Renaissance Girl

When I was a kid, my mom called me her "Renaissance Girl." I had a lot of interests, including but not limited to: cross-stitching, playing piano and flute, singing, baking, writing, reading, and making sarcastic air quotes. Yep. I had it all going on.

Except for the part where I never concentrated on any one talent long enough to surpass mediocrity. I did master a few other things though, like self-pity, moping, and a vampyric avoidance of daylight. Yeah, my teenage self was a sad, sad specimen. But I'm pretty much her antithesis now, so it's all good. True story.

Fast forward twenty years or so (pardon me a moment while I curl up in the fetal position and rock for a while - TWENTY YEARS?), and most of my talents have slipped from mediocre level to non-existent. I haven't played the flute since my early twenties, I haven't cross-stitched since shortly before my second daughter was born (and I have FOUR of them now - seriously, numbers are wigging me out today), and my limited kitchen skills are only just barely hanging on (and the credit for that goes almost entirely to Masterchef).

Most of my energies are channeled into my kids or my writing these days, and I'm feeling a bit wobbly and out of balance. I play the piano at church but never for fun. It's been weeks since I last baked, and when I made a huge from-scratch dinner the other night my family was embarrassingly surprised by how much effort I put into it (and possibly by just how edible it was).

So yes, time for some changes at Chez VanderHorst. More music, more food, and more joy. But still lots of words, of course. It's all about the words.

VanderVision Tip of the Day: Awesomeness comes in many forms and flavors. Try as many as possible before choosing your favourite. And hey, maybe vary it up a little sometimes. Variety is the spice of life. Although in all honesty, I prefer basil.

1 comment:

  1. Weird, I was just thinking something like this about myself today! When I was in high school I could sing, swing dance, sew, draw/paint pretty decently, etc. Now my interests have narrowed to being a mom, writing, and sewing (and sewing is being edged out by writing). You can't leave out the part where, though your range of activities have narrowed, you are AWESOME at the ones you do all the time! If we still tried to do everything, we'd still be mediocre at everything. And you, my friend, are not a mediocre writer. So I hope you find your balance, we could all use more music, more food, and more joy, but love the fact that you have chosen a few things to become an expert at! Because you rock at them!

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