What goals drive your behavior? What challenges excite your passions? Can you name a few activities that renew and revive you?
With a little thought, these answers will come. We all have driving goals, exciting challenges, and energizing activities. Whether we consciously know what these goals, challenges, and activities are, they motivate us. But until we make them conscious, they are nothing more than motivators. By forcing them to be a part of our daily routine, we can turn them into a personal renaissance.
Unfortunately, I can't claim to completely understood my own renaissance. No matter how much we simplify, life is complicated. Regardless of how simple they seem at first, our goals end up being loftier than expected. But I recognized that I needed to tame these complications and overconfidence. It took a particular exercise to provide the insight that allowed my personal renaissance to take shape.
Taking a thinking day helped define my personal renaissance... a life-long pursuit of discovering, learning, and creating.
Sitting at work, tired of countless emails and interruptions, I took a "thinking day" to redefine important priorities in my job. Many thoughts raced through my head that day. But one imaginative exercise in which I pictured myself ten years in the future, set the stage for my renaissance and Modern da Vinci.
Surprisingly, I pictured myself doing something quite different than my current profession. I imagined myself studying, learning, inventing, and working to help people solve complex problems with creative solutions. I pictured myself healthy, confident, and knowledgeable on a broad range of topics--a true modern renaissance man--always interesting, and always helpful.
Of course, not all men or women picture themselves studying and inventing in their day job. Those aspirations were my own; personal in nature and driven by my character. But many of us do picture ourselves as healthy, confident, and knowledgeable people. I knew I could pursue these goals myself, but also wondered if I could help others to the same. If I were to do so, I would have to make this pursuit public. Hence, Modern da Vinci was born. It was a way to publicize newfound knowledge, discuss enlightening experiences, and help others find their path to becoming a confident, engaging, helpful, lifelong learner.
With that in mind, it’s worth taking a moment to recognize the incredible period of history in which we live. Never before have we better understood freedom, technology, culture, art, or science. Like the classical 14th century European Renaissance period, modern art, music, and technology flourish. At times, it feels like we are crossing a bridge between our age and the ultra-modern, high-tech, culturally beautiful future.
I often wonder if, looking through history books 500 years from now, children learn about the 21st century as a modern renaissance period. I often wonder if we should recognize this for ourselves today. Perhaps by recognizing it we can build a bridge to such a future. Perhaps by staying curious, by always learning, and by following our passions we can better identify opportunities and live a fuller life with fewer regrets.
We live in a time where nearly every city is full of countless possibilities. Art, music, and technology flourish all around us. We live in an amazing time where all of us can create, learn, and follow our passions.
Now more than ever, it's important to study, learn, invent, stay healthy, and push yourself to grow. You have limitless opportunities at your fingertips with which to inspire yourself and others. Through Modern da Vinci, I hope to inspire others to push themselves to become more knowledgeable, grow more confident, and achieve more. It all starts with defining your personal renaissance.
I sincerely hope you are inspired to create and maintain your personal renaissance. Find your passions and explore them. Keep your curiosity and dig into life. Most importantly, never stop learning. And while your renaissance will change (sometimes daily), you will carve your path through life and be able to seize any opportunity along the journey.
One example of a modern day renaissance man is Brendan McCaughey, who runs the blog 27th Renaissance (http://27threnaissance.com/). Brendan pushes the boundaries of what is humanly possible… always learning, always striving for a better version of himself. Through Twitter, Brendan and I came to know each other and decided to share our renaissance here. You will find his story is influential in defining your renaissance:
Brendan McCaughey with 27th Renaissance
Pantheon is derived from the Ancient Greek "Pantheon" (Πάνθεον) meaning "of, relating to, or common to all the gods” —Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome)
Polymath, expert generalist, renaissance man. All representative of the life-long learners quest, the quest for full potential. Is a person made to fit into a narrow niche? Or, to expand across all fields of achievement? I believe everybody can have more than just one skill, talent, or ability that can be developed to a high level. Not everybody who chooses a singular role and perfects it is settling in life. Personally, I would feel like I was settling for less than I’m truly capable of, by going for one thing. Not going after all the things that fascinate me would haunt me. I enjoy learning, practicing, and immersing myself in many diverse realms. Many true experts are without a doubt some of the most disciplined and committed individuals to live throughout human history. But, countless souls may never even reach their full potential in any one endeavor. Falling into the grey and forgotten hinterlands between amateur and master. There is however, a rare breed: a breed that is diverse yet singular, masterful yet child like, competent and curious. This rare breed is the Renaissance (Wo)man. The path of renaissance is not reserved for the masculine. Truth be told woman are just as adept if not better at becoming skilled in a wide repertoire of capabilities. Anybody can choose to learn, practice and master many things.
Within everybody there is a higher calling, (or callings). For many they may have gone dormant, but deep within it remains. A spark of inspiration, or a faint voice saying—“Imagine that! Go. Go after that!” Listen to that voice and try what you’ve always wanted. Your path to renaissance begins with the clear understanding of what the ultimate version of yourself would look like. And, what capabilities they would have. Can you imagine if you were able to do everything that you’d ever dreamed of? Do this as an exercise: write down notes, record audio, or even make a video…what would I be able to do if I’d learned everything that interested me? What if I let all my passions express themselves? What things when looking back on your life in it’s last stages you’d regret not doing, or wonder to yourself what you could have done had you just tried. Those are the things to consider when defining your Renaissance. If I look at my list it’s the ultimate realization of allowing myself to have dreams and share them. Building the skills necessary to reach even 50% of what I’ve listed will make me into a much better man. There’s something cool about working on a list like this. Once certain skills become absorbed, practiced, and repeated until enough mastery has been attained something interesting happens, the list becomes shorter. Shorter because mastering the right skills first, can speed up the ability to learn and absorb others. Learning how to learn is the gift and ultimate reward from defining and pursuing your own renaissance. Learn a second language like French; Italian and Spanish become that much easier. Understand how to de-bone a chicken, and duck, pheasant, and turkey become simplified. Learn oratory, and political power can follow. Some abilities may seem completely separate or disconnected, but their connectivity reveals itself through pursuing deep and diverse learning. Masters can draw inspiration from anywhere. Their brains remain connected to the core of their abilities and constantly curious. A trip to the cinema could spark a new painting, essay, or piece of music. A view to an art gallery may give the Master Chef insight into a new dish. Learning how to learn, keeps the brain fully active, and a lifetime of enjoyment can ensue.
The intricacies of a Tibetan Sand Mandala--complex, masterful, and with multitudes of individual aspects making a complete entity.
I compel you to define what your renaissance means—if you’re reading this you’ve got one to craft. Become part of the under-recognized Renaissance Period we’re all currently a part of. Every industry and field is having a renaissance as technology and information become widespread. It’s easier now to be a person of renaissance than ever before. Leonardo Da Vinci would absolutely be Crushing it today. Just imagine what someone who was so diversely masterful could do in our day and age. Then think of what we the individual are doing. Can we do more, be more and become more? Yes. Let’s craft our own renaissance. Are you with me?