My dear sister-in-law, Sadie paid me the most awesome compliment this week. She said I was a renaissance woman. Confession, I had to google it because I did not know what the term actually meant. I found a very interesting article here written by Amy Beth O’Brien for Aspire magazine about what it means to be a modern day renaissance woman.
Websters defines a Renaissance Woman as a woman who is interested in and knows a lot about many things.
As I was reading Amy’s article, I couldn’t believe there was actually something that explains exactly who I am! I kept nodding and saying, “Yes, I have been saying that all my life”! Do any of these signs on her list resonate with you? Do they describe who you are too?
7 Signs You May be a Modern-Day Renaissance Woman
- You still don’t know what you want to be when you grow up—not because nothing interests you, but because so many things interest you.
- You can think of at least three ways to earn a living, and the idea of having to choose one feels suffocating to you. You love the idea of having multiple streams of income.
- You’ve worried you may be a Jack-of-all-Trades, even though you’ve developed a level of mastery in many or even all of your areas of interest. You sometimes feel like a fraud.
- You’ve felt ashamed about your inability to choose one thing, lest you’d appear scattered or unfocused.
- You’re a natural multi-tasker. You’d think nothing of doing one thing from nine to noon, another from one to three, and a third from four to six. You love variety in your work.
- You want more freedom. You gave up something you enjoyed because your full-time job and personal responsibilities left no room in your life to pursue it. Yet, it’s always on your mind—a subtle, but ever-present reminder that makes you think it’s not meant to be forgotten.
- You’ve often wondered if have ADD. In fact you’d almost welcome the diagnosis because it would explain why you can’t pick something. The trouble is, you really don’t have a problem with focus. You generally finish what you set out to do.
As I sat at the kitchen counter the other night painting salt dough stars (I have a blog post coming soon about a fun 4th of July project that I will be sharing soon, so keep checking back) I was thinking to myself, is this how Martha Stewart started her career? Was she up late at night after her family was asleep, working on craft projects in her kitchen when she first started following her passion? Did she use her family as Guinea pigs to taste test new recipes before including them in her cookbooks? Is Martha Stewart a serial rotator too? If you don’t know what a serial rotator is, you can read all about it here.
She probably never dreamed she would obtain the level of success that she has in her life now. I have to confess, she has always been my idol. She took what she loved doing and turned it into a successful business. She is the epitome of a renaissance woman in my humble opinion.
What is your passion? What is it that makes your heart sing? What will you stay up late at night working on, not because you have to do it, but because you love to do it? Have you ever thought about pursuing it? What if you could create a life doing what you love? It’s kind of scary to dream that big, isn’t it?
Just imagine what it would look like if it worked? And if it didn’t, what have you lost? Time spent doing what you love? The time will pass whether you pursue your passion or not, so what is stopping you?
For me it’s fear. Fear that if I put myself out there, someone will make fun of me, think I’m silly. Fear that someone might ask what makes me think I know what I am talking about? Fear about what others might think. Fear that someone might think I am being presumptuous putting myself out there like I am an expert or something. Is fear stopping you too?
I am fast approaching my golden years, ha-ha-ha. Makes me sound like an old granny, which I can vehemently assure you I am not! The one good thing I have realized about getting older is that I have stopped caring so much about what other people think about me. But no matter how old you get, it’s still scary putting yourself out there.
Have you spent a lifetime trying to be something that you thought you should be, instead of just being who you really are? Not too long ago, my husband asked me why I am always angry? His comment really hit a nerve. I thought about it a lot in the days after he said it. At first, I rationalized it. It started when I was going through menopause. The hormones made me a little crazy and it just became a bad habit. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, he was right. My automatic response is to be irritated or annoyed. When did I become that person?
I think it happens to us over time, we end up doing things in our lives that take us away from those things that make our hearts sing. We get to a place where we resign ourselves to the fact that those things we dreamt about just aren’t going to happen for us. Then regret and sadness come, but we stuff it down. We fill up our time and keep ourselves busy but then we end up responding to those we love the most by snapping at them with irritation. It’s not them that we are angry or irritated with, we are angry and irritated with ourselves. How can we be happy with the ones we love when we are not happy on the inside?
Women especially put aside their passions to raise a family and support their husbands. We do what needs doing to put food on the table and keep a roof over our head. It’s what being a mother and wife is all about. Our babies depend on us, we are the glue that holds our families together.
But we sell ourselves short if we give up on our dreams. If you have a chance I highly recommend reading, One Beautiful Dream, A rollicking tale of family, chaos, personal passions, and saying yes to them both, by Jennifer Fulwiler. It’s available here on Amazon. In her book she talks the “blue flame” and how God has designed each woman to come alive through a unique gift or passion. It’s a fun read with a great message.
Don’t let your dreams go dormant, that’s not what God created you for. You will never realize what you were created for until you finally decide to follow your passions. Be the Renaissance woman you were meant to become!
As you gather up the courage to pursue your passions, be sure to support the Renaissance women who are already out there following theirs. If you haven’t already done so, please go check out Sadie’s website www.soapsbysadie.com to see all of her beautiful handcrafted soaps! They are gorgeous and will make a wonderful gift for anyone you care about! She pours all her heart and soul into crafting these wonderful handmade soaps!
Take some time this week to think about what your passion is and what is holding you back from doing what makes your heart sing. Figuring out what it is that is holding you back is the first step. You can’t move forward until you figure it out!