Scott Andrew

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This is an archived blog post that was posted on August 30, 2018.

Dilettante

For decades I've used that word to describe both my career and hobbies, and it's always had a sort of negative connotation. Dilettante. Jack of all trades; master of none. Rank amateur. Tourist. Unstudied noob, unworthy of serious consideration.

In other words, the path to impostor syndrome. Ha ha! Ha.

Apropos of nothing I recently found the dictionary definition:

dil•et•tante

n. (pl. dillentanti) - a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge. (mod.) "a dilettante approach to science."

Sounds a lot like beginner's mind to me. But then I latched onto this:

Origin

Mid 18th century Italian, from dilettare ("to delight"); from Latin delectare ("to be delighted; to enjoy being/doing")

To enjoy being. I like that very much.