New Beginnings, Anxiety, and the Plurality of Emotions

Last Thursday, Valerie and I packed up our little Honda and, with the dog curled up at my feet beneath the passenger seat, ventured north. Several hours and three ferry rides later, we arrived at our new home on our new island. Four friends were waiting for us in the road, holding a painted banner […]

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The 3 Ingredients All Multipotentialites Need in Their Lives to be Happy

What makes for a happy multipotentialite life? The freedom to explore? A bunch of sparkly projects to work on? Collaboration buddies? Cash to pay for all our project accessories? Professional success? Social contribution? While doing research for my book, I interviewed about 50 multipods from the Puttylike community (thanks y’all!) who self-described as being both happy and […]

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Why I’m Moving to Canada

I’m moving to Canada. No, I’m not joking. No, it’s not just because of the election. I’m moving because I am Canadian. I’ve only lived in the U.S. for 6 of the 32.5 years of my life. I’m moving because what attracted me to Portland in the first place isn’t really true anymore. I still […]

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When Was the Last Time You Let Yourself Do Whatever You Wanted to Do?

I have a bad habit. Actually I have many, but there’s one in particular that I expect many multipotentialites also have. When I have an idea or come across something new, I get really, really excited about it. I daydream about it, listen to podcasts on the subject, and occasionally (when I’m not procrastinating too […]

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That time I got married…

Hey multipotentialites, Emilie here, coming to you from North Queensland, Australia, where my wife, Valerie, and I are on honeymoon!!!! I was/am planning on taking this week off by totally disconnecting, but I just had this urge to check in with you guys… The past couple weeks have felt like a culmination of so much: […]

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Multipotentialites and Love: Do We Eventually Get Bored in Our Relationships?

Today I’m going to attempt to answer a question I get asked pretty often: Does our need for variety, our yearning to explore new things, and the boredom we feel once we’ve “gotten what we came for” in our projects extend to our relationships? I’m getting married in 10 days, so I thought this would […]

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One Moment that Changed My Life

When I was ten, I made a decision that would alter the course of my life. It wasn’t a big decision. It wasn’t anything obviously life-changing like “I will be an astronaut,” or “I will study medicine.” There’s debate about whether everybody sees their life as a grand narrative, but I think that people who think of life as […]

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A Personal Note from Emilie Before the TED Flurry Hits

There’s this awkward thing that happens when you host a big time-sensitive project (like a sale) on your site. You need to put your marketing cap on for a while, and do the project justice by talking about it a lot. This isn’t actually painful, since you believe in what you’re selling. But in the flurry […]

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