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...
# posted by Gabriel : Monday, October 09, 2006
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lighten up and come over.....i'll make u a big lovely turkey.......either that or cranberry muffins....
it's a lovely holiday, most people don't even know why it exists........it's lovely because it's a day off.
american's have the pilgrims; and we have - indian corn and conucopias?
it's a lovely holiday, most people don't even know why it exists........it's lovely because it's a day off.
american's have the pilgrims; and we have - indian corn and conucopias?
# posted by 
: Monday, 09 October, 2006
: Monday, 09 October, 2006
Mmmm... muffins. Would be great... a detour to Canada!
Well, all over the northern hemisphere people could be happy for the harvest this time of year... even without pilgrims I guess. But I have never heard of conucopias, so I wouldn't know.
Well, all over the northern hemisphere people could be happy for the harvest this time of year... even without pilgrims I guess. But I have never heard of conucopias, so I wouldn't know.
As a professional utopist, I have to add something about cornucopia. It is the future after all :-) At least on Star Trek. What I am talking about? The replicator of course, the deep future "horn of plenty".
Ahh... horns of plenty. What we in Sweden call "ymnighetshorn". Familiar with that concept. Must have first seen it in the coat of arms of my town of birth...
Could have googled it, as we do most of the time, to hide/cure my ignorance, but see, this turns out far more social and fun...
Could have googled it, as we do most of the time, to hide/cure my ignorance, but see, this turns out far more social and fun...
I believe I may have had a journalistic faux pas......either that or I made journalism fun....
and by the way.....what's with the absence of posts?
email me your address!!!! :D I had a tragic dissapearance of address book......
and by the way.....what's with the absence of posts?
email me your address!!!! :D I had a tragic dissapearance of address book......
# posted by : Saturday, 28 October, 2006
: Saturday, 28 October, 2006
u should join facebook.....just cuz its a north american fad......and what's the difference between canada and sweden? really.....
by the way. your royalties were here a couple of weeks ago and the friggin closed half the streets which is conveniant for those of us who don't live downtown....sigh
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by the way. your royalties were here a couple of weeks ago and the friggin closed half the streets which is conveniant for those of us who don't live downtown....sigh
# posted by : Monday, 30 October, 2006
: Monday, 30 October, 2006Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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