How does it feel to be eclectic? Feeling outside a bit from everywhere

I don’t want to write about this topic in general, because I do believe that we are all different when it comes to feelings. Also, we may have different reactions to some things or happenings. All I can authentically write about, is what I feel about being an eclectic person. Well, in the past I didn’t really think about it. I wasn’t even aware of the reasons why I had too many different kinds of interests. It was frustrating at some point, because I felt to be rushed. I felt I would never have enough time to learn and try all the things I would love to. Also, it made keeping friendships a bit difficult. Most people I knew had 1-2 hobbies and their friends usually shared these interests, so they spent a lot of time together having fun. For me it was a bit different. I never really had one or two friends who wanted to see or try all the things I wanted. I mean, from the many things I was interested in, my friends were interested in maybe 2-3 things. Maximum.

How do others see eclectic people?

How does it feel to be eclectic? I often felt that I was too much and too little at the same time for people. Too much, because I always found something new to try or learn. Time after time. And too little, because I couldn’t (and didn’t even want to) focus on one thing. Some people told me it made them stressed, while others told me, I was a mess and I didn’t know what I wanted. For me it was normal without being aware of what does it mean to be eclectic. The thing is, as long as you don’t know that you are eclectic, you will likely believe when people say there’s something wrong with you. They may say that it’s time to decide what you want to do with your life. It’s time to find the work you cam imagine to do for years and years. It’s time to grow up and calm down, they may say. Settle. And so on and on. Maybe. But not for an eclectic person.

To master one and only thing?

And yet, from some point of view, now I can see why they were talking like that. Especially the “grow up-thing”. Because we always say that children want to know everything. They are curious. Adults, in the other hand, should already know what they want. Adults should be serious and focused. It seems that being curious and open to learn and see new things are for children only. I don’t agree, but it’s true that too many of us lose interest as we grow up. Especially if we follow the expectations of others. Grow up. Be serious. Stay focused. Find your way and master one thing, because they say, you can master only one thing in life. I do believe them. It’s true that anyone needs years and years of learning, a lot of experience, failures, starting again and again to master one thing. To be outstanding in that one thing. I could never doubt that.

And here comes my “but…”

Do we all have to master one thing only? What if I don’t want to earn a living by dancing in famous ballets, but I still want to learn dancing because it makes me happy? For a lot of people, it’s just wasting time and money. But how could it be wasting if it makes you happy? What if I don’t want to spend long years working in one place, but want to learn new skills besides working and try new roads? In my experience, for some people, it’s definitely something negative. Some people take it almost like being their enemy. Some people say that you think you are better than others and you believe you can do better, you can have a better life. Why do you think that you can follow your dreams, when they cannot. A lot of people try to put you down and convince you that it’s not good. It’s not worth trying, because you will fail. As an eclectic person, I don’t think I could master one thing only, but I can master living my own life.

So, how does it feel to be eclectic in my opinion? Sometimes it’s lonely, always busy, often being judged to be childish, overwhelming and frustrating, because of the feeling of not to have enough time, but if you can be yourself, it makes you feel to be free and happy.