{"id":3264,"date":"2024-12-15T03:46:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T03:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alixgenerous.com\/home\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2024-12-15T04:08:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T04:08:57","slug":"we-are-many-things-and-that-is-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alixgenerous.com\/home\/mystery\/we-are-many-things-and-that-is-enough\/%20","title":{"rendered":"We are Many Things and That is Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As I work on updating my website and emerge from this hibernation I\u2019ve been in for many years, I keep wracking my brain around to figure out how to brand myself. I feel silly. Finding the right words to accurately describe what I do to others is a strange task because when I place them all together, they appear random. I\u2019ve been feeling frustrated lately because it seems like we live in a world that pressures us to be just one thing. From an early age, we\u2019re asked, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d as if we\u2019re supposed to pick one path and stick to it forever. The expectation is to be either an artist or a scientist, an opera singer or an astronaut\u2014never both. But the truth is, people are so much more complex than that. We\u2019re capable of wearing many hats and excelling in more than one area, yet society seems to discourage us from embracing that.<\/span><\/p>\n

This pressure to choose just one identity feels so limiting. It\u2019s as though we\u2019re put into boxes for the convenience of others, to make us easier to define or categorize. But those boxes don\u2019t account for how dynamic we are. Why can\u2019t someone love art and science? Why is it surprising when someone blends logic and creativity? History is full of people who have done exactly that. Think of Leonardo da Vinci, who was both an artist and an inventor, or Hedy Lamarr, who was an actress and a groundbreaking scientist. These examples show that it\u2019s possible to be multifaceted, and yet we\u2019re still encouraged to specialize, to pick a lane, and to stay there.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For me, it feels stifling. I\u2019ve always had diverse interests and passions, and they don\u2019t fit neatly into a single label. I don\u2019t want to have to choose between them, and I don\u2019t think I should have to. Human beings are so much richer than one role or one profession. I think we should be celebrating the fact that we can explore different facets of ourselves and grow in multiple directions. Life isn\u2019t a straight path; it\u2019s a complex, winding journey, and the beauty lies in the fact that we can reinvent ourselves and evolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also realized that this isn\u2019t just about external pressure\u2014it\u2019s also about reframing the way we see success. For so long, I\u2019ve thought about success in terms of being the best at one thing. But now, I\u2019m starting to shift my perspective. Instead of asking myself, \u201cAm I the best at this?\u201d I\u2019m trying to ask, \u201cAm I living a life that feels authentic and fulfilling?\u201d That shift has been freeing, because it lets me embrace all the things that make me who I am without feeling like I have to sacrifice one passion for another.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I want to rewrite the narrative. I want us to celebrate the opera singer who loves astrophysics, the software engineer who creates art, or the psychologist who moonlights as a chef. I also want to celebrate the people who don\u2019t want to be any of these things and reject hustle culture because there is beauty in living for the moment. These aren\u2019t contradictions\u2014they\u2019re expressions of the full spectrum of who we are. Wearing many hats doesn\u2019t make us less committed to what we do; it makes us more whole. We were never meant to be just one thing, and it\u2019s time we started honoring that complexity.<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, I remain an autistic neurodiversity activist who studies genocide and dabbles in musical theater, dances ballet, plays piano, teaches children, and whatever else I want to do because that\u2019s me. I wear many hats and that\u2019s okay. That\u2019s enough.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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