While writing my last blog post about the artfulness of soap making, I learned a new word: multipotentialite. The simplest definition of a multipotentialite, one with multipotentiality, is a person with many interests and creative pursuits.
The word doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but it does feel gratifying to use it in a sentence to describe my chronic need to learn new skills and my inability to choose one path. Now there's a reason I have three bachelor's degrees. There's a reason I have six unfinished projects lying around the house. There's a reason I have eight books on my night stand. There's a reason my LinkedIn profile is hard to write. There's a reason Pondering Acres is an apt name for my home, side hustle, and mindset. There's a reason the asterisk is my favorite symbol. (FYI, the asterisk is often used in coding and applications to indicate a "wildcard" or "not complete.") I am not to be bucketed into a single type of worker or artist. I'm allowed to try to be all the things. I am a multipotentialite. Not unfocused. Not indecisive. Not a procrastinator. Well, sometimes a procrastinator. But primarily, a multipotentialite.
So what does this new label change for me, really? The biggest thing is that I've lightened up on the whole "I will be, I must be, I am an artist, dammit" attitude. I don't have to try to cram soap making and other "art like" pursuits into the definition of art and the acts of an artist. In truth, it's been a struggle for me to connect everything I want to do and write about to art. I originally went there because all the blog and business advice givers say you have to find a niche to be successful. But as a multipotentialite, I can ignore that advice. My niche is about avoiding a niche. Adding this word to my vocabulary and to my world sense-making was liberating enough for me to change the Pondering Acres theme from "Art. Life. Better." to "Create. Life. Better." I am still intent on being an artist, but not just an artist. Being creative is about art and design, problem solving and innovation, experimentation and play. It's a necessary ingredient in every part of life. Create. Life. Better. Liberated Multipotentialite. T-shirts available soon.
You can find a community of multipotentialites online at puttylike.com and puttyverse.com. Emilie Wapnick is the founder and creative director and recognized for popularizing the term multipotentialite with her TED Talk, Why Some of Us Don’t have One True Calling. She is also the author of the book, How to be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still)Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up, which is on the way to my house in an Amazon truck as I write this. At the Puttlylike shop, you can find courses and workbooks and more all about how to live your life as a multipotentialite. And, of course, there's a quiz to estimate your level of multipotentialiteness. It feels good to be part of this club but if you find out that you're not one of us, don't feel bad. The world needs niche specialists, too. I just hope you're having as much fun as the multipotentialites.
Comentários