That was... surprising. I was going to write a posting about being polyglot - that sounds like it should be right - only to discover it means knowing several languages, which certainly is not me. But polymath popped up & my fingers froze over the keyboard - "a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning."
Yep, that's me. And it's perhaps the #1 advantage I bring to helping folks of all ages - particularly older friends - live as expansively as possible. It's pretty darn jaw-dropping, looking at all the things I've done over my 63 years. And it got seriously started in my college days.
Background - I received my B.S. from a college with a bachelor's program that had two tracks: an ed major or a philosophy degree before heading to the theological school. And then I came along, the second woman in a couple years who wanted more. Yes, I wanted to teach, but believed - still do - that a traditional Ed degree is too narrow. I got my degree - over the objections of some pretty powerful players - in Philosophy with a minor in History. It never dawned on me that I was bucking an entrenched system that balked at my plans. Doing what felt right & best helped lay the groundwork for the current college, which offers twenty majors & tracks!
Over the years, I've taught in a church-sponsored elementary school, did telemarketing for companies that sold business-to-business products so obscure I don't recall them, only crying every time I headed out the door to work. I did customer support for a custom-print balloon company & tried my hand as a Pampered Chef independent consultant.
A casual comment from a co-worker took me to US HealthCare, where I zoomed from customer service to a key player on the provider relations team.
A casual discussion with a classmate of my brother's & longtime family friend moved me over to Prudential Healthcare. My boss moving to another unit of the company & his predecessor taking pregnancy leave left me with the best manage I've ever had who encouraged me to attend a couple workshops on a little thing called writing for the internet, which sent my career in yet another new direction.
A couple years in the wilderness followed getting a severance package when AETNA acquired Prudential Healthcare. I ended up at BISYS Financial Services, where I had the high of being named Employee of the Year, then out of a job less than a year later.
That was a bit of an unexpected shocker, but it freed me to help a pleasant acquaintance who needed help with a short-term data entry project - I had no experience, but reliable was more important than experienced.
Which was how I came to spend four amazing months typing "statements of excellence" written by incredible women applying for the ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) program. Let that sink in - four months spending day after day typing in statement after statement about what excellence meant to a range of incredible female faculty members in schools of medicine, dentistry and public health.
After that came 5 years teaching science then ultimately social studies & government to at-risk high school students. The powers-that-be were so delighted I showed up each day, I had incredible freedom in fashioning my curriculum. My lesson plans were based more on current events & internet searches than text books or work sheets. It was glorious! I spent a fortune on print outs, but Nobel Prize winners - as multi-cultural as possible - decorated our classroom walls, MacArthur fellow recipients lined the hallway outside our room. For the year I got to teach US history to 1850 & Government, John drew a full-sized tree in the front left corner of the room, its branches labeled as Executive - Judicial - Legislative, its roots going down through the Constitution & Declaration of Independence to The Great Peace.
Having finally accomplished what I'd originally set out to do as an educator, I bid teaching adieu & set out to find my true life path, helping people of all ages live as fully & expansively as possible.
It's my belief that we are ALL meant to be polymaths by the time we hit 63.
Okay, not polymaths in the sense of Swedenborg or Jefferson - people who knew a lot about a lot - but folks like me, who know a little about a lot. Who have a greater perspective from having a lot of experiences that range over a lot of varied terrain.
Looking back, am pretty impressed with the gutsy - although she didn't know it - college student who bucked the powers-that-were to take a road rarely taken. She recognized the importance - for her - of being an inspired generalist over a limited specialist.
And now, the inspired generalist is ready to move over to the passenger's side & let the limited specialist take over the driving. To transform my base metal into gold, to do the things that beckon, to write my book, the things that will help our country get past the woeful culture we've built around getting older, will require that I hone in, that I set aside things that interest but are non-essential. It means letting go of the many things that intrigue & identify the one or two that actually inspire & engage, then go flat-out after them, nurturing the few with my Polymath Lite (but polymath, none the less!) bits & pieces, experiences & loves.
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