Alessandra asked me to put together this blog post over a month ago. And… the file sat open on my desktop since then. Staring me down. A post about imposter syndrome literally making me feel more and more like an imposter myself the more I tried to talk about it. Each time I came close to dropping it here into the website, sighing and closing my laptop in… fear? shame? what exactly kept holding me back?
As someone whose passions, education, training, and career have taken “the long and winding path” I have at times had to put extra effort into proving my skillset in absence of external stamps of approval. And, yes, some feel my varied box of tools is admirable… and many dismiss my lack of a certified paper-trail as being a perpetual-paid-amateur.
“A Jack of all trades, master of none” was set into my consciousness early in childhood. At times the title will be given as praise when someone shows a wide range of skills, other times it is used to put someone down for not having deeper knowledge in a particular field.
The phrase originated in 1592 when author Robert Greene published it dismissively referring to actor-turned-playwright William Shakespeare. If Shakespeare is subject to being labeled a multi-discipline amateur… the search for bullet-proof validation is a no-win game for any of us. To be a generalist can be dismissed for being a superficial dilettante, while a specialist can be accused of not seeing the forest for the trees.
Alessandra reassured me, “Having something you are passionate about or even a change in your path or study or not having a degree at all doesn’t make your passion less than those around you.”
She went on, “Doing something because you love it is a valid enough reason to have a voice in it. You’d be surprised who also doubt and question themselves as well. Many who suffer from imposter syndrome are those even you would least expect. Brilliant artists, scientists, and celebrities have spoken about this dilemma in their own careers. The pressures of social media to the pressures of our career or academia reinforces it all.”
“Sure,” I said, “But knowing someone with a stellar resume feels doubt about their credentials isn’t necessarily quieting those voices that keep me from publishing this post…”
“Well,” she countered, “It IS easy to sit here and say ‘don’t listen to them.’ Especially as someone who internally questions my voice and knowledge- but working through it is the best remedy. To indulge yourself in your joy. My own doubt stems from my own nontraditional path to how I got to where I am today. Self educating, researching, learning along the way to mentorships, I don’t have a typical natural science background. Questions like, how did you learn all this? Which are benign and fun questions but leave an underlying doubt. However, looking back, those are years of hard work. The room being used by questioning and doubting your worth can be used more wisely or should I say not given any room at all. You were going to study and do better and try harder anyways so why not celebrate your successes and experiments. We are all just human right?”
So there it is. Take the time and energy being pulled by the self-doubt and imposter syndrome symptoms and redirect it back to your passions and work at hand. The world needs more love and dedication to what inspires us. Our time is precious and fleeting, let it be curious, joyful, exploratory, and expressive. We’re all a “jack-of-all-trades” in one way or another.
Laura Pensar, for OracleKC