I am not a multipotentialite. But I’ve known many. Many. I’ve lived with one. Most of my counseling clients fit the bill. Several friends. I suspect that I’m not one so that I can better help all of you who are. If I were one, too, well, things could get messy.
For those of you who are new to the term, let me explain. In an earlier post, I described how you may be overwhelmed by your extraordinary curiosity. Not only that. You may, in fact, be as capable in the field of chemistry as you are in philosophy or as skilled in music as you are in literature. And you want to do it all. Depth and diversity are exciting, stimulating and necessary.
You’re afflicted with multipotentiality. Thus, you are a multipotentialite. (a term coined by Emilie Wapnick*, thanks Emilie)
You may be like my client. I’ll call her Rachel. She was interested in writing, sociology, literature, theology, politics, international relations, medicine, parenting, public speaking, feminism and math. For starters. At age 25, she was working in educational consulting at a university. It was a secure job with good benefits. She enjoyed it at first as she learned the ropes, did lots of public speaking and traveled internationally. But after about three years, there was nothing new to learn and she grew frustrated. She came to counseling looking for guidance.
It became apparent that Rachel was intellectually gifted. (like many multipotentialites) She was highly sensitive, articulate, an avid reader, creative, perfectionistic, passionate about learning, analytical, fast thinking and intense. When I explained multipotentiality, she was distressed and said, “It’s shattering to realize that there’s not the shining beacon of a single path.” She felt lost in “a shadowy empty forest that had too many paths that went off far into the foggy distance.”
Knowing that she was a multipotentialite was not good news.
She had to grieve the notion that she had one particular calling and that all she had to do was find it and do it. Multipotentiality was so much more complicated and frightening.
But as we talked more, she began to accept and appreciate her gifted rainforest mind. And we started planning her next career move. I suggested she read Barbara Sher’s Refuse to Choose, examine other resources and join Emilie’s community. She began to see that being a multipotentialite could work.
But she was torn between being practical and going for her dreams. She was afraid that she was just hoping for some unreachable “pie in the sky.”
I asked her to consider that there was pie available. And she didn’t have to go to the sky to get it.
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To my blogEEs: Thanks, as always, for your sweet attention. If this post speaks to you, click on the links to Emilie Wapnick’s website. She’s bubbling over with practical and creative ideas. (and thanks to the reader who originally told me about Emilie)
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