I stayed up late last night to participate in a west coast book launch on FaceBook. The book is: Living Like Lions by J.R. Duren and the launch began with this video of quotes from C.S. Lewis.
Nice touch.
J.R. is an author, artist and musician who lives in Spain with his wife Heather, and their cute dog Charlie.
In the course of the conversation with guest and worship leader Kennon Bickhart: mention was made of The Imposter Syndrome.
J.R. asked Kennon: "This
internal struggle...the fluctuating between feeling inadequate and
feeling over-confident...do you think this is something common among all
artists?"
Kennon Bickhart: "I
do. You even find it in other professions. I see many web programmers
who struggle with this as well. They call it the imposter syndrome,
which I think is accurate."
Wikipedia defines it as: The impostor syndrome, sometimes called impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome, is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize
their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence,
those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not
deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed
as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they
are more intelligent and competent than they believe themselves to be.
Have you ever felt like a 'poser'?
I have heard from some very well published authors that they feel as if one day they will be discovered to be the fraud they are. Silly.
But then I recall the time I went to Haiti as a medical missionary, pulled teeth and performed minor mouth surgeries in the poorest of conditions; how at times I couldn't believe the patient actually got numb after an injection, or was so thankful, having been alleviated of their tooth and toothache. But I have the photos to prove I was there and did those things. I wasn't posing (slang for pretend or mimic) after all.
Our mind can play tricks on ourselves.
Objective feedback is so important for writers. It keeps your feet on the ground, and ones head out of the clouds.
But when it is your day to celebrate your books launch- go for it. Have a party, invite your friends.
