Imagine someone who early in life discovers that he has some time of passion or interest for something. For example, he may find that he has a talent for music or an interest in science. That little boy then looks at himself in the mirror and says: I will become a scientist! I will become a concert pianist! The little guy will grow up and assiduously work on that passion for the rest of his life. He will become a Scientist with a capital letter. Or a Musician, wholeheartedly devoting himself to his passion and reaching the upper echelons of success in his chosen field.
These people exist, and they do fascinate us. But they do not represent the only way.
In our day and age, specialization is highly valued. In an ant colony, every ant has one job and is excellent at it. A soldier ant will never decide overnight that they want to become an egg-caring ant or a food-gathering ant. They stick to their jobs because they’re ants.
We sometimes have different interests. Like butterflies, we can go from one flower to the nest and gorge ourselves with different kinds of pollen until we get our fill.
Think of Leonardo Da Vinci who became accomplished in so many fields, like painting, sculpting, science and is known as one of the greatest inventors, painter and architect who ever lived – all in one!
Some people can stick to one thing all their lives, while others need to entertain multiple interests.
All my life, I’ve tried to come to grips with this unusual personality trait of poly-interest or poly-hobbying, if such a word could be invented.
In my teens, I was a passionate reader who wanted to become a writer! Then I got into music and wanted to become a musician, practicing 4 or 6 hours a day for several years. Until I developed an all-consuming interest in nutrition and health, through the writings of my first and most significant mentor, Albert Mosseri. In my twenties, I also entertained an intense passion for studying foreign languages.
My primary interests are: languages, reading, writing, music, and nutrition. And then there are some sub-interests within those broader categories.
And what’s strange is that these interests tend to follow cyclical patterns.
For example, I just came out of a 4-year daze of passionately discovering everything I could about classical music and opera, something which I had interested me when I was younger, but which I set aside for almost two decades to focus on other areas of interest. During the last four years, I attended over 150 concerts!
Now it seems I had my fill of music for a while that my passion for learning foreign languages has retaken hold of me. So I’m running with it.
Refuse to Choose
I may seem strange to you, or maybe you can relate.
If you can relate, there’s a fascinating book you should read. It’s called “Refuse to Choose” by Barbara Sher.
The subtitle is:
Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams
In Refuse to Chose, Barbara Sher legitimizes the life of the dilettante with multiple interests or helps anyone who has trouble to choose what they want to do with their life because they have too many hobbies.
I think it’s a fantastic book and one-of-a-kind.
She calls these drunk butterflies like me “scanners” – because we have minds who do not zero in on a single field of interest but rather “scan” and explore what’s available.
The book also shows you how to finish what you start and manage those “hit and run” obsessions.
So I just wanted to tell you about it in case you’re interested and have the same “problem” (which as you’ll discover in “Refuse to Choose,” is a talent!) or know someone who does.
Frederic loves to relentlessly debunk nutritional myths. He advocates a low-fat, plant-based diet and has had over 10 years of experience with raw vegan diets.
Yes! I love life and definitely have poly-passions! Though I have some that are fundamentally important to me, I have a thirst to learn, and often immerse myself to fully absorb as much as I can when I find something that sparks something inside me! I love being this way, it’s awesome! But I admit I sometimes get overwhelmed so thank you for the book recommendation!
This! 🙂
While I was completing studies in natural medicine (herbs & nutrition) I still felt… things were, well missing.
During this time, I discovered Marie Forleo online, who has a similar message- that we are all unique & it’s ok to be multi passionate!!
It’s only as I’ve followed my heart, taken further courses that lit me up, and trusted that somehow I could pull it all together in a cohesive way (even though I had no idea how that would happen!) that I’ve been able to finally shake that feeling.
It has been overwhelming at times but I’m glad I persevered!!! (& will continue to- lol!)
I believe the key is trusting the path that opens before you, even if it doesn’t make sense (to anyone else or even you initially!!). And meditation: creating space so that answers can come to you & you can learn to honour your intuition.
It’s great to know there’s a book on this topic too, thanks for the recommendation Frederic!
Thanks for the recommendation Fred. Your post is very helpful since I tend to flit from one thing to another.
Yes! I am a scanner, and I am drawn to other scanners. I married a scanner 47+ years ago, although he has areas of solid ongoing passion. Together we describe each other as “lifelong learners”. I notice that my sons, and even my grandchildren, have these attributes as well. Sometimes I worry about their “hopping about like fleas on a hot stove” (my mother’s description, that and “dilettentism”) but I note that the more novelty in their lives, the happy they are, and they DO finish things they are interested in. I am just finishing up Martin Seligman’s book “Flourish” where he expands the boundaries of his original ‘positive psychology’ to include the five areas of wellness necessary to living a fulfilling life : *Positive Emotion *Engagement *Positive Relationships *Meaning and *Accomplishments.
Like Julia mentions above, I also get overwhelmed and have often felt somehow inferior to the one-track person who zooms through life on the power express to the top of their field. I’m more like a farmer surveying many fields from the crop duster (although this metaphor is repugnant because of the crop dust, sorry). I believe that scanners have as much life satisfaction and contribution as the more pronounced heros in any endeavour field. I will look at the book you suggest– thanks!
So I’m not so weird after all! There are others like me out there.
I have worked as a chemical engineer, real estate sales agent, public transportation busdriver, massage therapist and while going to school I also worked as a cashier in a busy type Walmart store as well as delivering morning papers. I have worked at collecting funds for cancer rehab by telephone, daycaring for dogs etc. All the while I’ve been reading books on health and nutrition, dog psycholgy, exercise and yoga.
Now that I’m retired I have taken a great interest in reading books by David Wilcock, William Thompkins and similar and I’m considering rescuing abused and abandonds dogs. And also to start growing my own food which I learnt some when I went to farm school in my youth. I will also go raw very soon after having failed a few times. I’m hoping this will save my arthritic knee from replacement and maybe clear up my lifelong winter blues.
How refreshing to hear that I am not unusual. I have always had trouble sticking to one thing. I know a little about a lot buy not a lot about one thing. Still trying to find out my calling. Thanks for the recommendation of this book.