I've always identified as a musician, a songwriter, a composer and a performer. Although I always wrote--and always enjoyed doing it--I never took writing as seriously as I did music. I thought of it as a hobby. Sometimes I still think of myself as a temporarily blocked musician, but I'm beginning to check myself on that.Why must we fascinating creatures focus only on one talent when we have so many? Whatever happened to the Renaissance Man or Woman? What happened to the Woman or Man of Letters? What happened to self-education and people wanting to be well-rounded by knowing at least a little bit about almost everything? I remember a teacher in high school once telling us that the problem with specialists is that they study longer and longer to learn more and more about less and less.
The thing is, we're all loaded with talents and abilities, most of which we're not even aware. Humans are creative beings. We don't just pass our time on this planet like the other animals with whom we share it, we create, we invent. We not only have the capacity to create, we possess a profound hunger to create. So why does society insist that creativity--and those of us who exercise it--are misfits, human oddities, and even miscreants?
When I was busy writing Night Music I often wondered if I'd missed my calling, but now, much older and a little wiser, I understand how ignorant that idea was. I don't have a calling. I compose, I write. I also draw, sculpt, cook, decorate, design websites, and make people laugh... different aspects of this thing we call creativity.
It seems to me the entire world has learned more and more about less and less, and in doing so, we have allowed ourselves to become more and more less and less.
7 comments:
We're a dying breed, my love.
On the other hand when what they know amounts to nothing of any merit, knowing a little about a lot is also known as being a dilettante. I think the real Renaissance person has a deeper understanding on a wide range of things. I've only known one person like that in my life and he could talk. your. ears. off. if you let him.
Depth is the key I think.
signed,
a dilettante
:-)
RW, I disagree. A dilettante is someone who is more of an admirer than one who actually studies or does. Dilettantes have superficial knowledge about a limited number of things and it's vainglorious--not a true quest for knowledge or mastery.
I have always been interested in so many things. When I first went to college, I felt like a kid in a candy store: I was so excited at all the things I could learn! I had such a hard time trying to come up with a major because I wanted to major in everything! When my academic advisor asked me what I wanted to name as my major, I said, "Everything" and I meant it. He just stared at me. "Well, you have to pick one major and one minor." I still love learning new things. I was led to believe that knowing something about a lot of things, as opposed to being a specialist, was a sign of academic immaturity. When I started working at an archival management company, I discovered that a background such as a mine was really an asset. It was why I was so good at being the subject expert on the National Geographic project (identifying all species, plants, landforms, etc.) when the rest of the archivists just couldn't do it. The archivists often asked me, "How do you know all those things?" It was just because, unlike them, I'd learned a something about a lot of different things.
I think that's why our educational system and the students it produces is so behind the rest of world: our system is made to concentrate on just getting the scores on the national tests, instead of actually EDUCATING people.
I have a wide range of talents/interests. Baseball, bourbon, Batman, beer, boobs, bacon, etc...
Does that make me a renaissance man? How about if I expand my knowledge base past the letter "b"? ;)
I have a wide range of talents/interests. Baseball, bourbon, Batman, beer, boobs, bacon, etc...
Does that make me a renaissance man? How about if I expand my knowledge base past the letter "b"? ;)
We're a dying breed, my love.
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