“Since we cannot know all that there is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything.” Blaise Pascal
One night, one of my dear friends and I got into a drunken debate about which was the “better” path in life, to specialize or to be a generalist. Freud or Da Vinci?
I came down on the Da Vinci side of the argument, not because of any solid evidence, but because like most people, I based my argument solely on anecdotal evidence. It works for me, so it must be correct.
With a few more decades under my belt, I see the value in both options. Each individual must decide which one is more suited for their own life.
For me, the path that keeps me most invigorated and mentally challenged is to live my life like a “Hey Mon” skit from “In Living Color”.
To see a skit of “Hey Mon” click here.
Long ago, in a time known as the 80’s, the primitive human was limited to only 3 broadcast networks for our in-home visual entertainment. Then, one day, Fox came along, and 3 became 4. Hallelujah! Because they were a new network, Fox was a petri dish for original programming ideas. Shows like Cops, Married with Children, 21 Jump Street, and The Simpsons broke as many of the established network norms as possible, and rating success soon followed.
In 1990, the network launched “In Living Color”, a common sketch show with uncommon talent (Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, Jennifer Lopez, David Alan Grier, and all 45 Wayans children). One of their running skits, “Hey Mon” depicted a fictional West Indian family where the running joke is that more, and more, and more jobs are the preferred way to live your life.
Fortunately, I’m at the point in my career, and in my life, where I have fewer jobs and more roles.
Being a human, and not just a capitalistic cog, brings those additional roles: Father, Husband, Writer, Volunteer, Consumer of food, Student, Drinker of beer, Reader, Hat collector, Director, Sneaker head in training, Observer of the markets, Gambler, Artist, etc, etc.
This site, OC Soul, is my attempt to merge as many of these roles into one place as possible.
Cheers.