It's Okay to Be "One of Those People"

Egad! I’ve been neglecting this blog. I started it after reading Austin Kleon’s book "Show Your Work," and it was supposed to be a place for me to share my process with The World.  I also started a Tumblr for things that interested me, just like Austin’s scrapbook.  Then I wondered if I should have a Tumblr for process as well. Then I got overwhelmed by the idea of multiple blogs. 

And the days went by.

And then I got distracted by a multitude of things.  Oh no! Would I become “one of those people”?  The ones who never finish anything? 

Then two things happened.

1. I decided that I would maintain a single blog that would be for sharing process AND things that interested me.

2. Right around that time I discovered PuttyLike.  It’s a website dedicated to people who have many different interests and skills and embrace that as a strength rather than a weakness.  These are people who haven’t necessarily specialized in one thing in terms of work.  Some of them are thriving.  The others are getting there!  

What do you call these individuals?  Renaissance souls, scanners, multipotentialites.  The mastermind behind the site, Emilie Wapnick, coined these terms.  I call that brilliance.

Words fail me.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to have discovered this group of people.  I can connect with them through what’s called The PuttyTribe!!!!!!  I don’t feel like such a freak. 

And I can be one of those people who doesn’t necessarily finish everything.  Having so many interests and being “distracted” by such a variety of things keeps my mind wedged open and makes it easier for me to connect with more kinds of people.  Being a Jack of All Trades has made me a Master of Several!  So being a multipotentialite has actually enhanced my life.  I knew this but had forgotten.  Seeing successful scanners has made me remember.

Thank you, PuttyLike and Emilie Wapnick for this fantastic gift!

We’re approaching the end of PuttyFest, a time to make The World aware of multipotentiality, but I hope you’ll still jump over to the PuttyLike site and poke around, perhaps read the article on not finishing what you start (Yah, I can really relate to that article, "Oh, she's just being Zee.  Who knows what she'll come up with next.  How cute.  Maybe this year she'll get serious and get a job.")  

 I hope you go there, and I hope you stay for a while!

Dream Bedroom

If I'd had this as a child, I would've been a kick-ass filmmaker by now?  No, well, perhaps if I recreate this now, I'll become a kick-ass filmmaker.  I'm all about Yoda!

Parenting Done Right pic.twitter.com/wSZQRpnyn4
— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) March 2, 2014

Users, Not Visitors

Today I attended a webinar at the Museum of Monterey called "The Future of Museums Conference."  This public viewing in Monterey was sponsored by the Arts Council of Monterey and the Monterey History and Art Association.  My goals were to a) get an intellectual fix and b) meet new creatives for potential collaboration or simply to form connections for the pleasure of it.  Both would enhance my creative life.

The hashtag for the event was #museums14


The lecture I heard from beginning to end (except when I was playing 15 Coins (holy *!#$% that game is addictive) was about how museums have evolved from places you'd go to learn things in a passive way (looking at things behind glass), to places where you'd often participate in creating content (write about your experience and your story would be put on a board for all to see), to the new model, where you're not a visitor to, but a user of museums. You're provided a semi-private place to learn by trying and making mistakes, but not in front of everyone else, for example, or provided a space with interesting-looking things where you can just hang out and enjoy the environment.  An interesting point that the fabulous speaker, Lath Carlson, mentioned but didn't dwell on, was that since museums are non-commercial places, the role of the gift store is a topic of discussion.  Hmmm. 

Here's one Twitter person's observation, which I love:

RT @itweetmuseums: ...examples of how I "use" a museum visit: as therapy, as a creative outlet (via photography/writing), etc. #museums14
— Susan Ferentinos (@HistorySue) July 24, 2014

I got a bit distracted by the chairs on the podium in the space where we were watching the webinar, especially the shadows, plus I was thinking I wanted to stock up on postal stamps:

Finally, I did indeed meet some interesting people.  A painter, an animation teacher, a guy who makes . . . uhm, too complicated for me to explain.  In short: both missions (meet creatives, get intellectual fix) accomplished.  Yes!