotypical world. But don't worry. I am here. Together, let's find what makes us happy. Follow our curiosity. Do a ton of experiments because life's too short to restrict our creativity.

Do you have a lot of creative pursuits in different areas? Do you love to learn new skills?

Maybe you’re a multipotentialite!

I never got those people who always knew what they wanted to be when they grow up. I have friends that said they wanted to be something when they were like 10 years old, and 10 years later they’re pursuing a course to follow that field.

I’ve always liked a lot of different things. In school I liked how challenging math was, I liked how diverse Linguistics could be and how organic Arts felt. In high school I had to pick a field, so I signed up for Arts, but then started the year in Science, but then after a month changed for Arts again. 

To be honest all artistic fields always spoke to my heart in a deeper level. But also, I feel like anything can be artistic at some point, and I truly believe that art is kind of a feeling, a point of view.

I always loved to learn. I feel like if you put me in any random class for half an hour I would love it as long as I understand what’s being taught. 

But the thing is, everyone, I mean, most people at least, tell me that I should pick a field. I should pick something and focus on that because otherwise I’ll never be a master at anything. But the thing is, does it matter to me to be a master at something? Would that make me any happy? I don’t think so.

I mean, I always loved music, I had singing lessons for probably 6 years or so, but I’ve learned (mostly by myself) how to play guitar, bass, keyboard - am I a master at any of those? No! But I’ve had lots of fun playing! And don’t get me wrong, some people are masters at playing multiple instruments, but since I have so many other passions, my living time would never be enough to be one of those people. 

But maybe it doesn’t really matter if you’re that good, as long as you’re doing something you truly believe.

I’ll try to list some of the things I like below:

Photography (analogic and digital), film (filming, editing, directing), illustration, music (sing, bass, guitar, keyboards), media, psychology, sociology, reading, storytelling, acting, writing, basically anyway I can express myself, yoga, meditation, crafts diy projects and all, cooking (but not cleaning after), sewing. - There’s probably more, and so many that I haven’t found out about yet!

SO

maybe you’re thinking that it is normal to have many interests, and yes, it is! But some people have a main thing they focus on and I’ve never been willing to do that. I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with this personality trait of mine.

Find more about multipotentiality on the website Puttylike - it’s super well written and very informative and helpful! 

A very different video for this Sunday – but it’s nice to cover a number of intersecting topics, right? Emilie Wapnick’s TED presentation intersects two important points, for me. First – it talks about me, and about “having too many interests”, a “defect” of mine that was often pointed out to me, from second grade to university and beyond. A “problem” that hindered me for decades. And it does…