What Am I An Expert At?
My gut response: Nothing. But of course that's not true, is it? One can't have reached my age (and no, I'm not saying what it is) without being becoming an expert at something.
Or well, yes, one can.
There is a difference between being an expert at something and being 'merely' good at it. But that difference is subjective, isn't it? To a certain significant degree, it's a matter of comparison, as in, "Compared to A, B is an expert, but in comparison to C, she's 'merely' knowledgeable." But again, it's really a judgment call, a rather subjective one.
So what am I an expert at?
Writing. To a degree, yes.
(The problem, of course, is that the more one advances in a given field, the more one becomes aware of just how much more one has to master. In short, the more knowledgeable or skilled you become, the more ignorant or inept you might feel. So, in the end, confidence can actually decrease in inverse proportion to an increase in skills.
Am I overthinking this? Probably. I tend to do that.
Back to the question at hand...)
Am I an expert at child-rearing? No, definitely not. My kids practically raised themselves. Did an excellent job of it, too. I was there to give them some praise and direction, but basically they did most of the heavy-lifting themselves.
What about editing? Yes, I'm good at that. Quite good, I think. But I wouldn't say expert. (On the other hand, when I see what some of the so-called experts do -- or rather don't do -- to copy, then I wonder ...)
Why am I busying my thoughts with this question to begin with? Well, it's partly because I wanted a topic for my blog today, and in wondering what to write about, I wondered what I was good at -- no, expert at. I decided I wasn't an expert at anything, but then an inner voice argued otherwise, and so it began.
The question also arose because of an article I read called "Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck: Reporters vs Experts." The author urges writers not to pretend that they are experts at something when writing about it, but to write about the one thing about which they are truly expert, and that is their own struggle to master a given skill or subject.
Hmmm ... Interesting. That begs the question of (a) Just how honest should I be? (b) Just how honest do I want to be? and (c) Just how honest do I really want to be?
To make matters even more complicated, the answer changes according to the topic: Are we talking about my efforts to write, to be a good mother, a good friend, to learn Internet Marketing, to learn how to bake bread, or what?
Obviously, I have a different level of expertise depending on the subject. Hmm... no radical insights there.
In the end, I think the one thing I'm expert at, is being an expert at nothing. I know how to be a generalist. I'm a super generalist! I can generalize anybody under the table! I can bone up on a subject just hard enough to impress someone, then blithely forget about it. I have, in fact, an uncanny ability to forget.
Now that, I think, takes talent.
Or well, yes, one can.
There is a difference between being an expert at something and being 'merely' good at it. But that difference is subjective, isn't it? To a certain significant degree, it's a matter of comparison, as in, "Compared to A, B is an expert, but in comparison to C, she's 'merely' knowledgeable." But again, it's really a judgment call, a rather subjective one.
So what am I an expert at?
Writing. To a degree, yes.
(The problem, of course, is that the more one advances in a given field, the more one becomes aware of just how much more one has to master. In short, the more knowledgeable or skilled you become, the more ignorant or inept you might feel. So, in the end, confidence can actually decrease in inverse proportion to an increase in skills.
Am I overthinking this? Probably. I tend to do that.
Back to the question at hand...)
Am I an expert at child-rearing? No, definitely not. My kids practically raised themselves. Did an excellent job of it, too. I was there to give them some praise and direction, but basically they did most of the heavy-lifting themselves.
What about editing? Yes, I'm good at that. Quite good, I think. But I wouldn't say expert. (On the other hand, when I see what some of the so-called experts do -- or rather don't do -- to copy, then I wonder ...)
Why am I busying my thoughts with this question to begin with? Well, it's partly because I wanted a topic for my blog today, and in wondering what to write about, I wondered what I was good at -- no, expert at. I decided I wasn't an expert at anything, but then an inner voice argued otherwise, and so it began.
The question also arose because of an article I read called "Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck: Reporters vs Experts." The author urges writers not to pretend that they are experts at something when writing about it, but to write about the one thing about which they are truly expert, and that is their own struggle to master a given skill or subject.
Hmmm ... Interesting. That begs the question of (a) Just how honest should I be? (b) Just how honest do I want to be? and (c) Just how honest do I really want to be?
To make matters even more complicated, the answer changes according to the topic: Are we talking about my efforts to write, to be a good mother, a good friend, to learn Internet Marketing, to learn how to bake bread, or what?
Obviously, I have a different level of expertise depending on the subject. Hmm... no radical insights there.
In the end, I think the one thing I'm expert at, is being an expert at nothing. I know how to be a generalist. I'm a super generalist! I can generalize anybody under the table! I can bone up on a subject just hard enough to impress someone, then blithely forget about it. I have, in fact, an uncanny ability to forget.
Now that, I think, takes talent.
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