Embracing Beginner's Mind
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki This is the time of year when my schedule slows down and I get to be a dilettante again. Being a dilettante used to be a good thing. It meant that you were trying something new and being open to exploration. In today’s common usage, it is mostly derogatory, referring to someone who is an amateurish dabbler. dil-et-tante (n): somebody who is interested in an art or a specialized field of knowledge who has only a superficial understanding of it When it comes to photography and poetry, I am a dilettante (feel free to reference my prior blogs as proof). I admit my understanding of those subjects is superficial. And I embrace that. I embrace that purposefully. That was not always easy for me to do. When I first moved to New York City in 1993, I was so concerned with not looking like I stepped straight out of the cornfields of Ohio that I wouldn't stop and ask f...