local anon · 8d
Very interesting convos recently. May I pick your brain on impostor syndrome (and "fake it till you make it" since I believe it was also mentioned, pardon me if it wasn't). I'd love your two cents on these matters. They've been discussed for a long time and I remember seeing them in interviews, one of Seth Godin stuck with me where he said impostor syndrome is a feeling of being a fraud, unprepared, and he suggests you can't get rid of it, and you shouldn't want to as it's a sign you're healthy, to quote. I don't agree that you cannot get rid of it nor the absolute "shouldn't" (((even though I don't know how one could get rid of it))) but I like his thoughts when he mentions "it's a sign that you're healthy, it's a sign that you're doing good work- because if you're trying to invent the future, of course you're an impostor because you haven't seen the future yet".
I hope you don't mind me quoting him. I still stand by my question which is, I'm knees down for your two cents regardless of my thoughts and musings in your askbox (though if it doesn't drive you mad and you disagree with the statement, all the more entertaining)! Cheers!
huh. I think that quote is poetic but also means absolutely nothing.
'imposter syndrome' is a defined term about the phenomenon of feeling as though you don't deserve recognition, credit or acclaim for the valid and earned labor that you perform. For example, you don't think you deserve a promotion you got because you somehow conned everyone around you to think you're good at your job when the simpler reality is you're good at your job, you just don't recognize that you are.
It's not ambiguous and to redefine it for some kind of allegorical journey of how to manifest a creative future is pretentious, to say the least.
as far as getting rid of it... uh, yes? you can? very easily, actually? because the practical reality to counteract that is to recognize your worth and the worth of your labor. I know because it's been my job for the past 5 years to coach and talk artists through how to excise the toxicity out of the relationship with their creativity.
trust me, 'imposter syndrome' is really not something I deal with or, if I have ever dealt with it, then I dealt with it so efficiently I don't even remember having it. I'm someone who actually does acknowledge I worked and studied hard for the things I made and I have absolutely no problem demanding others to recognize the validity of my work.
I respect Godin has his personal view of how he relates to his own art and power to him, but his thoughts has absolutely nothing to do with an emotional dysfunction that is extremely very treatable with some simple CBT counselling. I'd be extremely cautious of listening to anyone who romanticizes that.
