the multi-passionate person
leaning into the chaos of not having one domain of interest / mastery / expertise, but rather being pulled in different directions and feeling called to serve multiple, seemingly disparate purposes.
the multi-passionate person
The activist and technologist Pia Mancini once told me about the emergence of a new word in Barcelona: yosotros — a combination of “I” (”yo”) and “We” (”nosotros”) that represents the collective I, the singular We. The term emerged through political movements, but its implications feel bigger. Could this represent a form of collective self? A new... See more
The Post-Individual
We are not like the social insects. They have only the one way of doing things and they will do it forever, coded for that way. We are coded differently, not just for binary choices, go or no-go . We can go four ways at once, depending on how the air feels: go , no-go , but also maybe , plus what the hell let's give it a try . We are in for one... See more
Lewis Thomas • Seven Wonders by Lewis Thomas
Curation is care. It says: I thought about this. I chose it. I didn’t just repost it. I didn’t just regurgitate the trending take. I took the time to decide what was worth passing on.[…]
Good taste isn’t restrictive. It’s expansive. It allows you to contain multitudes without becoming incongruent. […]
This is the difference between eclectic and
... See moreWe keep a journal to entrap that collection of selves that forms us, the individual human being.
(William Boyd, Any Human Heart)
Rather than creating walls to hold everything out, ideas, skills and knowledge need to intersect. The cross-pollination will bring forth the needed material to proceed on the path. Mastery for them can look like pursuing multiple subjects at once or diving deeply into one for a season and then shifting focus to another.
Joel Uili • Why Multi-Passionate people need to approach mastery differently
We live in an age where deep-specialization is highly encouraged — the era of what tech analyst Vinnie Mirchandani calls the “monomath.” Doctors specialize, lawyers specialize, academics specialize, mechanics specialize ... just about everyone professionally specializes. The more deeply you specialize, the more money you’re likely to make.
And... See more
And... See more
Harvard Business Review • In Defense of Polymaths
When everything is in flux, we need people who can move across worlds. In times of upheaval, grief, anxiety and rising discomfort, polymaths—those who wear many hats, blend skills, and cross disciplines—are essential.They thrive in the spaces between, finding connections others might miss.When things shift beneath us, it’s these transitional... See more
Paul Venuto • feed updates
I like the term generalist, it’s one of the best descriptions of my career(s) and also a good representation of something I see as vital: being able to understand different domains and translate between them.