"Of All Trades" by ARK

Who is Jack? Why does he have all trades? Why hasn’t he mastered a single one?

Jack of All Trades, Master of None… I have never fully understood this concept. I have heard a lot of people use this phrase, but their usage is often different from one another.

(I am sleepy. If I overlook a grammatical error, it’s because my eyes are half-closed. The only thing keeping me awake right now is my urge to type this article. It’s not an important article. I just want to write it. Oh my… I almost spelled “write” as “right”. Stay alert, Ark.)

I have heard people use that phrase negatively. As if being a “jack of all trades” is a bad thing. According to those who have used it this way, when you are a jack of all trades, you tend to master nothing. Is that bad? 

Well, I guess so. You don’t have a specialty or an expertise in life. You must at least try to be good at something. And some of us are naturally gifted at certain things. That’s what talents are for.

Those, however, who are “good at everything”, are less likely to specialize in anything.

On the one hand, some people have used it positively. To them, if you are a “jack of all trades” you have the ability to do a wide range of different things. You can cook, sing, dance, act, rap, write and drive…basically anything you put your hands on is easy for you. You don’t have to focus on anything because you are capable of EVERYTHING.

To take note, these are not my opinion. I am simply stating how the people around me have used the said phrase. I guess it is according to a person’s point of view, whether they believe you should be flexible in doing any job or perform spectacularly at a single targeted activity.

The differences have confused me. Should I use the phrase positively or negatively? I guess that would be according to how I want it to be. Words aren’t words until you use them, so I might as well use it any way I want.

Am I a jack of all trades? I am really not so sure. All I know is that I try my best in everything I do so that I get good results. That doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t have my talents intact. I do have a few talents (though Dev is a really great acrobat, and that’s certainly very different).

To conclude this sleep-inducing blog entry, I will be the one to decide which side of the coin I’ll acknowledge when using this phrase…better yet, I will search for and ask Jack himself. 

You sleep tight now. J