Multipotentiality and me, and the kids

I stumbled across this when looking at the Puttylike website, which is a lifestyle design site for multipotentialites.

“What is this ‘multipotentiality’?” I hear you say (by the way, it’s a bugger of a long word to keep retyping, so I’m going to try avoiding it as much as possible). Emily Wapnick, the founder of Puttylike, defines a multipotentialite as –

She goes on to discuss the way we pursue many goals at the same time, and thrive on discovery, and learning new things constantly.

An important aspect of this is the way many Multipotentialites bring their many interests together in unexpected and creative ways leading to groundbreaking outcomes.

I’m not going to ramble on about this much more. The websiteputtylike.com does a much better job of explaining the terminology, and is an addictively interesting read.

Anyway, spurred on by a forum on the site, I have been thinking about how having two children has affected the way I function as a multipotentialite.

Let me start by saying that my children are the most wonderful part of my life, and I love them more than anything in this world.

This does not mean, however, that I haven’t had moments of extreme frustration since becoming a mother. I will not lie, there have been many times that I have felt frustrated that I couldn’t pursue a project or take a course because of my life responsibilities. Having always been highly productive with my varied activities, and a free spirit who was always on the move, I had to rethink my lifestyle when I became a mother.

First of all, I rearranged my day. I always get up a couple of hours before the kids do and have some time to do something on my own. This is an amazing energy boost believe it or not.

Secondly, I accepted that while there where many things that I couldn’t fit into my new lifestyle, there are so many amazing new experiences that kids bring with them.

My kids are the biggest source of inspiration that I have, and have opened me up to so many new experiences that I may never have had otherwise.

An example: taking my kids to the library regularly reintroduced me to kids books, and made me realize how much I love story telling. As a consequence, I am now writing and illustrating my first children’s book. It’s amazing how the dots connect.

My children have also reintroduced me to old passions, things I had forgotten that I loved. When my daughter started dance classes, I began to practice at home too. Water fights, playgrounds and singing with wild abandon in the car have become new-old interests.

Oh, and little kids look at everything with interest, and love discovering new and unexpected things – a perfect match for the multipotentialite in me!

It’s not all sunshine and daisies, but  when I am stuck at home looking after sick, grumpy kids, and craving fresh air and adult company, I try my best to dwell on the positive things that the kids bring to my life.

As for that course that I wanted to take. Some other time.