We have all sorts of discussions in our Puttyverse community—from what to do with all the belongings from past hobbies to how to launch a brand new podcast.
But one of the most entertaining discussions we’ve been having recently is called You Know You’re A Multipotentialite When…
I know you’ll relate to some of the community’s responses. Enjoy!
- You read the “interests” section of your Puttyverse profile and realize it’s completely out of date, even though you only updated it a few months ago.
- When scanning new puttypeeps’ “interests” sections, you find at least one new thing you’d like to to pursue.
- You notice that you have at least five different styles of handwriting and numerous signatures which you choose from according to the “hat” you are wearing—the cursive artist, the big bubbly-worded socialite, the serious tiny print when you mean business, etc.—and you realize that most people only have one style of handwriting.
- You’ve got so many tasks/things to accomplish and so little time.
- You check out the “groups” section of the Puttyverse and have a meltdown when you realize that you want to join 95% of the groups. Where will you find the time for that? Will you ever get out of there? (Then the mental tape kicks in: narrow your interests, narrow your interests!)
- You dip into an old hobby and five minutes later you’ve planned out a whole business/career based on it.
- Most of your friends only know one tiny part of all the things you do/are interested in.
- You’re just barely getting started on a new career. While you still enjoy it (and know you have a lot to learn), you’re also planning out your next career, and the one after it, in advance.
- Every time you go to concert, art gallery, etc., you say to yourself, I want to be able to do that! and start strategizing ways to learn.
- You get pangs of regret when seeing something you used to do, thinking, I could be doing that at that level now had I just stayed with it! And then you realize that you’re a lot more useful in the grand scheme of things because you know so much!
- Somebody asks you, “So how’s that knitting going?” and you realize you got bored of that weeks ago, have moved onto calligraphy now and no one has a clue.
- Someone comments on how you always seem to have a business idea for everything under the sun.
- You see a thread like this and instantly think “we could sell prints of things like this!”
- You check online discussions looking for an update more often than you’d like to admit.
- You never got a tattoo because you’re unable to settle on a single meaningful image to be stuck with for life.
- Your friends give you weird looks when they check out your holiday reading. They have the latest bestseller and you have one of the latest business books, a book of Italian grammar exercises, a WordPress guide, and a printed PDF of your camera instructions—and you take them all down to the poolside.
- You’re in the middle of at least twenty different books, but you discover a new one that you simply *must* dig into.
- You get excited by a new musical instrument that you’ve just discovered and absolutely must own it now. So that you can learn how to play it. Even though you still haven’t totally learned how to play the last one(s) you got.
- You are laughing so hard while reading this thread.
- You try to sign up for that art class you really want to take, but the schedule clashes with your salsa lessons, your fencing classes, and your day job!
- Before going to a cocktail party, you try to decide which answer to use when someone asks, “What do you do?”
- You have a hard time packing for a vacation because there’s not enough space for your hiking boots, your dance shoes, your drawing materials, and your climbing gear.
Thanks to all of the amazing puttypeep who contributed these hilarious answers.
Doing/being/exploring ALL THE THINGS is easier with a community!
Did you know we have a private community of hundreds of multipotentialites from around the world? We support each other, share advice and cheer each other on as we building lives and career around ALL our passions.
Learn more about the Puttyverse and get notified next time we open the doors:
Number 20 – so, so true! Most of these made me laugh out loud. 18 is so relevant to me right now – I just sold my clarinet and saxophone, and am about to sell my guitar and banjo, to fund my obsession of owning and hopefully playing a hammered dulcimer. But all of these points struck a chord. I am definitely, definitely a multipotentialite 🙂
Well, no to the one with the handwriting, but yes to everything else. 😉 I am however thinking of picking up calligraphy (again).
Funny, I thought that I was the only one with 5 handwriting styles….And the books on the shelfs – still didn’t find the way to arrange them.
I do have at least five handwriting styles! That one made me laugh out loud!
This actually happened to me a couple days ago: You know you’re a multipotentialite when you email a link to a friend days late due to the fact that you lost track of it among the plethora of tabs and windows you have lying around.
Tabs! Such an obvious one! You know you’re a multipotentialite when you always have about 20 tabs open but *can’t* close any of them.
Oh the pain of too many tabs and windows……! This is why I’m not in bed right now but so should be.
OMG!!! I had about 25tabs open and I swear I was reading all of them and my husband was J shouldn’t you close of those tabs you not using them.. In my head I say, oh yes I am !!!
Only 20 tabs? I’ve got at least 50 of them open!
Only 20 tabs? I keep having to limit myself… if you cant see the site icons anymore, close some. Tabs should definitely be on the list too!
I started making notes to hold some relevant tabs for various “buckets” so I can close them but still get back to them later. Bookmarks never quite did it for me.
Also, anyone else find the new “tab groups” feature on google amazing and terrifying for this? Sure I may have 12 tabs open on my phone browser… but how many tabs within those groups now? (I may have done a bad thing…)
Number 9! I once went to an opera performance, and there was someone signing it for the deaf, and it looked amazing, and I went home and signed up for beginner’s sign language classes at a local college, because this was definitely my new thing. But the classes were postponed for a term because the teacher was sick, and by the time they were rearranged I had seen a poster for flamenco dance classes on the same evening…
Oh, and tabs, for sure!
Omg THIS IS GLORIOUS! I don’t recall the last time I laughed out loud so much (and in the middle of the night!)
My response to this? Ooh, caligraphy, I’ve got to start doing that!
You should add tabs. The first thing people say to me when they see my computer is: “How do you have so many tabs open?!” I often open new windows just cause I can’t cope with closing any of them.
One tip for people like me, use an app called pocket. It can be downloaded for nearly all browsers (I believe) on computers, laptops, tablets and phones alike for free. It is like bookmarking something, but in a really pleasant and organised manner. You can tag things and put articles, videos and photos into appropriate groups.
Oh my gosh I was just going to write about Pocket on here. It’s amazing for being able to shut down my computer after having all of the tabs open 🙂
Number 17! Wahahaha! Information overload! 😀
Sometimes it hurts my eyes especially when I read a books on the computer. But I don’t really take note how long I read since the activity itself is fueling up my multipotentiality. Sometimes I even come to a realization that LEARNING, like change, is what’s really consistent in me.
I want to spend all day just learning about something that caught my interest even if I don’t end up doing it myself. Just reading about it satisfies me.
And oh, if there’s a job that pays me to learn (like a full-time student), hell yeah, I’ll work full time!
I’m completely addicted to learning as well. Really fires me up.
I am just the same! I get so absorbed in learning new things. And I like to know the big picture or basis for things, so I find myself getting absorbed in trying to dig in more than I really needed to do what originally I set out to do.
If being a full-time student paid the bills, I’d sign up in a heartbeat.
😀 Me too – I’ve been saying that for ages!
LMAO!!! this is way too true xD I was dying at how many I relate to… and maybe you really should sell this 😀 like as a poster or something. I would buy it, just saying ^_^
A teatowel or wall print would be ace.
Thank you for your exquisite humor. May I add that any new subject someone talks about makes me rush onto Google. Learn, learn, learn and, of course, discover so many new interests to dig in, so many books to read, courses to follow, so many future jobs I could do, so many countries I could move to, etc. No 15 suits me well: 10 years since I have decided to be tattoed, and nothing yet ( why this or that, why here or elsewhere, and what shall I do when I will be bored with the design?)
Love it. 16 so often. 21, 22, 23 – All the time.
Rehersing introductions on the drive over is a constant stress management technique for me. The last thing I want to do is freeze, cause I’m confused about which project set is a priority now.
Agreed! How about this one:
When (one) of your wish lists on Amazon.com gains another two dozen books in an evening during a research binge!
Guess what I spent the evening doing? ; )
Jeez, these are all so true that it scares the hell out of me 😀 Especially the tabs and the tattoo thing got me really thinking “Is there someone hacked onto my webcamera or what? How do they know?!”.
Basically the only thing I could do for a tatto would be a version of phoenix because that’s the only thing I know about myself – I will always be like this, changing interests and digging into new stuff all over again, starting like new person. But can I even be sure of that? Not really 😀
Point no.22 is very pertinent to me.
In most of the social interactions, I just say I do many things and copy writing is the most interesting thing that I do.
Number 21 is so true…except in my case it’s hurdles/athletics clashing with girlguiding and morris dancing…guess I’ll just have to take up trapeze instead 🙂
Omgggg
I’m obsessed with “pocket”!!!
It’s bad. I can’t stop. I also have 30 tabs open….. on my phone! Smh
Anywho…I am thankful for this site, I know I’m not alone now.
When you try squeezing ten activities into one category so it doesn’t seem like much. In my case, 3D modelling, programming, learning Japanese, and two other languages, learning a new instrument… It’s just art stuff, nothing more 🙂
Many things I could offer to the list:
For one, I did get a tattoo when I was 18 & I had it put on my right wrist since I’m left handed so I could draw on it. It’s been changed “officially” twice so far by new tattoo additions 🙂
Of course at 18 you have a meaning for your tat & mine was “change is my only constant”.
I do have many handwriting styles, books across all spectrums, my resume reads like its for 5 people & I once took color photography & static engineering courses concurrently just for fun after college.
If you have figured out how to write calligraphy left handed, let me know. I think it’s not meant to be. I keep trying!
One time, after years prior having mosaic’d a small flower pot, I took it upon myself to mosaic my entire shower & bathtub! And it was amazing! I’ve since sold that house.
http://www.hilarymeehan.com
So glad I’ve found this forum!
OHMIGOD! I had no idea that other people have the same problem with deciding on a tattoo!
YKYAAM when… you can’t get other (non-multipod) people to watch Emilie’s TEDTalk, because dangit! Learning about other people’s mindsets is fascinating!
YKYAAM when… you hate it that a website doesn’t open a new window when you click on a link so you can go back to the original page and click on other links later.
That is EXACTLY my problem too! I was astonished to find in the list haha!
#15 is EXACTLY what I’m struggling with right now!! OMG. Puttylike gets me in even the most trivial details, haha!
#8, #10 and #11 that’s me!
This winter I knitted a couple of hats, cross stitched something for my niece, in January I restarted with watercolours and a couple of weeks ago I attended a calligraphy class and now I would like to buy every calligraphy book I see…
LOL!
You know you are one when you’ve been told numerous times in your life: I”‘ve never seen someone to learn this as fast as you did. Usually people need 6-10 times more time to get where you’ve got in such a short time”. Anyone agrees?
Yep! I amaze myself even! I’m 52 now, and it never slows down!
I do have two tattoos because I have written with the same fountain pen and type of pencil for decades! I have an Eversharp Skyline on my right forearm and a Palomino Blackwing 602 on my left forearm.
I would have eyeglass frames tattooed on me somewhere except I average about 15 to 20 rotating frames at any given time and cycle some out over time as my prescription and new designs change. I do have one most favorite pair that have remained my faves since 1998 so maybe eventually I will get a tattoo of them! I call them my “Edith Head” frames, not because they look like Edith Head’s glasses but because she had that one pair she was associated with and those are mine!
I can relate to so many of the items above but the one that made me laugh out loud is the one about the tattoo! Too True!!! Loved your TedTalk and shared it for my son who is multitalented and trying to choose a college/major/potential career choice. Started looking into your blogs and realized they also apply to me. Luckily I have been teaching art to middle school kids, writing and performing music, creating art and traveling throughout my life. The teaching has sometimes been challenging because I am a bit introverted, but the quiet prep periods and vacation time have helped me refresh to be ready for the next groups to teach. Teaching has paid the bills… CD’s and paintings don’t sell as quickly or often as I’d like. I may be retiring this year and will have more time for all these interests and more….Thanks for your insights. I’m looking forward to reading “How to Be Everything.”
I just found out what multipotientiality was a few months ago. What a relief! And a curse at the same time because I thought it was because I didn’t find my one true calling. Now I now know that that’s NEVER gonna happen! I’ve had about 5 careers, and am on my way to the 6th and 7th. I’m 52 and when I thought I could stick to something until retirement, well, guess what… I also have learning bulimia, and I do learn at the speed of light. I could relate to so many of these responses : 3, 6, 9, 10, 20, 22. Thank you Emilie for spreading the good word!
How funny !! It’s great to finally find like minded people and I’d read somewhere that different handwriting was a sign of multiple personalities which worried me but this makes so much more sense !! Personally I thought I was just creative haha
Also I can watch a new series and before it’s finsihed I’ve googled the lead characters career and how to get into it and booked myself on the course ! Then start a new series and ‘wow !! That job looks amazing I could do that … here we go again’ ? Books … everywhere of no particular genre or learning material .. I have written countless numbers of business plans for different business ideas, and my friends just think I’m fickle and flakey and ‘here she goes again’ when I mention any new interest .. I don’t even bother updating them with people now no one can keep up x
Oh.my.god I just found my people. I think I might cry and simultaneously piss in my pants with joy. Where have y’all been all my life?! I thought I was some wierd genetic mutation! Hugs all arooouuuuunnnd
16-17-18 are so me. And 22. Singer? Editor? Speaker? Teacher? Translator? Admninistrator? Dressmaker? Image consultant? Life coach? Armchair Psychologist? Blogger? My spinning in circles is normal, you say?
I should add this one. I realised that corona brought me one special opportunity that wasn’t possible before. I cloned myself 🙂 … namely before I always had to choose which class, event, lecture to attend. Now I was able to attend 2 at the same time, by being on 2 Zooms on 2 different computers listening to 2 completely different lectures … Isn’t that great 🙂
?to everything mentioned : in article & comments !! So very true. I’ll add names/pseudonyms/identities while I’m at it. Hilarious & heartwarming ?
Aaah no emojis. That is a tick to everything and definitely hilarious and heartwarming. My tribe for sure.
As multipotentialites and ADHD, I relates to most of them. But the last one made me laugh so much. When I’m traveling , it’s impossible to do it lite. Carry on and another big luggage, even for a 3 days trip. ?
Well I tend to have 1-3 interests at the same time which change roughly every 1.5 year. Yes, I get carried away with other random projects, but they tend to fit those 3 interests really. Most of this does not apply to me, but it’s nice knowing there is so many different kinds of us.
Ciao Emilie mi ritrovo in quello che hai scritto. Appena vedo qualcosa di nuovo voglio approfondire la conoscenza, che sia un materiale o una nuova tecnologia o tecnica. Devo provare anch’io e molto spesso sono capace di fare la stessa cosa.
I think for me it’s No. 4-15; 17-21.
Especially no. 17- I’ve got lots of books in the waiting list, though I’ve managed to finish couple of them before starting new ones.
Being a multipotentialite can be challenge and joy when you are in your senior years. We are supposed to slow down and focus. With my life clock ticking ( I am 78) I find myself more driven to create meaning and purpose but not in a singular way.
I will be launching a podcast on curiosity and connection in the coming weeks. It is a challenge to slow down the ideas.