There is a saying – you know the one – that goes, “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
I think we tend to view this as a negative thing. If we start something, we should finish it. We should master it. We should be the very best that can ever be.
Which leads to… if we don’t think we can master a thing, why even try?
So we don’t try. And we never experience the joy of trying.
That’s not to say there’s something wrong with mastering a skill. Of course there’s not. And, frankly, some skills require mastery, like an aerospace engineer or a neurosurgeon. But I’m talking about those things that, as an average human, you don’t need to master. Things you can just do “for fun.”
A short list of things I have dabbled in:
- Knitting
- Painting
- Coding in C++
- Jewerly-making
- Unicycle riding
- Reading nonfiction books on very specific groups with no relevancy to my current life, like nineteenth-century pirates
- Cross-stitching
- Wood working
- Rock polishing
- Mushroom hunting
To learn a bit about something that you will never master still brings its own value. Those American Sign Language classes I took in the late 90’s – am I fluent in ASL? Absolutely not. Can I sign the entire lyrics to “Frosty the Snowman” and teach them to my kids, because I once had to perform it on stage at the local mall? You betcha.
And do I appreciate the beauty of learning another language, and have some small insight to Deaf community and more humanistic empathy for the different way that they experience life? Also yes.
And again, just to be clear, you can absolutely master any of the things I have dabbled in. I’m not trying to disqualify an artist’s artistry or their mastery of their craft. Just because I can enjoy playing the clarinet doesn’t mean that I think the symphony clarinetist isn’t an absolute GOAT who has an incredible amount of skill that could not be executed by the average person. I’m just saying I can still enjoy playing the clarinet in the comfort of my own home where only my family has the good fortune to hear all my -ahem – music.
Here is what we can remember about these things that we choose to fill our free time: the outcome doesn’t matter. The doing does.
I feel that in this world we do less and less. I’m guilty myself. I scroll social media instead of building a photo scrapbook or creating a piece of art or taking a hike. I forget to engage my brain, opting instead for the immediate serotonin reward of the liked post.
And I think, also, we see all these things: these “accomplished” people and feel inadequate. We have forgotten: “there is joy of being thrilled in the moment, without trying to accomplish anything at all.”
This article is a great read, and one that has really resonated with me: https://qz.com/quartzy/1368716/revel-in-the-joy-of-doing-things-you-will-never-master
So if this is the permission you need: take it. Pick up that one thing you’ve always wanted to do. It doesn’t matter if you finish. Just find the joy in the moment.
