Y'know...I was thinking something similar. It's one
thing to be humble, but to suggest that one's own
writing wasn't "created by my own
power" goes a little beyond humility.
I used to speak similarly of my writing, saying that I
was just lucky to have been given the opportunities that
I was. Then a good friend responded with "lots
of people have opportunities...you acted on
them."
Life is part opportunity, part luck, part timing, and a
big part...hard work. It's kind of a shame that
Brockschmidt seems reluctant to credit himself with the
hard work that was doubtless necessary to get him where
he was. I sincerely doubt that it all "just
happened" to him, but that's the impression one
gets from reading that passage.
I can only say that if you want to understand what I
wrote, you should read and ponder the whole book rather
than relying on your impression of a single passage
(shame on you for making blanket assumptions about
people you've never met). It's important to read the
previous chapter because whatever work I had to do was
not "hard" for me at all. It was a
complete joy. Whatever credit I can take for the book
was my continued willingness to cooperate with a flow of
energy. But that's nothing special as far as I'm
concerned--it's something that everyone should strive
for.
Do I have a problem with praise? No...but I have a real
problem with people who try to prop others up on a
pedestal (as I wrote in the paragraph following the
excerpt quoted here from Chapter 11). This is nothing
but an excuse for utter laziness. If someone shows you
what you can yourself become, it's an invitation but
also a challenge because it shows us what we *aren't*.
So unless you want to put out the energy to grow, the
only other option is to elevate that person out of
reach. If we can make them seem
"special" enough, then we can safely
write them off as an extraordinary person and continue
living in our own ordinary ways.
True humility is neither saying "I
can" nor "I can't". Humility
is letting go of the "I" altogether
and seeing yourself rather as a channel for things to
happen though you. Then you can really accomplish
anything. But then why draw attention to yourself? If
good things happen, draw attention to their goodness.
So honestly, I don't personally identify with any of
this Imposter Syndrome stuff. People who know me would
NEVER accuse me of any such thing. In fact, I've been
accused more often of trying to be seen or trying to
promote myself!
In any case, I appreciate your pointing this out because
it'll help me clarify that part of the chapter. But do
try to be more careful with your assumptions in the
future.
Kraig: indeed. If I was wrong then accept my apologies.
However, I was merely making a small anecdote. Taken out
of context, your sentence reminded me of that post that
I have written about the Impostor syndrome that I have
felt. The intent was merely to point out that such a
sentence is a typical example of how one with this
feeling can regard themselves, and yes. I did not read
the whole book, but I did read a large chunk of it,
however, that sentence was meaningful enough to me to
blog about it and share it. It was, in no way to
criticize you, but rather to try and share a feeling
that I felt when I read it. Again, I apologize. In
hindsight, this post looks petty and out of context.