The Professional Dabbler: Are You One?
“So, what makes you happiest?”
It’s the first thing out of people’s mouths, and I never know what to say. In fact, usually I make things up. I don’t lie and tell them I’m a neurosurgeon — it’s not like that. It’s just that I’ve spent the better part of the last decade searching for my life’s work, and I have found it. The trouble is, I’ve found it several times, in several different things.
They Call Me A Dabbler
It’s a tough word, with more than a few bad connotations. A dabbler is defined as someone who works at something in an “irregular or superficial manner.” It suggests indecision, and uncertainty. It makes me seem unfocused, or undisciplined, even flaky. It sounds like I don’t know what I’m doing when really, that isn’t the case.
I know that I am on my life’s path. It’s just that my path is not a straight line. In just a few years I have been an actor, a teacher, a play therapist for autistic children, a costume designer, a choreographer, a writer, and an interior designer. My resume is vast and varied. But to me, it’s all connected. I’m not jumping from job to job, I’m just using another medium, another skill set, to do the work I’ve always been doing.
You Are What You Say You Are
Words are powerful that way. My definition of success isn’t different than that of, say, someone who has always been a lawyer. My career is just harder to define. But this inability to prove progress has occasionally caused me to look down on myself. I can’t get promoted. I can’t tell you what my next gig will be. My field doesn’t have a name, let alone a ladder to climb. And this is a world that wants some way to measure a person, to classify them. I can understand that. Labels are useful. I just can’t fit all of mine onto my business card.
Dabblers, Unite
I see my career as something larger than the name of my current job, or the title on my desk. I see it as my identity. My Self (and yes, that’s a capital S). I want to be able to tell people who I am in under 15 seconds, but I can’t, and I don’t really believe anyone else can either.
I don’t have an answer, here. I can’t think of a question to ask instead. I just want to value who I am over what I am. I will, and I hope you will too.
And if someone asks, feel free to make something up.
[Photo by ||!prliignore0||]
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February 10th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I've long described myself as a Superficial Dabbler. I have a curious mind and a short attention span and I want to do and experience much more than the things I'll encounter along one chosen path.
February 10th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Fascinating read. I'd love to hear more about your life and the different hats you played. Oftentimes people want us to be something and just be that, end of story. Though for the most part, we're not really as simple as that.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:41 am
I'm absolutely a dabbler and have struggled with what it means, until I re-defined it to be positive. I'm reading Barbara Sher's book right now, “Refuse to Choose!”
February 11th, 2009 at 5:35 am
i am so with you. i am very talented, but my tendency to engage in many things has meant that i have lost out on job opportunities for being seen as a 'flight risk'. its a bummer.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:05 am
thanks, nicole. so many times i've been asked, and tried to answer, only to see people's eyes glaze over in the first minute of conversation! i went to school for theatre, but the skills i acquired there have so many applications beyond creating the art itself. i try to let myself be guided by what i am interested in, and what i can learn or use, and not what i am trained to do.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:08 am
i totally feel you carolynn! curiosity is so beautiful and so important. and i truly believe a sense of curiosity has changed my relationships with people as well.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Oh my gosh! You really got me with this one! 'Dabbler' has such a bad connotation for me – I prefer Renaissance Woman! I've done everything from diary farm worker to testifying before the government on technical telecom issues. I've taught 6th grade; managed complex litigation (i am NOT an atty), managed a research farm, started my own spiritual school, studied ecosystems; negotitated technical contracts and become a licensed counselor. I feel that I can take on any complex challenge that's put in front of me and yet – I don't meet any of the qualification requirements for most of the jobs that interest me…not even the peace corp, if you can believe that!
Is is appropriate in this day and age to WANT to let people know I'm more than my education or job title?
March 4th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Love this post – thank you! I'm in a similar way and always find trouble crafting three sentences about myself for online profiles, etc. Glad to know I'm not alone
April 4th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
This might sound a bit silly, but I realized a few years ago that the Great Blue Heron is my “power animal”. I have a long story that goes along with this realization, and not enough space to right it, but it has helped me recognize the beauty in being a “dabbler”. Enjoy!
This is an excerpt from the book 'Animal Speak' by Ted Andrews:
HERON’S MOST SIGNIFICANT ESSENCE: aggressive self-determination and self-reliance
ENERGETIC PRIME TIME – FULL OF POWER: Spring
“There are many variations of herons, including bitterns and egrets. Storks and cranes should not be confused with them.
Herons are part of a group of birds called ‘waders’. It is a bird of the marshlands and shallow waters. All waders have similar physical characteristics – long, thin legs, long necks, and sharp bills. These physical characteristics are important to understand for those who have a heron as a totem.
Legs enable animals and people to move about on the earth. They are symbols of balance, and they represent an ability to progress and evolve. Also the longer the legs, the deeper the water the heron will feed in. The deeper life can be explored.
The long thin legs of the heron reflect that you don’t need great massive pillars to remain stable, but you must be able to stand on your own. This is especially significant for those with a totem of the great blue heron, as it is a lone hunter.
When it feeds, it stands in the water, reflecting a connection to the earth – while implying the exploration of other dimensions on the earth (water element).
It is important for anyone with a heron totem to explore various activities and dimensions of earth life. On the surface, this may seem a form of dabbling, but those with heron totems are wonderfully successful at being the traditional ‘Jack of all trades’.
This ability enables them to follow their own path. Most people will never be able to live the way heron people do. It is not a structured way, and does not seem to have stability and security to it. it is, though, just a matter of perspective. There is security in heron medicine, for it gives the ability to do a variety of tasks. If one way does not work, then another will. This heron people seem to inherently know.
Heron do no seem to need a lot of people in their life, nor do they feel pressure to keep up with the Joneses, or be traditional in their life roles. The only time they gather in colonies is during the breeding season. They stand out in their uniqueness, and they know how to snatch and take advantage of things and events that the average person would not even bother with.”
-Ted Andrews
April 20th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I always tell people that I am an artist. Usually, if they ask what type of art I do, I will say Performance Art, just because it ends the questions. I do think of myself as an artist, I just haven't decided on a permanent medium.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I always thought something was wrong with me…but i'm not alone in this!! It's quite a relief.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:25 am
It's important to realize the difference between “what I am” and “what I do”. You may work as a lawyer, a planner, a designer, but are much more than that, and so are other people. Most people in our culture dabble at some times and into some interests and delve into others – and maybe that delving doesn't last for years. Many delve while learning a new skill or exploring a new interest, then move on.
The challenge respecting gaining employment with another is really outcome and attitude, whether in “permanent” jobs or one-of projects. If you have a record of timely completion of projects and an attitude that respects the needs of the team or client and your responsibility in meeting your mandate, there will be little chance of being a flight risk unless the job is actually unsuitable for you anyway. If you want to be engaged in creative production, perhaps you will “fly” from sitting at a reception desk (as an example only) because your own needs are not being met. On the other hand, if the rest of your time is fulfilling and productive, and you love meeting new people, you may actually enjoy doing a job that does not fit into your published description of “you are” or “you do” as a means to an end, either financial or because your studio time is solitary.
Being an Artist differs from “I'm artistic” and garners much respect and interest. Keep doing; keep being.
May 8th, 2009 at 6:36 am
This is really very interesting read, keep posts like this one coming, you impress me all the time!
Emma
June 9th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I think women that are so called dabblers are idealistic and creative. I was ashamed of my dabbling. Over the years, I've acquired much knowledge and claim to be an entrepreneur if asked.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:28 am
We have the same views. Practicality in all aspects. I act like a doctor sometimes because I often suggest healing that I know really heals (like using herbs instead of the traditional chemical medicines), I read books and it makes me look like a teacher..LOL. In totality, I am practical but I am not pushing myself to be somebody because I know I am not.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:42 am
What makes me happy? – My online work and freedom that I have. This is so amazing – to wake up every morning without thinking that you need somewhere to escape, to travel on public transport, before and after the evening sit in a tiny office, and so day after day, year after year … Actually – everyone chooses their own destiny, but I do not know, I have no words, yet the reality is deceitful, but online there is no bosses, and do not need anyone to obey.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Thank you for this posting — I to have dabbled in this and that. Though I do have a professional resume that can catapult me into a number of different career paths; at my heart I am not those jobs or job titles. I dabble in finding what's next for me constantly. There is nothing wrong with this, but I too have felt badly about it and looked down upon myself for my insistence on exploration. I've even had others look down upon me (perhaps because I allowed it). I like how you talk about it in terms of a respectable life, and the reasons why we feel bad about it are just because our culture wants to label and measure.
June 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I'm a dabbler! I own a Brazilian Bikini site and a few others that are unrelated. I like too many things to give all my time to one. I don't think that keeps me from being a professional though. I take everything I do very seriously. Thought provoking!!!
June 29th, 2009 at 4:50 am
I'm affraid I might be one. I often do things just to some extent and as soon as I hit a problem I just give up or stick to the tested, less effective methods. It's terrible for my productivity.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:39 am
Great posting.I try to let myself be guided by what i am interested in, and what i can learn or use, and not what i am trained to do.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:41 am
I just want to value who I am over what I am. I will, and I hope you will too.
Great Posting.