renaissance man

Webster:
"Main Entry: Renaissance man
Function: noun
: a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas"

As those of you who have started reading my journal may have become aware, I have not posted for a number of days now. I am inclined to blame in on me being too busy, although the truth is that I have felt that nothing terribly noteworthy has happened recently -- which is actually not the case either.

I think I am being driven [in part] by the desire to become this Renaissance man. I am a little young for a midlife crisis (I think[?] -- I'm only 30) so let us journey into my psyche and see if we can root out some of the underlying motivation here.

Since I was a kid, I've enjoyed doing, or had the desire to do pretty much anything I could wrap my mind around. I was singing in church when I was just a tyke. I was always reading "how to" and "do it yourself" books. I started playing the French Horn when I was in the 3rd grade. I always wanted to be a painter or sculptor, an actor, a scientist, an astronaut.

You may be thinking that I was experiencing what every little boy does, the normal range of ideas for the perfect life pursuit: fireman, space man, policeman, magician, etc. etc. I think there was that, but I think I've always had something else in me, pushing me to do all sorts of things.

In High School, I was good in music, math and science. I fell in love with "camp" and worked on staff at a camp almost all the way through High School. I was a janitor for a while, I worked in downtown Atlanta at the Chick-Fil-A in the CNN Center for a while, I did some construction with my dad. I volunteered working in the nursery and with the little kids Sunday School at church.

After High School, I moved away from my family to start a life in Colorado. I started playing Bass guitar and singing in a church, I became the volunteer youth leader. My jobs ranged from Lab Technician to Accounts Payable to delivering flowers, selling vaccuum cleaners, running an espresso cart, waiting tables, pizza delivery, and the list goes on and on. In my 'spare' time I would camp and fish. I bought guns and learned to shoot and hunt. I bought a camera and started taking pictures of everything I could find.

I moved to Chicago to pursue full-time youth ministry, I did that for 3 years then became a web developer, eventually becoming a senior developer and getting heavily involved in Project Management.

In all my variety of exploits, several general things came through. First, I was a fast learner and generally became pretty accomplished and respected in most of the vocations I attempted. (with the exception of construction laborer and door to door vacuum sales, I never really found success in either of those). Secondly, I enjoyed almost all of the things I did for different reasons. Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, is that I wanted to do more. In the last 7 years I have learned to play acoustic guitar, I have restarted photography, I have been drawing and improving, I have taken up competitive shooting, and now I am taking oil painting and really want to become a classical style painter.

So what gives? In elementary school I started playing baseball. All the way through High School I played, and started almost all my games, although not always at the same position. My starting position was "utility player." I played all of the positions at one time or another.

There are so many things that I still want to do and become good at: a pilot, an outfitter, a truly great artist and on and on. I think that I have seen a glimpse of my coming midlife crisis in that I have had moments where I am struck by the realization that there is not enough life left to do everything. I won't become all of what I hope to.

So where does that leave me? When I played baseball, for a lot of years I felt bad that I wasn't the 3rd baseman, or the left-fielder, or any one of the positions on the field. That was until one day the coach told me what a good job I had done at many of the different positions, and I realized how great it was to be able to try all the different positions. I think (maybe) that is sort of my destiny in life: utility player.

I accept that I cannot do everything in this lifetime. I have decided that I really do want to excel in several areas and the others can be interests or hobbies and may or may not develop to a point of excellence. What I am committed to be, mostly, is being a great husband, a great father and a great friend.

Can I call myself a Renaissance Man?

** I am changing the posting on this site so it is open (you do not need to register). Feel free to comment if you so desire. I could use the feedback.