"Creativity is just connecting things." Steve Jobs
I've mentioned before I generally avoid lists because it is always so hard to choose the best/the worst/most interesting/most challenging etc. I see all those things in everything. (Okay, some are more definite than others, but that is beside the point).
I suspect this dislike of lists stems from being an individual who (in general) likes and does a lot of different things. I stumbled across another interesting label yesterday that made me think about my personal qualities versus the qualities society says you should have. This label could peg me as a low level multipotentialite. Though in a way it is comforting (like my Introvertedness), to have a term for what I have always considered my personal failing, it is not one I will be sticking on my forehead anytime soon since it is far more business oriented than I feel at the moment.
First I have other aspects of myself to look through and appreciate but it was a fascinating find to have another perspective on my status as someone who is good at many things but not superior; in the way someone who specializes would be. I've always looked on the people who have one single interest, passion and success with great envy. The few friends I had through my school years were all that specialized superior sort who are now going on to become opera singers and doctors.
I would include a list (ha, oh the irony) of all the things I can do or am interested in but who wants to read about someone else's skills/interests? If enough people reading this actually have a desperate curiousity to know, then I would definitely share, otherwise, I will refrain from inflicting you with even more of my scatterbrained rambling.
The point regardless is that I always seen myself as a Jack-of-All-Trades-Master-At-None. I have seen myself as average, boring (insert further negative self-identifications here).
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| Always though I'd be a fantastic spy. Plus that's all I was between ages 9-12. |
Are you a multipotentialite? Take a moment and think about it. Would you have been one had society not pushed you with the old 20th century ideal of specialization?
Upon stumbling on that quote by Steve Jobs and the multipotentialite movement I am thinking more on what can we, who have multiple skills and interests, do, with all of them at once. Not everyone is happy doing one thing for their whole life, and nor should people be forced to choose. Then again I have always dreamed of being a published author, soley living off my writing, so I am perhaps not a true multipotentialite (hence the addition of "low level" earlier) but I am the sort of person who would get bored if I only wrote, day in and out. (Plus as I aim for that dream I have taken many detours so that I might have things to write about when I get there).
I want to take up Irish dancing again, I will always be a pianist and definitely a swimmer. I hope to develop my artistic skills further and my writing is always changing. Ideas are endless after all. A month ago I had an idea for a dramatic podcast a la Nightvale crossed with a BBC Radio drama which is still composting around my novel and contest work. I have also done numerous blogs in the past which were written entirely from the perspective of a character and even tried out epic poetry a few times. Dare I mention I have a Tumblr entitled "A Series of Disconnected Thoughts" which is really just a way for me to collect images I find interesting in one spot. See, it's all about the connections, even when you are using societies love of specialization to create ironic humour.
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| Pumpkins look seriously uniform but in reality they are enormously diverse. |
That brings me to this: everything may have already been done but everything has not been done the way you might do it. I feel that's some of what Steve Jobs is getting at with his quote about connectivity and creativity. Namely, we have access to so many things, absolutely everything and anything really, that all we need to do is make some sense of it, find the common denominators, and from all those disconnected things, a new things will come, a new thought, a new phrase. A a new product.
The other part about creativity and connectivity we cannot forget either is connecting with each other to make something new. Yes, brilliance has come and always will come from single minds and forces but brilliance also comes from connecting with the right people in order for those single minds to share their brilliance, or, perhaps, to make it better. However, I will just say here that I strongly believe no one should be forced to work with others when creating, just as no one should be forced to work alone when creating. We are all different people, with different skills and interests. Yes, some of us have many, but, if you write down all your skills and interests just see if you cannot find a connecting theme through them all. I guarantee you that there is one.
For example, the theme which runs through everything I am skilled at or interested in is: grand storytelling.
Everything I do or am interested in tells a story in some way and usually it is a story that has many layers, that spans centuries, a single day in the life of many and always, always has some sort of message. William Blake once said "to see a World in a Grain of Sand" and to me, even a rubber duck has great things to say about life. After all, the innards of a rubber duck have a great eloquence on the state of ones childhood.
Think about that for a moment. (William Blake's quote, not rubber ducks, unless you like them).
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| One drop of thought is all it takes. |
All in all, what I want to leave you with is a drop of water through which you might reflect back on your past interests and skills, current interests and skills and how they all connect together to say something about you as a person. Humans are complex creatures. We are not meant for specialization. (Generally). (Cheers to exceptions!).
What a dull world that would be if we came out like cardboard cutouts.
Though if that were so I would probably take scissors, paint, string, a lightbulb and that infamous horror of all child projects, glitter glue, and create something new.
What is your brand of creativity?
Making messes and occasionally sense.
Moony.
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
There“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpufthtawtehjhejklsetse
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
“Creativity
is just connecting things.” -Steve Jobs - See more at:
http://puttylike.com/4-skills-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-chance-of-thriving-as-a-multipotentialite/#sthash.Lgwvsc8T.dpuf
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