Sometimes we are experts at things that we don’t realize are valuable, but other people need our knowledge. My examples are :cooking from scratch, sewing, and mending. All can be considered survival skills that will be increasingly important in the coming collapse. They are also skills that many do not have. I recently hosted a mending workshop and 9 people attended, most of whom were in their twenties. They learned new skills (one had never threaded a needle before) and were proud of what they accomplished. Don’t sell your skills short no matter how mundane they seem to you.
Definitely possible to develop skills without necessarily pursuing expertise! I do think there are rewards to be found in building an advanced familiarity with a skill or topic, though.
something that works for me is kind of circling back around to various interests ++ combo with making them really easily accessible. So if I’m trying to learn how to embroider I’ll make sure to put my materials where I can see them + maybe get someone to keep me accountable (social?? idk) or maybe checking out a book on the topic and getting excited about how vast it is. generally thinking about motivation to do things rn lol
I really love this! Reducing friction is a great way to make activities easier to jump into, which tbh I feel is especially important given how easy it is to just look at our phones instead.
Super interesting and I love the shoutout ofc :') I think it's worth noting that even people who are experts in their field are often talking about how much there is left to learn and how they can sometimes still feel like beginners. There comes a certain point in really niche areas of knowledge when knowing so much also shows you all the things you don't/can't know.
I'm absolutely a jack-of-all-trades with my interests, but I think with writing, I'm okay with niche-hopping every few years. Right now I'm looking forward to digging deep into the craft of writing fiction as I prepare to write a novel >.>
Oh, absolutely! I don't think there's such thing as knowing *literally* everything there is to know about a specific topic. It'd be nice to be so familiar with a topic that I feel I can move around freely within it, though.
One challenge for me in this realm is I'm the most curious about the things I do not know, and once I feel I have a decent grasp of xyz, my curiosity shifts. This is helpful as a journalist — the intense curiosity drives me through the reporting process and by the time I'm done writing, I'm ready to move onto something else. But it's hard as a creative person trying to build a reputation on the internet.
I write a newsletter about women and strength training, but lately? I have no interest in writing about women and strength training. I want to write about basically anything else: history, culture, creatives, historical figures who responded to the needs of their respective communities. Is there a way I can approach these topics to fit into my newsletter? Do I need to start a different newsletter? Should I pitch these ideas instead, even though pitching is overwhelmingly labor-intensive with low chances of success? I don't know. I'm trying to figure out if I can redefine my newsletter to encompass a broader range of topics, but no decision thus far.
Oy, I feel this. I've often gone with the "find a way to fit what's on my mind with my newsletter" approach, but I'm guessing that at a certain point, writing about something too far off from the newsletter's central purpose will probably be a bit jarring for those who read it. But, to your point, pitching totally sucks.
Sometimes we are experts at things that we don’t realize are valuable, but other people need our knowledge. My examples are :cooking from scratch, sewing, and mending. All can be considered survival skills that will be increasingly important in the coming collapse. They are also skills that many do not have. I recently hosted a mending workshop and 9 people attended, most of whom were in their twenties. They learned new skills (one had never threaded a needle before) and were proud of what they accomplished. Don’t sell your skills short no matter how mundane they seem to you.
Definitely possible to develop skills without necessarily pursuing expertise! I do think there are rewards to be found in building an advanced familiarity with a skill or topic, though.
I really loved this piece. Also: I went to high school in Phoenix (Xavier) and am happy to hear there’s rain.
Aw, thank you so much Logan! Also, I live right by Xavier! What a funny coincidence.
We're definitely stoked to have some real rainfall :)
i’m working on a piece about this very topic!!! it has possessed my thoughts for a long time. still working through it.
I would really love to read it, if/when you publish it!
something that works for me is kind of circling back around to various interests ++ combo with making them really easily accessible. So if I’m trying to learn how to embroider I’ll make sure to put my materials where I can see them + maybe get someone to keep me accountable (social?? idk) or maybe checking out a book on the topic and getting excited about how vast it is. generally thinking about motivation to do things rn lol
I really love this! Reducing friction is a great way to make activities easier to jump into, which tbh I feel is especially important given how easy it is to just look at our phones instead.
Super interesting and I love the shoutout ofc :') I think it's worth noting that even people who are experts in their field are often talking about how much there is left to learn and how they can sometimes still feel like beginners. There comes a certain point in really niche areas of knowledge when knowing so much also shows you all the things you don't/can't know.
I'm absolutely a jack-of-all-trades with my interests, but I think with writing, I'm okay with niche-hopping every few years. Right now I'm looking forward to digging deep into the craft of writing fiction as I prepare to write a novel >.>
Oh, absolutely! I don't think there's such thing as knowing *literally* everything there is to know about a specific topic. It'd be nice to be so familiar with a topic that I feel I can move around freely within it, though.
I like that - a niche within a niche!
One challenge for me in this realm is I'm the most curious about the things I do not know, and once I feel I have a decent grasp of xyz, my curiosity shifts. This is helpful as a journalist — the intense curiosity drives me through the reporting process and by the time I'm done writing, I'm ready to move onto something else. But it's hard as a creative person trying to build a reputation on the internet.
I write a newsletter about women and strength training, but lately? I have no interest in writing about women and strength training. I want to write about basically anything else: history, culture, creatives, historical figures who responded to the needs of their respective communities. Is there a way I can approach these topics to fit into my newsletter? Do I need to start a different newsletter? Should I pitch these ideas instead, even though pitching is overwhelmingly labor-intensive with low chances of success? I don't know. I'm trying to figure out if I can redefine my newsletter to encompass a broader range of topics, but no decision thus far.
Oy, I feel this. I've often gone with the "find a way to fit what's on my mind with my newsletter" approach, but I'm guessing that at a certain point, writing about something too far off from the newsletter's central purpose will probably be a bit jarring for those who read it. But, to your point, pitching totally sucks.