Dilittante

Week of April 6, 2008


I had a meeting with the Director of my department at the end of last week. Several of the women in my department had answered her e-mail about why they should be considered as one of the team leaders. I thought about it long and hard and threw my hat into the ring also. I am new to realm of medical records but I am not new to the concept of working as a team leader, or managing a group of women. At my age, I have a varied and colorful background of experience and creativity to draw upon that might just be to my advantage.

One of the questions she asked me during my interview was how I came to be so organized. I had to laugh. For one thing I am a ‘piler’. I have little piles here and big piles there, but I know what is in each pile and I can put my hands on just about anything I need to find in a relatively short period of time. I don’t lose things but things can end up in the wrong pile at times. My answer to her was that I am a list maker. I carry a small notebook around with me at all times and I write down what I need to do and check off what I have done. I write down all the steps of things that I need to do and I write down random thoughts that go through my head, saving them for later, or I hear a song or a comment that I might want to explore and expound upon later.

I have lists of books by my favorite authors that I carry with me when I go to a bookstore and when I see one of the books on my list I buy it and mark it off. Then it moves to my list of books to read. Some of my favorite authors have been very prolific and I like to read their books in the order that they published their works. I am funny that way. I have made lists of words that I like. Yes I said WORDS. Don’t you have words that you like? Words can do so many things. They can make you feel happy, sad, and intelligent or they can make you nod your head like you understand and then you make a note of that word or phrase and run to your computer or dictionary or thesaurus and look that puppy up. Take the word dilettante. Now doesn’t that one roll trippingly off the tongue? A dilettante is “(a) A dabbler in an art or a field of knowledge. Or (b) A lover of the fine arts; a connoisseur.” according to Webster’s Dictionary. Hmmm. That first one sounds like ‘jack of all trades and master of none’ and that might just be me.

I have a massive list of quotes by famous and not so famous people that I have collected over the years. I think I started it the years I was at the W. As a matter of fact I think I just started making lists in general while I was there. Before I went off to college, a grocery list my Mom made was as close as I got to list making. Mom has always had lists and Daddy always carried a little pocket notebook with him. His lists were scribbled maps of fields and what kind of insects he needed to spray and phone numbers. Sometimes it contained ideas that he thought of. Daddy was a big dreamer. Unfortunately, his dreams usually involved me or my sister. After a trip to Florida, he thought it would be wonderful if I got an airbrush and headed down to some nice sunny beach and set up a t-shirt hut and airbrushed t-shirts. Never mind that I had not ever used an airbrush before or that I don’t do sunny beaches with my fair skinned self. I did get an airbrush and I did do t-shirts for a while but not on a beach. He thought using the airbrush was a piece of cake until the day I handed it to him and said ‘Have at it Pop!’
He handed it back to me after a few sprays. Now, I have to hand it to him. He never did say he couldn’t do it. He just told me that I was better at it than he was and it did take a certain amount of control. If he hadn’t come up with the harebrained idea, I probably never would have learned to use that tool. I still have my first airbrushes and I use them on most of my really detailed watercolors. If he had not challenged me, I might not have learned that skill nor grown as an artist.

I credit my Mom for my continued need to learn constantly. Mom loves crossword puzzles and word searches. I don’t dare touch her daily paper without seeing it is turned to the crossword. Sometimes I offer to help but only if I see that she is totally stumped and believe me, that is not very often. She had been known to call me at strange hours wanting to know what ten letter word for jack of all trades and master of none might be. Uh, try dilettante.
I am very blessed to know that I came from two such creative parents and that they encouraged my sister and me to be creative. They also told us that we could do anything that we set our minds to. I think both of us are still wondering just what we will be when we ‘grow up’.
"Creativity is essentially a lonely art. An even lonelier struggle. To some a blessing. To others a curse. It is in reality the ability to reach inside yourself and drag forth from your very soul an idea."-- Lou Dorfsman