The One Thing

Well, vacation's over. Back to work. I spent 4 days in Augusta with my family. I love them and I miss them but they started to drive me crazy while I was there. I had thought I would get to sleep in and enjoy all the comforts of home as I had known them in high school, but my puppy woke me up every morning at 6:45. I did all the cooking because I wanted to, but even that became a chore. Strange how the meals seemed to get progressively worse as the week went on.

Not that any of them were bad, but the last one was not as good as the first. I've considered going to culinary school, but I don't know if I want to make a living cooking yet. It is the one area of my life I'm aggressively competitive in (if you tell me someone makes the best cheesecake or stew or veal you've ever had, I'll make it better and make you tell me it's better) and I find a Zen-like tranquility in the chopping, stirring and measuring (although my measurements don't require actual measuring tools.)

I am however, going to get my real estate license. I think it will be a good thing to have and since I can take the classes online, it won't interfere with my current job. Maybe I'll get that license, get my teaching certificate (which I want so the government will forgive my student loans) , go to culinary school and become a sort of feminine Mark Twain.

Is it better to be great at one thing or good at many things? I don't have that single minded passion that drives the people that are fantastically amazing at their ONE THING. It's a choice. I could devote all my time and energy into writing or cooking or what-have-you and when I'm THE BEST IN THE WORLD I'd tell myself that it was worth not doing anything else--not having explored other directions my life could have taken.

That's what those people do, right? They devote themselves to the mastery of One Thing, sacrificing everything else and believe it's worth it in the end. I can't--won't--do that. I want to be good at everything--but I admire their passion, determination and discipline.