A Niche of One from Many
Your niche is a thread through two or more creative interests.
“Identify the thread connecting multiple interests. You need not settle for one.” — The Prolific Creator
We are natural born multipotentialites.
Out of many creative interests...
Comes a niche of one.
We choose to be specialists. But we are natural born explorers. Our creative interests are many and varied. The more space we make for these interests, the more fulfilling life becomes.
Society forces us to specialize in one interest area, but this external pressure stunts our growth creatively. Although one may pay the bills, the others feed the soul. Creative diversity makes us better all around.
A physician who composes music and delights in being a home chef is a better physician.
An engineer who loves to paint landscapes and salsa dance is a better engineer.
A marketer who exercises a knack for interior decorating and hand-dipped candles is a better marketer.
Why simply specialize in one and treat the others as hobbies? Some of those interests inevitably combine in interesting ways. Just as ideas know no boundaries, neither do creative interests.
A minimalist futurist author
A war reporter historian
A creativity astrologer herbalist
A niche of one starts with the exploration of our creative interests. It culminates in the emergence of a unifying thread through some number of them. This thread is only seen in retrospect from repeated, diverse acts of creation.
From many interests emerges a niche of one. The niche is not a specialization in one interest. It is a merging of interests with our own unique perspectives born from experience.
Don’t settle for specialization. Make space for your interests. Allow them to blend in interesting ways like a palette that allows its colors to mingle. What is uniquely you will slowly emerge while you enjoy each act of creation.
Become a niche of one from many.
For a lengthier treatment of this concept, read Sana Ahmed’s How to Create A Niche of One.
🤔 Food for Thought:
What pays the bills?
What else do you do in your spare time?
Do you make space, no matter how small, for your creative interests?
⚙️ One Small Step:
Brainstorm a list of your interests. Include anything you would like to do if money or time wasn’t a concern. My list was three pages long before I stopped. Pick a small one and make a little space for it next week.