Jack of all Trades
Jack of all trades, master of none. Or should I say Jill?
How many of us whose creativity spills over into many forms have heard that statement from some supposedly well-meaning family or friend?
And how did we feel upon hearing it? Shamed? Inept? Unworthy? Fearful?
Julia Cameron would say we had just been “wet-blanketed.” Probably by someone whose own creativity is suffering from starvation and abandonment.
Where did the myth arise that we can only do one thing well? How many artists, actors, musicians, and other creative people from the past and present do you know of who practice and express their creativity in more than one form? Do the names Leonardo DaVinci, William Blake, Beatrix Potter, Maya Angelou, Shirley McLaine, and Jane Seymour ring a bell?
In fact, many people who make careers in the arts, expand into more than one area. Actors will also write, direct and produce. Or they will also sing and dance. I bet no one tells them they should just focus on one thing. Hey, Maya, forget writing that poetry, just stick to the dancing!
Writers often move between forms, writing fiction as well as non-fiction. Writing novels, short stories, and poems, essays and newspaper columns.
Musicians will play more than one instrument. Dancers will dance, choreograph and teach.
But there is also crossover between disciplines. People who are successful creatively let that energy and imagination spill over into other areas of life. Actors become political activists. Scientists will paint. CEO’s will write. Mathematicians play the piano.
See, creativity is about expressing a joy, a delight, a passion, a celebration of life. Like a valve turned on an irrigation system, the force of that passion and celebration of life surges through many channels and rains down on all parts of our lives, nurturing and bringing to blossom all kinds of creative seeds.
In fact, as Julia Cameron, in her popular book, The Artist’s Way, points out, once we start to practice and experience creativity in one medium or area of our lives, we tend to bring creativity to almost everything we do—from writing a book to cleaning out and organizing a closet.
Yes, we sometimes need to establish priorities, and to give more focus and energy to one area than another. And yes, some people are totally happy, focused and satisfied giving all their attention and energy to only one creative medium. But does that mean that is the only way, the right way? No!
For years, I struggled with this notion of doing only one thing and trying to figure out what the right one thing is. What I discovered instead is that many of the things I love to do—write, weave, dream, coach, and speak—are all part of who I am, what makes me unique, and what gives me something unique to offer others.
I may not be a best-seller or speak to audiences of hundreds—yet. But I am working on it.
Just call me Jill…