Monday, October 09, 2006
Fake it until you make it
Right now autumn is upon us even here in southern Sweden after another uncannily long summer. Dead leaves and dirty ground... Yesterday was actually the Swedish Thanksgiving, which is today a rather unknown affair, and not celebrated outside churches. No turkeys. A variety of local harvest festivals occur though, frequently around 29th of September, Archangel Mike's Eve according to the old Swedish calendar. And later on in November it is time to slaughter the geese...
Anyway, another kind of harvest is to finally cash in on your studies and finally make it as a professional. This is happening now, these years, this autumn too, for a lot of people around me: To finally be able to work with what you wanted to do for maybe a long time, to provide for yourself and be accepted as a full-fledged member of society.
In this situation I think there is often a feeling that you will suddenly be exposed as a fraud, be kindly removed of you new duties and replaced by someone real. This feeling doesn't have to come with the suspicious looks of others, it can come from within. I think it is no surprise that a generalist, maybe with no solid, tangible professional identity to rely on, is often affected by these thoughts. It takes a whole lot of confidence to be immediately convinced of your worth, when you know that what you are doing is only one of the many very different tasks that you could have been assigned to.
As a doubtful humanist (or social scientist, we are in the same boat), ...well, know that you are in good company, I have heard these experiences from very different directions... And rest assured that humbleness, doubt and the ability to harbour weakness and conflicting perspectives are all seen as good things, by surprisingly many people. Both in work situations - and in private. Maybe hearing this from others, will provide some strength in numbers...
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Well, have to get out of this meta-thinking for now: some reporting in English will be edited, among other things. Will keep you posted...
Anyway, another kind of harvest is to finally cash in on your studies and finally make it as a professional. This is happening now, these years, this autumn too, for a lot of people around me: To finally be able to work with what you wanted to do for maybe a long time, to provide for yourself and be accepted as a full-fledged member of society.
In this situation I think there is often a feeling that you will suddenly be exposed as a fraud, be kindly removed of you new duties and replaced by someone real. This feeling doesn't have to come with the suspicious looks of others, it can come from within. I think it is no surprise that a generalist, maybe with no solid, tangible professional identity to rely on, is often affected by these thoughts. It takes a whole lot of confidence to be immediately convinced of your worth, when you know that what you are doing is only one of the many very different tasks that you could have been assigned to.
As a doubtful humanist (or social scientist, we are in the same boat), ...well, know that you are in good company, I have heard these experiences from very different directions... And rest assured that humbleness, doubt and the ability to harbour weakness and conflicting perspectives are all seen as good things, by surprisingly many people. Both in work situations - and in private. Maybe hearing this from others, will provide some strength in numbers...
---
Well, have to get out of this meta-thinking for now: some reporting in English will be edited, among other things. Will keep you posted...
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