Adventures in Multitasking

Life can be very interesting when you have multiple interests and talents. I'm a writer first, but I'm also a coach and a watercolor painter. I've also been a computer programmer, business analyst and technical writer. Years ago (when I had a decent camera) I was into photography.

As I mentioned in a previous post, years ago when I was still in IT, I applied for a writing job at a large financial corporation. The job involved writing general business blurbs and such. When I spoke to the HR manager, she said that I was "too technical to write." She'd looked at my resume and decided - in spite of my degree in English and my prior career as a copywriter - that I was no longer a writer.

It was a blow to hear that. One thing I thought I'd always have was my writing. I'd done it for most of my life (even in my technical jobs) so why would I suddenly not be a writer? I offered to send writing samples to prove my ability. She never requested the samples, and I gave up (for a few years) on going back to a professional writing career.

Looking back now it's more amusing than maddening. She judged me by a title, not by what I could actually do. And, because (I suppose) she didn't want to be wrong, she didn't want to see any of my samples. In spite of that I did ultimately escape IT and the corporate cubicle. I've learned to not let someone else define what I can do, especially since it's not expected that people can do more than one thing well.

I used to feel that having multiple interests (and going from one to another) was wrong. That I was not focused enough to stick with one thing forever and ever. A relative of mine once commented on my "inability" to stick with one thing for long. She was referring to my attempt to learn the guitar, which I gave up after about a month. Well, I was learning using a LP recording (yes, it was that long ago) and that got real boring real fast. Maybe if I'd had lessons with a real person, as opposed to one on a record, my interest wouldn't have faded as fast. Or maybe I'd just learned as much as I cared to, and I was off to somethng else.

There's always something new to learn. Why stop at one thing?

Poetry

A poem is a moment in time captured in whatever description that you care to give it. There are rules in some forms of poetry, like the Villanelle, which make them challenging and exciting to write. Of course on my first attempt at that form it didn't quite work out. No matter. Poetry is very forgiving.