I'm afraid I'm a generalist

There are so many interesting topics to read and write about. I feel overwhelmed. I know I owe an updated reflection post, but I'm not ready to reflect.

I'm organizing my thought and embracing my fears that I'm a generalist. Yes, some may call me a jack of all trades and master of none, and I'm okay with that. While I fear a life without sufficient specialization, I feel compelled to accept my lot in life and make the most of it. Although I must admit I'm envious of the specialist.

The specialist has the benefit of using his or her skills on ever increasing challenges. I imagine the enjoyment the specialist feels and the desire to lose himself in his work, which might as well be called play.

The generalist must find enjoyment through challenges as well. The generalist's challenges require reaching out wide and bringing back chaos, unfamiliarity, and confusion. He or she must make meaning out of that confusion in some form.

I'm dedicating myself to a challenge as a means to find enjoyment and develop new skills. It is an e-learning challenge and its based on a question I read on the e-learning circuits blog asked by a student of instructional design like me: do you have any suggestions where to start [learning about e-learning tools]? At the DevLearn 2008 conference, Robby Robson and I argued standards and design should be considered in addition to tools when folks are getting started in e-learning.

I want to reach my arms out wide and bring back all the designs, standards, and tools related to e-learning. I'm not yet sure what form the meaning will take. And while I hope the form is useful to others, it is meant to be a personal journey that I welcome visitors to join me on.