The saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” has undoubtedly amassed a reputation for being a cliche by now in the year 2020. This phrase carries, in itself, a kind of connotation that I could relate to more and more as the years went by. Growing up, I had always been more creatively inclined than I was analytical or systematic. I remember my first ever medium of art was scrap-booking and drawing. I had so many drawings at one point that I gave them all to my grandfather, who then taped them all up on the empty wall of his bedroom. The mosaic stretched from the ceiling, wall to wall, and all the way down to his bed.
I wasn’t always so easily accepting of this reality though, and in the past I would constantly desire and compare the natural talent that my peers had for their respective skill. I had just wanted to excel in one thing— like truly stand out, whether it only be the guitar, dance, painting or something like that. I didn’t want to be the jack of all trades but master of none. For a long time, I got discouraged in all the mediums of artistic expression that I used to find so much joy in. I felt like it was pointless to do so much, just to be mediocre at everything. I started to question why I even created and put out artwork if I wasn’t even good at what I liked to do. The answer is simple. I create art because I like it. Because I want to. Because it is something that brings me joy in life, despite my skill level.
The answer has always been there; before I started playing the guitar, before I joined dance and theatre in ninth grade. I was the happiest and least concerned with my art when I was back at my grandparents’ living room table, drawing pictures of whatever came into my head at four years old. Somewhere along the way, I had learned to let self-criticism and judgment eclipse my love for just creating. This type of mentality is most prevalent in adults, for as we grow up, we oftentimes let self-doubt cloud our better judgment of our abilities and what we naturally enjoy doing. It took me some time to shed this mindset, but it was one of the most important steps towards reclaiming my artistic expression again for no one but myself. Although the full saying is lesser-known, the commonly disregarded ending makes all the difference: “Jack of all trades, master of none, oftentimes better than master of one.”