Learning this is changing my life:
When you were a kid do you remember being asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?". I remember having so many answers to that question, and I was never able to hone in on a single one. I wanted to be an archeologist like Indiana Jones, a psychologist mentoring others, and a very serious option for me… a dolphin trainer! At my high school growing up, to graduate you HAD to set up a job shadow with a profession you were interested in and then write an essay about it. Well, I had no idea what the heck it was I wanted to do. Time was running out and finally, my guidance counselor said "I'm just going to pick something for you". Instead of guiding me to find my own way through the process of picking a profession to shadow, she placed me with a registered nurse. So in high school, I shadowed a nurse for one whole day and thought eh, I can do that! Guess what folks….today I am a registered nurse.
Now there was a gap of time, (10 years) between graduating high school and when I finally graduated nursing school. So a lot more went into the decision to become a nurse mind you. But, sometimes thinking back on this, it makes me a little sad how one experience can change or direct the course of your life. But, I find grace in knowing and understanding that I wasn't equipped with the knowledge I am today. I had no idea what I was doing (obviously). I wanted to do everything, but finding my way through that was overshadowed by the need to survive at that time in my life (maybe more on that at a later date). So I have never really been able to explore ME, until now. This desire to do everything is still something I struggle with today and have not made sense of yet. I live life seeing anything I’m interested in as something I can do. Meaning I have this mentality that I can do anything or I am usually always up for the challenge. And while this can be beneficial, for me it often leads me down many roads that end up not resonating with who I feel I am. Which in healthy doses is also okay!
It wasn't until this past year that I learned about the term "multi-passionate person”. I first learned this term from Career and Fulfillment Coach Annie Petsche. I recommend giving her a follow @anniepetsche. I went from truly believing I had ADHD (which still is a possibility) to suddenly feeling so seen and understood under the umbrella of a multi-passionate person. Some terms that immediately struck me that describe a multi-passionate person include:
Being a learn-it-all (much different from a know-it-all)/having a growth mindset
Highly capable of figuring things out
Living passionately by seeing the world through wonder and curiosity
Having this constant feeling of wanting to be able to do all the things all the time (this is a big one for me)
Challenging norms or authority
Needing stimulation in the work you do
Innovative and an idea generator
The list goes on. Annie Petche posed the question of asking "What do you want to be when you grow up?" but the answer for the multi-passionate is that there is no "grown up" there is only always growing! And wow that explains a lot about my career journey since I was 18 years old! Before heading to college at the age of 24, I probably held about 20+ different jobs. That makes sense to me now! Even today I am bound by my golden handcuffs which I am grateful to have, but I am still learning to find the balance where I can engage my multi-passionate while utilizing the skills and resources I hold now. This too is still an ongoing journey for me.
Since learning this piece of who I am, it has really put into perspective everyday aspects of my thinking and decision-making. For as long as I can remember I have always had ideas running through my mind about anything and everything. My mind is almost always looking for ways to problem-solve or streamline something. I never used to share these ideas or acknowledge them much at all. But now since knowing this is just an integral part of who I am, I have been more open to talking about some of my ideas even if they don't go anywhere. And if I am not talking about them I am writing them down. Beyond that, embracing my multi-passionate essence is helping me to move beyond the boundaries that I thought I was meant to work within.
Learning more about being a multi-passionate person is opening doors within myself, it's healing my soul, and bringing peace to my everyday. If any of this resonates I think it can do the same for you. I will say this so often here, but for me just "knowing" is incredibly healing. Because of that, I am driven to face all the parts of me and further learn how they affect me, my everyday life, and my relationships. I will keep sharing and expanding here on being a multi-passionate person as I grow and learn.
So tell me, did any of these characteristics seem like you may also be a multi-passionate person? Let me know in the comments or share an experience that resonates with this topic!
