I Want to Be a Generalist

One of the things I most like about my job is the variety. I get to do a lot of different things—in terms of how I actually spend my time—and work with a lot of different stuff—in terms of library materials. There’s knowing what’s age appropriate for toddlers, kindergarteners, nine-year-olds, teens, and even adults. There’s fiction and nonfiction, genres and styles and subjects, books and movies and computers, and etc. Reading for information and reading for pleasure. The logical thinking of parsing the catalog and information management systems and the creative outlet of displays and bulletin boards. Solitary moments of reading and writing and the joyful customer service moments of helping people find what they need. Programs and presentations, technical report writing and creative sell-a-book writing. Space planning and designing the physical environment. Always something else to do and always more to learn.

I suppose I was typical in that I couldn’t pick a college major, but I like to think I was more so than most. I could never name a favorite school subject when asked, because I wanted to learn them all. Math and science? Yeah. Oh, and social studies, history, geography, sociology, et al. Art club? You bet. Vocal music, too. I was even disappointed I couldn't fit in the shop classes. As I was finishing my first Master’s degree I seriously considered pursuing a Ph.D., but couldn’t stand the thought of having to specialize in just one thing to the exclusion of others. My favorite D&D character, the one whose name I blog under, is a Bard because that’s the character class the rules allow the most crossover skills between magic, healing, fighting, and thieving (the four main specialties). I always want to pick the generalist route whenever possible.

All of that is simply meant to be an introduction for what follows, as well, I suppose, as an explanation of its appeal to me. Here is the text of a recent picture book I like, The OK Book, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld:

Hi, how are you?
I’m OK.
I like to try a lot of different things.
I’m not great at all of them,
but I enjoy them just the same.
I’m an OK skipper.
I’m an OK climber.
I’m an OK marshmallow roaster.
I’m an OK tightrope walker.
I’m an OK left fielder.
I’m an OK right fielder.
I’m an OK diver.
I’m an OK hider.
I’m an OK pumper.
I’m an OK sledder.
I’m an OK kite flyer.
I’m an OK tug-of-war-er.
I’m an OK sharer.
I’m an OK headstander.
I’m an OK pancake flipper.
I’m an OK fisher.
I’m an OK swimmer.
I’m an OK lightning bug catcher.
One day, I’ll grow up to be really excellent at something.
I don’t know what it is yet . . .
. . . but I sure am having fun figuring it out.
The end.
(Or is it just the beginning?)