What larks!

At the beginning of the year I was a bit overcommitted (as any polymath knows is in their nature) and going through the fun business of leaving a job that was proving to be detrimental to my mental health.

I had a psychology course through the Open University, a Graphic Design course at Central Saint Martins, and advanced Illustrator training in Angel. I was also working on 'Wise at any Age' during any spare moment, promoting myself as a freelance designer and taking on little projects through online freelance posting sites.

I've been doing my shoe sketches on the train again

In the past few months and in particular, the past week, my circumstances have changed drastically. 'Wise at any Age' is a completed project. I handed in my final essay for my psychology course on the first of the month. All my lovely design courses to get me going and build my portfolio have wrapped up and I've found a stable momentum in the flow of work I'm getting. My promotion at work also means that my finances are (for the moment) secure and I am able to pick and choose the projects I do during my evenings and weekends.

Suddenly I have 'free time'. Time I can use as I please without feeling some obligation to hunt for another client, tweak my website to maximize exposure or network with fellow creatives to build my reputation.

It's quite liberating to look at my giant To Do List of Everything Ever knowing that what I choose next doesn't have to be strategic but can be entirely based on whim.

So I've been doing some fun little doodle projects - playing with my creativity away from a computer screen - and considering what I fancy accomplishing with these glorious pockets of time I'm so blessed to have.

I suspect there shall be some writing projects on the horizon. Especially as NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. I don't know that I fancy writing another novel in thirty days but I can see dedicating the month to editing.

There have also been many new connection of late with talented videographers, game developers and others of a similar sort. I think something collaborative may be on the horizon.

Not to mention the sudden interest I've had from clients looking for custom shoes.

I'm hoping to be littering my blog with these things as and when they happen. Wonderful artful things that feed my soul and add to the incredible energy I get from having a full-time job I absolutely love going to each day.

Life is full of peaks and troughs. I have every intention of enjoying this particular peak to the very fullest.

Master list of everything ever.

Every so often I become disheartened. I'm my own toughest critic but it's something I've been working on. I'm getting better, all the time, at appreciating and celebrating my accomplishments - but every so often I'll feel a bit like I'm just not getting anywhere. I know to some people this probably sounds nuts but to anyone who is a polymath, you know what I'm talking about. 

It's the feeling of doing a lot of little things and not getting any big things done. Or feeling bogged down by a big thing and not being able to celebrate the little things.

Several years ago I discovered a book called 'Refuse to Choose'. It changed my life - seriously - because it said it was okay for me to be a polymath and that I shouldn't (even if I was capable of it) choose to do only one thing with my life. But if I was going to embrace my polymath self, I sure as heck had to come up with some tools so I wouldn't:

A) burn out

B) get overwhelmed

and

C) feel like a failure for not doing absolutely everything I want RIGHT NOW. 

One of the best tools I got from this book was my Big Binder of Everything Ever AKA an important binder for all my ideas, aspirations, inspirations, plots, plans, dreams and goals. 

One of the first things you're supposed to do with it is write down everything you want to do in your life. Like, EVERYTHING. And be specific.

Not "I want to travel" but I want to travel to Florence, Barcelona, Ireland, Antarctica, Madagascar, Peru, all three Canadian territories, Newfoundland, New York, somewhere in Greece, Berlin, Gothenburg, Neuschwanstein castle, Brussels, Prague, Korea, Phuket (again), and Halifax (again).

After writing down everything you ever want to do in your life (being specific) it's possible to see that even though it is a lot, it's not absolutely everything you could do with your life and, if you are lucky enough to grow old, you'll have plenty of time to do it all. 

On the flip side you are also asked to make a list of everything you have accomplished so far. This is a good reminder that you have lived a colourful, rich, interesting life. And it's a really good list to have when you start to feel disheartened.

So recently, when I was feeling a bit down and a bit glum and a bit oh-my-gawd-my-ePub-is-taking-ages-and-I'm-not-getting-anywhere-with-it, I took a breath, and sat down with my binder of Everything Ever to update my Everything I've Accomplished in My Life So Far list with 2013 - to see how I'm doing.

So far this year I:

Quit a toxic job, 

set up as a freelance graphic designer (Rebuilt my old website), 

got a contract as an in-house designer, 

began studying psychology at the Open University, 

studied at Central Saint Martins, 

did an advanced Illustrator training course,

finished (and passed!) my British Sign Language Course, 

completed 16 course on Lynda.com,

read 20 books, 

danced in Trafalgar Square, 

saw Jann Arden perform live, 

saw Hellen Mirren perform on stage,

saw Judy Dench perform on stage, 

did a surprise visit to Calgary, 

spent 15 days in Japan, 

abseiled at the Royal Courts of Justice, 

AND became a published author...

so far

Because I'm a polymath I can see a lot of the stuff I haven't done and let it feel a bit more important than what I have done. But I would be a total whingebag deserving a good slap if I said boo about the stuff I've not been able to get around to so far this year, because no wonder! 

This is a brilliant list to have (especially that last item on there) as a reminder that dreams do become goals do become accomplishments and that I should really not be feeling like I've not got enough done. 

To be a polymath

I've got a beef. Not a big beef, just a little niggling, I-keep-thinking-about-it-and-want-to-get-it-off-my-chest beef.

I love to learn and I love trying new things. My skill levels vary across a multitude of areas - but all things which interest me or have interested me at some point.

At the moment I'm studying British Sign Language and Psychology - because I've wanted to learn sign language since I was about fourteen and because I read psychology text books for fun so I figured I may as well keep reading them and work towards a qualification at the same time.

I've also done a lot of different jobs. I've been the CEO of a not for profit organisation that I set up because I saw a clear gap in support for GBLQQTTI youth living in Calgary.

I've worked in administrative roles, done project management, and been a fundraiser. During all this time I've expressed my creative side in various ways. I sculpt, paint, and draw. I make costumes. I paint custom shoes. I've also been employed as an animator and gone on to do some animations as personal projects.

Since moving to London I've begun flexing my design muscles and this year I am officially a professional graphic designer, working as an artworker on the comms team at a charity and doing freelance logo design, among other things.

I am a writer and have been since I was physically capable of it. I've written several young adult novels and most recently wrote my very first non-fiction book. I learn by doing and decided I'd do my own layout and formatting of this book to build on my design skills and because it's something else I can add to my super fantastic list of life accomplishments.

Now here's my beef:
I tend to get called a 'Jack of All Trades'. That's fine, but the unspoken second half of that phrase is 'Master of None', which implies a certain failing on the part of the individual. Like, sure, you do a lot of stuff but you're not particularly good at anything.

This is a beef for me because I get told I shouldn't showcase so much of what I do. That I should only put one or two things out there. But all these things show the diversity of my skill, the flexibility of my style and the variety of ideas I have. It's also not to say I haven't mastered anything. The Miscellaneous Youth Network is a thriving organisation. I don't feel the need to still be involved or to set up another not for profit. I did it, successfully.

Sometimes it's not about reaching mastery. There's nothing wrong with dabbling just for the sake of trying something out. Or I have gotten the foundation in place so I can spend the rest of my life mastering it because some things change and grow so much and so fast that learning is constant. For example, my ongoing creative projects all feed into my design work - and anyone in the design industry will tell you it's always growing and changing. I am improving every day and I wouldn't have the flexibility that I have if I didn't explore multiple mediums.

I'm going to be 28 soon. As someone under thirty I realise I'm still considered utterly youthful and inexperienced. I know I have a lot to learn - but not because I'm young - because life is full of constant discovery. There is so much to do and learn and life is shorter than we realise. I want to be eighty and still have a lot to learn and still have the passion and drive to go do it.

Call me a Jack of all Trades if you like, but for me life would be utterly boring if I only got better at doing one thing. I like to think I'm a master of life and if life is about growing and doing and experiencing - then I figure I'm doing pretty damn good. 

All that being said, this past week I finished painting this spiffy pair of shoes:

Finished laying out the first draft of my book:

handed in my first psychology assignment three weeks early,
and completed four more briefs for my current clients.

Mighty Women - Beatrix Potter

I had a new batch of business cards made up. I wanted to have all my stuff on one card instead of having one for my Creative Specialist side and one for my Life Coaching side. This is because I don't really see them as 'sides' exactly. They are all part of me: what I love, what I do and what is important in my life. This was why, under my job title, I included the word "polymath" in brackets.

This small inclusion has led to a frequent question. Upon handing my card over to an interested party I will get a quizzical look before being asked, "What's a polymath?"

pol.y.math (Noun)

- A person of great or varied learning

- AKA a Renaissance Man 

To provide an example this entry is about a particularly humble polymath who I feel doesn't get enough credit for her incredible range of work. I've not done a Mighty Women post in a while so for those who are unfamiliar with them, this is my tribute to incredible women who have shaped and changed the world.

For most, Beatrix Potter is simply a name on tiny little storybooks for children. The life of the woman behind the writing and painting is not well known. At least for me, until I visited the Lake District, this was certainly the case.

Miss Potter, later Mrs. Heelis, was born into a middle class family when the middle classes were something very new. This was a class of people not quite born into wealth and not quite born into poverty. They perhaps had to work for a living but also often had a bit of wealth from family members before them. The difference between this inherited wealth and the wealth of the upper classes was that it was earned, often through industry. This was the case for Beatrix Potter's family, who had come from a long line of 'Tradesmen' who had done well and made their fortune.

For Beatrix, much of her life was spent observing duty. Her parents looked down on tradespeople, despite the source of their wealth, and they expected both Beatrix and her brother Bertrum to play the role of dutiful upper class children.

For Miss Potter this sort of life felt quite false, although the impression is that she didn't feel that she could often disagree with what was expected of her. It was a time when women were particularly beholden to the household life. If you were unwed you were expected to stay in the charge of your parents. If you were married then it was to your husband that you belonged.

But Miss Potter had ambition and refused to let it be squashed. She had been painting and drawing since childhood and in her early twenties she began to look at turning her art from hobby to work. Miss Potter first attempted to publish the many drawings and paintings she'd done of fungi specimens whilst on holiday in Scotland or the Lake District. She was, unfortunately, turned down for not having an education in the field and, of course, for being a woman.

This did not put Miss Potter off in the slightest, however. She was a head strong individual and she knew very well what she wanted to do. She enjoyed writing as well as art and in her thirties she finally managed to secure a publisher for a little story she'd written in a letter. This was 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' and this was the beginning of Miss Potter's independence.

She was, in her day, a more successful author than J.K. Rowling. In just a few years the royalties from the sale of her books was significant enough that she was independently wealthy, despite the fact that she still lived in the care of her parents.

She did eventually marry at the age of 47, to Mr. Heelis, a solicitor in Near Sawry. Married life did not at all hinder her incredible passion for knowledge and developing new skills. She became an avid baker, enjoying the exploration of this field as she'd enjoyed learning about farming or discovering the many fungi that grew wild in Scotland.

In her life, besides being the artist and author of 23 different tales for children, Miss Potter was a conservationist, farmer, property developer, and political activist. She owned thirteen different farms in the Lake District by the time of her death in 1943, which she left to the National Trust to ensure that the Lake District continued to be the stunning, undeveloped land that it is. She was active in the farming community and made a solid effort during both WWI and WWII despite the fact that she suffered from frequent illnesses.

She truly was an incredible human being with a great passion for many things. She had an insatiable desire to learn all she could about the things which interested her. I believe she is a great example of a polymath and all that embodies. She is more than worthy of the title 'Mighty Woman'.

Wear as many hats as you like!

I never considered myself a polymath. I've always thought that the word was meant for people with full blown careers and a single focus. I felt like the word was for someone more skilled or experienced.

But then I began to consider the definition. There are no hard and fast rules about who counts as a polymath and, as with any identity, how we define ourselves is entirely up to the us.

The Empress is all about creativity. 

Too often we let our self definition be limited by how the outside world perceives us. The result is letting other people limit the possibilities of what we can do.

In my life I have been (And in many cases still am) a babysitter, youth worker, project manager, retail employee, kennel technician, researcher, administrator, personal assistant, painter, workshop developer, speaker, animator, furniture builder, fundraiser, writer, graphic designer, social media expert, journalist, sculptor and now, life coach.

If that doesn't make me a polymath, I don't know what does!

Before you try on the shoes someone else has given you, pay attention to the pair you're already wearing.


If you've planned out a holiday from beginning to end, sorting all the itinerary of everyone involved, and it's successfully come to fruition, then you've got project management skills.

If you doodle in your spare time, or you doodle in meetings or while you're on the phone, you're a sketch artist.

If you like to figure things out for yourself and are really good at getting answers, you're a natural researcher.

Make your own list. Look at all the things you've done professionally but also personally. It doesn't have to pay the bills to be a worthy skill and it doesn't have to be specific to a single role or career. By writing it down you can see your talents and see just how awesome you are.

www.CreativeLifeCoachLondon.com

Only one thing? How terrifying...

Years ago there was a mentality that you by the time you were graduating you should probably have made up your mind as to what you would do for the rest of your life. The importance of this was handed down and taught in such a way that it implied anyone who hadn't decided at the age of seventeen or eighteen was going to be unfulfilled and unsuccessful.

Times have changed and more and more people are embracing and understanding that few people will have a single career in their lives. You've only got one life and it's important to use it to the best of your ability.

I was lucky enough to be raised by parents who always told my brother and me that we could and should do everything we wanted with our lives. A thought which can easily become overwhelming, but take a look at the flip side.

How would you feel if you were told you could only do one thing for the rest of your life? Personally, the idea of that terrifies me. A single occupation? Only one interest for my professional life? A specialisation which I must commit to until retirement?

I think not.

To do only one thing with you life isn't impossible and there are a few who are content to find their niche and stick with it because it does fulfill and satisfy them. That's fine, and wonderful for them. But they are a very few.

Most of us have a lot of directions our lives could take. We may dip our toes in one interest or dive in head first to another - but our lives are not a single pool and the direction our lives go in is entirely up to us. We have as many options as we're willing to be open to. Life really is what you make it.

Impossible, you think? Too much choice and you lack focus or you won't get anywhere? Perhaps some examples from history can convince you.

Aristotle was a playwright and poet as well as a teacher of a multitude of subjects like physics, linguistics, and ethics, to name a few.

Maria Agnesi was a professor who was also a great linguist, logician, theologists, algebraist, mathematician and philosopher.

Sir Isaac Newton worked for the Royal Mint as a warden but he was also a philosopher, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, theologian and alchemist.

Amelia Earhart was a pilot, as a well as a nurse, author and women's rights activist.

and probably most famously,

Leonardo Da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, musician, scientist, architect, inventor, engineer, mathematician, writer, botanist, geologist, cartographer, and anatomist.

So, in the wise words of Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Want support in taking on the adventure of life? Consider Me First Coaching - www.CreativeLifeCoachLondon.com