• Writing

    Impostor Syndrome

    Imposter by umisef, on Flickr
    Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License  by  umisef 

    Do y’all know what Impostor Syndrome is? In a nutshell, it’s the feeling that, at any minute, something will happen to take something away from you that you thought was too good to be true. The feeling, deep down, that you don’t truly deserve it, and it must be some sort of cruel error.

    I keep expecting to get email or a phone call from Viable Paradise saying, “We made a really huge error and contacted you instead of the person with the actual talent, so never mind.”

    Yes, it’s silly. But it’s no less true. It’s the same feeling a lot of people get as graduation day approaches. They expect someone to rush on stage during their graduation ceremony and shout, “Wait! S/He didn’t earn that diploma! S/He neglected to take Underwater Tiddlywinks and his/her entire four years of college is now wasted!”

    Yes, I fully expected it all through my graduation from the University of Alabama. I was, frankly, stunned when they handed me my diploma and didn’t immediately snatch it back.

    In other news, I loathe my brain. This week can’t be done soon enough for me. Once I’m at VP, maybe Imposter Syndrome will go away.

    Suggested soundtrack: Carly Simon’s “Anticipation.” The Who’s “Who Are You?”