I have only just discovered this whole new world and it certainly resonates with me. It has helped me to see myself differently. I have enjoyed your article. At this stage, I think I could be described as a polymath in my professional life, with sequential careers in science, psychotherapy and the law, all of which kept me very busy. However, since retiring, I have acquired so many new areas of interest, some related to my life situation, eg land regeneration and writing a memoir, both of which require a degree of competence, and others because I just find the topics interesting for a whole range of reasons and am aiming for a level of knowledge without needing to achieve a degree of competence. How would you characterise this?
Hey Toni, thanks for your kind comment, and also for subscribing. Much appreciated! That sounds like a super-interesting career and overall biography. I'd probably characterize you as a polymath in your professional life who morphed into an adventurer of life in retirement, because from what you're describing it sounds like you're mostly following your interests and curiosities now. But in the end, labels don't matter. I say choose whichever resonates the most with you. What matters is valuing ourselves as we are and understanding that there's nothing wrong with us. On the contrary, our multipotentiality is a powerful tool if we know how to use it.
Although I've read nearly all the books you mentioned, I really enjoyed reading this! I've never thought about the intricate differences between the terms. Even though no term will ever perfectly describe anyone's experience, I feel like just learning about these options really helps me get to know myself and identify different dimensions of pursuit that matter to me. Keep up the great work!
P.S. I feel like I'm a multipassionate striving to be a polymath & synthesizer 😄
Thank you for your kind comment, Anna - so glad you enjoyed reading my article 😊 And it's great to read that learning about all these labels helps you understand yourself a little better - that means this article already achieved more than I hoped for 😃 I think understanding yourself is crucial to building a satisfying, happy life and career, and part of that understanding is how we describe ourselves/what label we can identify with.
A multipassionate striving to be a polymath and synthesizer - I love that 😃 I identify most with the "Renaissance Man/Renaissance Person" label, but I'm also striving to be a polymath first, and a synthesizer second.
I have only just discovered this whole new world and it certainly resonates with me. It has helped me to see myself differently. I have enjoyed your article. At this stage, I think I could be described as a polymath in my professional life, with sequential careers in science, psychotherapy and the law, all of which kept me very busy. However, since retiring, I have acquired so many new areas of interest, some related to my life situation, eg land regeneration and writing a memoir, both of which require a degree of competence, and others because I just find the topics interesting for a whole range of reasons and am aiming for a level of knowledge without needing to achieve a degree of competence. How would you characterise this?
Hey Toni, thanks for your kind comment, and also for subscribing. Much appreciated! That sounds like a super-interesting career and overall biography. I'd probably characterize you as a polymath in your professional life who morphed into an adventurer of life in retirement, because from what you're describing it sounds like you're mostly following your interests and curiosities now. But in the end, labels don't matter. I say choose whichever resonates the most with you. What matters is valuing ourselves as we are and understanding that there's nothing wrong with us. On the contrary, our multipotentiality is a powerful tool if we know how to use it.
This is so helpful. Thank you for this breakdown!
Happy to hear you found it helpful, Taylor :-)
Although I've read nearly all the books you mentioned, I really enjoyed reading this! I've never thought about the intricate differences between the terms. Even though no term will ever perfectly describe anyone's experience, I feel like just learning about these options really helps me get to know myself and identify different dimensions of pursuit that matter to me. Keep up the great work!
P.S. I feel like I'm a multipassionate striving to be a polymath & synthesizer 😄
Thank you for your kind comment, Anna - so glad you enjoyed reading my article 😊 And it's great to read that learning about all these labels helps you understand yourself a little better - that means this article already achieved more than I hoped for 😃 I think understanding yourself is crucial to building a satisfying, happy life and career, and part of that understanding is how we describe ourselves/what label we can identify with.
A multipassionate striving to be a polymath and synthesizer - I love that 😃 I identify most with the "Renaissance Man/Renaissance Person" label, but I'm also striving to be a polymath first, and a synthesizer second.