In the smash musical hit Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda as the title character brilliantly describes himself as "a polymath/a pain in the ass/a massive pain." My husband in an incredible polymath, and I can attest that the description of polymaths is accurate.
All of the music is brilliant, and that's mot just my opinion, but also that of the Tony Awards. Alexander Hamilton was, indeed, a polymath, though perhaps not the most famous.
The dictionary definition of a polymath is "a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning," and I would add interests to that definition. A polymath might not know everything about a subject (though it's entirely possible), but they will know a little about a lot of things, strive to learn more, and be interested in even more. Polymaths are beyond curious, they can become obsessed with acquiring knowledge and skills.
This hunger for knowledge can apply to a lot of creative people. Many of us have more than one outlet for the drive to create. While I call myself a writer, I also do needlework, mess about in the kitchen, and create beaded jewelry. I even combine the love for beading with needlework and create tiny bead-knitted amulet bags.
The tradition of the polymath goes back centuries. DaVinci spanned the disciplines of mathematics, engineering, science, drawing, painting, sculpture, and more. Not a bad role model!
Painter, sculptor, scientist, mathematician, inventor, engineer - DaVinci set the example for polymaths for all time.
Perhaps some of the best modern examples of polymaths are costumers, prop makers, and cosplayers. While cosplayers' passion is creating or re-creating costumes based on their fandoms (movies, books, television, games), they use an enormous range of skills to accomplish that goal. Do you think of sewing when you think of costuming? It's far more; leatherwork, resin casting, welding, painting, sewing certainly, quilting, beading, the list goes on and on.
These creatives are devoted to the project, not the process, and are willing to consider multiple processes to reach their goal. They may sew a fabric base for their costume, but their efforts often include leather or metal armor and shields, cast appliances to alter their face, head, hands or body, and make-up that runs the gamut from simple to spectacular. They may build robotic prosthetics involving mechanical and electronic movement and control.
Additionally they may choose to create (or recreate) props and accessories from a variety of materials. Everything from a simple wooden staff to a forged steel sword or a meticulously-constructed space helmet can come from their devotion to the project, and these objects can take a wide variety of skill to produce.
How, you might ask, does this apply to retirement? Well, in retirement (as I've said before) we no longer have to limit ourselves. While a day job consumed many of our waking hours, and children claimed many more, our creative time had to be rationed. We had less time to experiment; when the kids grow up and we retire we have many more hours available for our creativity. Time is no longer a limiting factor, and with an "empty nest" space may not be either.
With more time we are able to explore ideas that we might have dismissed because we didn't have time before. We have the freedom, the time, to try things. If we have thought about something that was multi-disciplinary but didn't pursue it because it meant learning another skill, now we can take a second look. We have the opportunity to experiment, to find out if our curiosity is a fleeting question or a lasting passion.
In thinking about ways we might implement a multidisciplinary approach, the idea of joining a community theater company seemed like a perfect opportunity. Carpentry skills are necessary to build sets. Stage design incorporates skills in painting, upholstery, interior design, and a variety of decorative skills. Costuming, as I discussed above, combines many skills. Lighting and sound bring in technical and engineering challenges. And that's just some of the needed skill sets. There are also actors, singers, musicians, writers, directors, and many more.
Getting a production ready for an audience requires an entire troop of creators in a variety of fields.
I have a sister who is an accomplished seamstress and has found herself in demand after she retired from teaching school as a costume mistress in local theater. Her skills were already excellent, but even more important was her ability to improvise when necessary. Her already extensive knowledge of materials, tools, and processes has grown tremendously in the last few years.
Podcasters and vloggers also need a range of skills. While they make it look effortless, it's far more complex than pointing a camera at something, or at yourself, and talking. It requires an eye for composition, the willingness to record for hours in order to get the right take, and the skill and patience to edit those hours into a finished 'cast that may only last a few minutes.
(I'm sure I will have more to say about this last one when I start recording the audio version of these posts. Patience, as my husband will tell you, is not one of my virtues.)
We can all become polymaths in retirement. In fact, I encourage it. Let your imagination and curiosity take you down as many paths as you care to explore. Who knows what you might find in one of those paths you never had the time to explore before?
That is one of the luxuries of retirement. We have all those polymath possibilities laid out in front of us, like a creativity banquet, and we can take as much as we want.