Day 72: A publishing company once asked for proof of my social media footprint. “I must be angelic,” I tried, “for I leave no footprints.” They didn’t go for that. They also asked for my tagline. “Um, my favorite tagline is FINAL CLEARANCE.” That’s not what they wanted, either. So I dabbled in website creation long enough to leave a fledgling footprint Sherlock Holmes would be challenged to find, yet acceptable to the publisher.
The tagline was harder. Sum yourself up in one sentence, they instructed. Seemed a bit rude. I don’t like sorting people into categories. At all. I ended up with this: Happy Dabbler. Midster Writer. Aspiring Contributor to Humanity. That’s my tagline. They didn’t reject it, so it stuck. They must not have realized I made up “midster writer.” It was the only way I could explain my haphazard in-the-midst-of-everything-else-I-have-to-do-in-my-day writing style, which isn’t a very succinct tagline.
The happy dabbler line came easier, because of my mom. She wasn’t afraid to dabble. Or maybe she just had to try really hard to keep me off the streets. We tried our hand at so many things. Mom graduated high school during WWII, married, and raised a family. She didn’t go to college, but she was a learner. In the days before web-surfing and TED talks and You Tube University, my mom was a dabbler. She learned by trying. Some tries were successful and became a hobby or talent or skill. Some tries were epic failures. I can still hear my nephew saying “Oh, Grandma! You’ve created a monster!” after tasting her latest creation. She wasn’t dissuaded by the failures. She simply dabbled in something new.
We shouldn’t be afraid to dabble. How else will we know if we rock at it? Taglines aren’t necessary, but dabbling should be. More dabbling tomorrow. #MomsCompanyTowels #HappyDabbler #WhatsYourTagLine
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