Explaining the Title

Polymath (n.): A person of great learning in several fields of study

     I was at work and we were eating (surprise!) someone else's baked treat that had been brought to celebrate a birthday. It was a DELICIOUS pecan monkeybread. I'm still drooling thinking about it. Anyways, I'm standing in the workroom, laminating cards for my students to use to play "Go Fish" (with fraction/decimal cards), and a coworker and I are discussing aforementioned monkeybread (drool). He starts asking about my baking ventures. "You're like, a talented baker, right? You just make all sorts of things?" We talk for a bit about that, my previous life with an egg allergy, baking inspiration, yada yada and then he asks how my other projects are going- the quilt I've been making, packing to move, prepping for the school year, blah blah.

     Enter another coworker, and coworker #1 says something along the lines of "Did you realize all the different stuff Sarah can do? I mean she has a million hobbies." So of course I'm flattered and embarrassed and try to avoid the conversation by bringing up whoever made the monkeybread (seriously I need a bib) and fumbling with my fraction/decimal cards. The two of them start talking about how I should start a blog. And one of them says "There's a lot of blogs out there, but you really have a lot of talents worth sharing!" Generally, I never share this sort of flattery. I admit, I enjoy it, and it made my day, but I don't usually like to brag about people bragging about me.  It even sounds weird in that sentence. But it's relevant to the next part of the story, so, yeah. I'll just be over here blushing (and drooling)...

     Fast forward to later that day, while I'm trying to finish THAT DARN QUILT. I'm tying knots (only 9 more to go!) and listening to this when-I-was-in-college-era mix of mostly acoustic mousic (I'm leaving that typo because I like it) when a Mason Jennings song comes on that made my brain wax a wee bit philosophical. I thought a good blog pursuit would be something about being a "Renaissance Woman." That sounds so...touristy, to me, though. It didn't feel flattering. Like, "Oh I can be a renaissance man but I'm a female so I have to classify that with gender specific vocabulary" and I just wrinkled my nose at the sound of introducing myself as "The Renaissance Woman." I also pictured this horrifying scenario where I just start getting offers to perform at Renaissance fairs, totally not the same thing.

     So I did what any average human being does, and I Google search the term "Renaissance man." There it is! My inspiration! I had completely forgotten about the Greek word where the idea of Renaissance man originated- polymath. I love the way the word polymath flows, though! And as a newly discovered math teacher, who's been nerding hard over manipulative activities this summer, the word has the added bonus of containing the word "math."

     I have always envisioned myself spending my life learning to be good at whatever I'm doing. I anticipate that my life ventures may change every now and then because I'm a very flexible person with a large variety of interests. I love the idea of using this blog to be a platform to that journey of becoming a person who spent their time on Earth cultivating knowledge of all sorts. Do I have a cluster of more strong interests? Sure. There will probably be a lot more posts on this blog related to things I pursue often- baking/creative outlets, active lifestyle pursuits (I haven't talked about running yet, have I?)- but I hope that my journey to discover and learn can bring along all sorts of people with me. I'm sure there are many interests that I have yet to discover, and I hope that blogging about them when I do discover will leave behind a trail of inspiration for others to follow.