(no subject)
Jan. 27th, 2011 02:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
figmentThe other day, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarendipatree linked to this post about "multipotentialites". It's not long, and worth a read:
http://puttylike.com/why-multipotentialites-rock-at-work/
The comments after the post are also well worth looking at. Validating, especially for someone like me. I have spent a lot of my life feeling inadequate because I'm not focused, driven to do just one thing. I thought that if I looked long enough and tried enough stuff I'd find my One Big Thing that I want to do. Eventually, I decided that maybe my thing is just being good at making stuff happen, figuring things out, and communicating about them - not necessarily One Big Unified Thing. The "multipotentialites" thing makes me feel more secure about not being a second-class citizen to those people who do have focus - I like the idea that we all need each other.
Anyway, that's been kicking around in the back of my head for a while. Today I was reading an article about a TCK* (Third Culture Kid, Trans-Culture Kid, Global Nomad, what have you) musician and was reminded through that about the whole "chameleon" tendency. I cannot tell you how relieved I was - years ago - when I found out that other people with similar backgrounds to mine experienced this and even gave it the same name! Like so many things, this chameleon tendency can be both a strength and a weakness - it gives you a distressing feeling of a lack of self, an even-greater-than-normal anxiety about not knowing who you are. But it's also a very valuable tool, to be able to blend in, empathize, work within a new culture or new situation quickly and effectively. I think that as I've gotten older and more self-aware, I've been able to use this more as a tool and avoid the more negative implications.
I feel like these two things go together, for me - the multipotentialite chameleon. In a way, the multipotentialite factor is just being a chameleon in terms of work and tasks - pick things up fast, learn quickly, blend in, don't stick out. I'd never put these two together. Perhaps this awareness will help me to maximize the strengths of these qualities, and avoid their pitfalls.
Read anything lately that made you reconsider how you view yourself?
*I have a pretty extensive library about TCKs, cross-cultural experiences, etc. and would be happy to lend books - if you're local - or recommend, if for some reason you want to know more about this.
P.S. I also recommend the original blogger's free e-book: http://puttylike.com/undeclaredforlife.pdf
And I should probably read Refuse to Choose.
sarendipatree linked to this post about "multipotentialites". It's not long, and worth a read: http://puttylike.com/why-multipotentialites-rock-at-work/
The comments after the post are also well worth looking at. Validating, especially for someone like me. I have spent a lot of my life feeling inadequate because I'm not focused, driven to do just one thing. I thought that if I looked long enough and tried enough stuff I'd find my One Big Thing that I want to do. Eventually, I decided that maybe my thing is just being good at making stuff happen, figuring things out, and communicating about them - not necessarily One Big Unified Thing. The "multipotentialites" thing makes me feel more secure about not being a second-class citizen to those people who do have focus - I like the idea that we all need each other.
Anyway, that's been kicking around in the back of my head for a while. Today I was reading an article about a TCK* (Third Culture Kid, Trans-Culture Kid, Global Nomad, what have you) musician and was reminded through that about the whole "chameleon" tendency. I cannot tell you how relieved I was - years ago - when I found out that other people with similar backgrounds to mine experienced this and even gave it the same name! Like so many things, this chameleon tendency can be both a strength and a weakness - it gives you a distressing feeling of a lack of self, an even-greater-than-normal anxiety about not knowing who you are. But it's also a very valuable tool, to be able to blend in, empathize, work within a new culture or new situation quickly and effectively. I think that as I've gotten older and more self-aware, I've been able to use this more as a tool and avoid the more negative implications.
I feel like these two things go together, for me - the multipotentialite chameleon. In a way, the multipotentialite factor is just being a chameleon in terms of work and tasks - pick things up fast, learn quickly, blend in, don't stick out. I'd never put these two together. Perhaps this awareness will help me to maximize the strengths of these qualities, and avoid their pitfalls.
Read anything lately that made you reconsider how you view yourself?
*I have a pretty extensive library about TCKs, cross-cultural experiences, etc. and would be happy to lend books - if you're local - or recommend, if for some reason you want to know more about this.
P.S. I also recommend the original blogger's free e-book: http://puttylike.com/undeclaredforlife.pdf
And I should probably read Refuse to Choose.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-27 11:07 pm (UTC)I used to think I was middle class. I have come to the realization that I have never been middle class. At best (this includes growing up) I was lower middle class. Which is typical of Americans, everyone high and low thinks they are middle class.
The things the news media describes folks needing to cut out of their budgets, and so forth are mostly things I've never had. Its kind of shocking to me.
I kind of mean to do a whole post on this coming up soon, actually.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-28 03:52 am (UTC)So let's get together soon!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-28 06:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-28 06:27 pm (UTC)Admiration
Date: 2011-01-30 05:23 am (UTC)-The ability to "fit in" and become a accepted member of almost any group of people you encounter.
-The ability to not only find a role in the group, but to fit the role the group needs you to fit, even if you don't specialize in that role.
-And even with this amazing flexibility you are always still an individual doing what you believe is appropriate for your own reasons, not simply being another "clone".
At the same time I've always seen the dangers to this. People every where define them selves by the groups they are part of. However, the very fact that you can fit in so many places must leave you feeling like you are not truly part of any of them. I've spent a good deal of time over the years thinking about it, and I can honestly say that I can't imagine exactly how that must make you feel. I know for myself that nothing is more lonely than being surrounded by people that I know like me, but still feeling separate from them. That leads to one of the other things I admire: Your strength. Your ability to face life's difficulties, without giving into despair.
Re: Admiration
Date: 2011-01-30 05:33 am (UTC)Undeclared for life
Date: 2011-01-28 02:21 pm (UTC)