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This was the theme for my former professional practice website, in honor of Margaret Lobenstine. Ms. Lobenstine passed peacefully in 2015. In 2006, her seminal book, The Renaissance Soul, helped me and countless others form a framework for my life and career.
Ms. Lobenstein's 2013 edition update, The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life, provided additional guidance for people who often are engaged in multiple areas of interest at any given time.
In April 2015, Emile Wapnick presented a TED Talk that addressed why some of us do not have one true calling in life.
As Emily illustrated, Renaissance Souls have multiple callings throughout life, which makes life exciting and oftentimes quite challenging to manage.
Do you have a friend or family member that is engaged in more than one career profession or trade at any given time? Or a family member who transitions from interest to another every year or so?
Leonardo Da Vinci, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt are historical examples of Renaissance Souls who had a broad range of interests, mastered multiple disciplines and created innovative advances and breakthroughs in many different fields over the course of their lives.
Renaissance Souls include Steve Martin (actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, comedian, producer, Grammy winning musician), Seth Godin (Marketer, Entrepreneur, Author, Educator) and George Burns (comedian, actor, singer, and writer).
If you take a moment and reflect, I'll bet you can name several people in your life that are viewed as successful, who are seen as having achieved significant accomplishments as they traveled different career paths during their life. These people can be considered Renaissance Souls.
You can think of Renaissance Souls as the character actors you encounter in life. We often choose to be in supporting roles; sometimes we even find ourselves playing the leading man or lady in an organization for a period. As with character actors in movies and theatre, what's tough for the people in our life is attempting to pin down our true nature and personality, as it's constantly evolving.
Renaissance Souls are different from most people in our society. We have an innate sense of curiosity about the world in which we live. That curiosity drives us to pursue continuous lifelong learning, which enables us to make contributions in the many areas that are of interest to us.
We are blessed with passion, creativity, ability, and a relentless drive to live each day like it is going to be our last day of this Earthly adventure. This perspective leads Renaissance Souls to learn, gain skills and master multiple disciplines and professions. This enables us to contribute to the society in which we live in a variety of ways.
You Cannot Live an Extraordinary Life by Doing What Ordinary People Do. (Reece Robertson, 2018)
The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life. (Margaret Lobenstein, 2013)
The Renaissance Soul Test. (Margaret Lobenstein, Get Unstuck!, 2016)
On Being a Renaissance Soul. (Wendy Scott, 2013)
