Impostor Syndrome

[Cwadroon]

Then I ask my heart (my authentic self)

This is the best thing I've read on this forum yet, just sayin!

[Len911]

i've got the opposite problem, i'm struggling to get people to recognize my genious

Maybe it takes one to know one, rofl!!

Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. Garrison Keillor

[TimWalter]

Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. Garrison Keillor

Len, I take it from your ? post that you arent familiar with the NPR radio show (now in its last season after a 40+ year run) Prairie Home Companion.....

Its a 2 hour show done live from down town St Paul (and often from other places as a traveling show ) every Saturday nite and broadcast on most NPR stations. Its worth it for the musical talent alone... he has some incredible guests (mainly Americana, bluegrass, etc). Just his house band is killer... amazing... My sister got tickets for his show in Feb and the 3 of us (sis, BIL and me) all went to the show... it was amazing.... awe inspiring. he is a rare talent and will be missed. his signature bit was a 20 min or so monologue about a fictitiious place in Minnesota, Lake Woebegone, where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average". As I watched the show, i saw him reading most of the bits carefully off of the music stand in front of him, but when it came to the 20 min Lake Woebegone monologue, he walked around the stage looking at nothing in particular, and it was obvious he was doing it off the top of his head (probably with a predetermined framework that he memorized..) I was so impressed.

Anyway, thought Id fill in a little about the quote. If you get a chance to catch it on NPR, I highly recommend.
Tim

[TimWalter]

Anyone ever read the "War of Art"? Great books that are all about trying to conquer the "demons" that plague artists . An amazing producer I know turned me on to them, I would almost say they are life changing for people like us and I highly recommend them!

I just finished it today. Couldnt put it down once I started. Learned about it from this forum where someone referenced an archived Taxi TV show that Michael did about Rejecting Rejection. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/72094506 I watched the entire archived show, in it Michael referenced Pressfiellds books, i immediately ordered the War of Art and Doing the work (already had Turning Pro from Russell's recommendation in a Taxi profile)... I started reading it as soon as it came from Amazon.. It seems life changing.. if I can just hang on to the points that I rec'd the first time reading it. I plan to revisit it often.Tim

[Paulie]

Great thread. Here are some quotes related to the topic that might be useful, inspirational or entertaining.

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better. - Pat Riley

In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end. - Tom Seaver

I have a tremendous desire to learn, and to grow, and to develop whatever I have that will make for any kind of improvement in me. - Lawrence Welk

There is always space for improvement, no matter how long you've been in the business. - Oscar De La Hoya

The pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement. - George Will

The best way for a student to get out of difficulty is to go through it — Aristotle

I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to. -- Elvis Presley

Music is the silence between the notes. - anonymous

Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. – Salvador Dali

Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity – Charles Mingus

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, the just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while – Steve Jobs

[cardell]

Then I ask my heart (my authentic self)

This is the best thing I've read on this forum yet, just sayin!

Agreed.

Stuart

[cardell]

Every individual is an important part of a one world, one tribe.

Exactly! I had a long walk the other day thinking about people's fear of failure...
My conclusion, acknowledge my God given individuality...
Continue doing what I do, with purpose...
...and sleep well at night!

Wow, beautiful!

Stuart

[Len911]

Yes Tim, it's been decades? lol, since I used to listen to NPR on the radio.

Melody Messiah's post reminded me of that line. Because in Lake Wobegon, everyone was also a genius, so they would definitely recognize her genius,lol! Or maybe not the genius, but because she was a genius, naturally whatever fruit she bore would be genius.

[mojobone]

I feel a whole lot less like an impostor and more like I ran away with the circus a looong time ago, except I'm not a gypsy, anymore. Of course we're all impostors once, and I am no exception, but the craft is all about becoming; not 'build it and they will come', more, 'build it, (and build it, and build it some more) and figure out how to market it, lol. Nothing at all wrong with being an impostor, especially the kind that plays with Elvis Costello.

Musicians and singers (dancers and actors, too) are all impostors, expressing borrowed emotions for fun and hopefully, profit.

[hummingbird]

+1 Mojo