As I dive into these conversations with artists and entrepreneurs about play and creativity I will come on to do solo episodes once in a while. They will usually be inspired by something I’ve noticed with our guests or concepts within play that are interesting. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!
Today I want to talk about being an explorer in your life - a theme that I’ve seen with some of The Recess Life guests so far. Exploring is trying on different skills, interests, occupations, activities etc. for the purpose of discovering oneself.
Nailah Blades Wylie went from working in a corporate career to a life coach to the head of her own marketing agency and now runs Color Outside, a company that takes women of color on outdoor nature adventures.
Jenny Feinberg had a 10 year career in politics, then started a coworking community business with hundreds of San Francisco creatives and is now a watercolor artist.
Nailah and Jenny’s stories are not unusual for other people that have found fulfilling work. They explored who they really are before landing at where they are at today. Does the idea of being exploratory feel like permission to try lots of things or does it make you feel like you are indecisive and flaky?
In today’s episode I talk about why:
playing and having an exploratory period with different interests can help you find fulfilling work there is no such thing as “being behind” if you delay choosing a specialty in life. Our cultural narratives make it so challenging to have a playful exploratory approach to life exploring different interests does not make you flaky or indecisive
Mentioned in this episode and resources on being an explorer in your life.
Range by David Epstein Puttylike- a website about how to navigate life as a multipotentialite (someone with many interests and creative pursuits) Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher Google any of these terms: polymath, multipotentialite, scanner and generalist TEDx Talk: Why Some Of Us Don't Have One True Calling - Emilie WapnickI hope this episode encourages you to play and explore more with different interests and paths. I promise it can only help you to learn more about yourself.
