live my life like a renaissance man (in my case woman)

After finishing school (will update that as soon as I take a picture with my diploma :D), I have decided that I will keep undergoing my own kind of study (autodidactism) with the help of Susan Wise Bauer and her mother’s books, The Well-Trained Mind and The Well-Educated Mind. Will come update this goal and switch the priorities around a little in the near future. Count on it! :)

On fire today with my updates!

Autodidactism on Wikipedia, for reference; more will be added to this note tonight.

To keep this little treasure trove in my larger goal place, I’ll post the link here to Self Made Scholar – I happened on this place a year or two ago, and never completely went through with it. Now that I have more motivation behind this goal, though, I plan on posting tips and a plan of action for this branch of my larger goal in a later post. Still to come are my inspirations, which I plan on adding at a later time. (Still have to get through my large list of library books, so don’t expect this until later!)

Also known as a “polymath,” according to Wikipedia :

“Well educated or who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields.” Empowered by the idea that “man can do all things if he will.”

From that article, there are two meanings to “renaissance man/woman,” the first meaning that one’s knowledge “cover[s] both the arts and the sciences and [does not] necessarily restric[t] this learning to the academic fields.” The second definition restricts this universal knowledge to the academic.

• Some expectations of the renaissance person: “A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages, play a musical instrument, write poetry, and so on, thus fulfilling the Renaissance ideal.”

• Further on in the article, citing Baldassare Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (a guide on becoming a polymath), a Renaissance era polymath is expected to be “have a detached, cool, nonchalant attitude, and speak well [kind of coinciding with an earlier goal, which is why I got rid of ‘speak clearly’], sing, recite poetry, have proper bearing, be athletic, know the humanities and classics, paint and draw and possess many other skills, always without showy or boastful behavior, in short, with sprezzatura ,” or nonchalance.

• Furthermore, a Renaissance man/woman should strive to “develop his capacities as fully as possible” (Britannica, “Renaissance Man”) both mentally and physically, and, as Castiglione suggests, without “affectation.”

• This should be made known that the term “Renaissance man/woman” is not to be confused with a jack of all trades, or a person who may dabble in more than one subject but hold amateur composite knowledge in these subjects. Therefore, this is quite a heady goal, but in my opinion, it is certainly worth the undertaking.

Linked to the definition of a polymath is that of the philomath, a lover of learning and although not necessarily a master of it. Another term thrown around in the article is “erudition,” which refers to “[...] the depth, polish and breadth that is applied to education from further readings and understanding of literary works. The Latin word educare means to “lead out” from ignorance; hence an educated person has come to think critically and logically.”

Coming later will be the second step of this goal: my inspirations and the traits I find unique and especially moving in them. Thank you kindly for your help, Wikipedia!