She was revealed, an imposter, not worthy of accolades, reverence, or appreciation of any minuscule degree. Not even worthy of a sympathetic pat on the back or a helping hand as she lay body deep in the sticky and sour filth of self-sacrificing confidence lost. It was clear for all to see, she could be sure! Her intellect – questionable, talent – scoff-able. Working on such pretense that she held skill, passion, and vision, for art and writing – ha, all untrue! All lies! How could she ever think she could be good enough? They all see it now or they will – I know it! Clear as the sun shines upon us from the clear heavenly skies above. The judging eyes expectantly – joyfully – gratifyingly survey her from under their pointed-up noses as she collapses under buckled knees to a place of utter and shameful failure. In the shadow of those living in ignorance of their arrogance, overconfident in their dulled awareness of their incompetence (the Dunning-Kruger effect) – we are self-deprecatory. This wretched imposter syndrome, where confidence and competence diverge – damn you. Never feeling worthy of honor. Those with feigned knowledge, think they know better in their entitlement, and expound their better judgment with pointed finger upon you. These ignoramuses hate you but mostly fear you.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”—Theodore Roosevelt
They are all lies, the ones you tell yourself, the ones they tell you because you ARE good enough. You are talented and intelligent. It really is the sacrifice of self when you doubt the good that you are, the good that you do, and your artistic gifts by allowing the judgment from others to overcome you. But here is the truth as bared in bright light, you are perfect the way you are – the way God, the Universe, whatever divine creator you believe in, made you to be. To love yourself and those that honestly reciprocate it, love what you do, and do it freely, with courage and humility, gratitude, without fear of judgment and expectations from others is to free yourself from a slow death and to enter into an ultra-awareness of the reality of the beautiful being that you are. I believe we all need to be the (wo)man in the arena and close our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds, to the critic who counts or points out how the strong man stumbled, and be the one who will live life falling and rising again stronger, with greater character, and a wiser soul. We need to fight for our right to be our authentic selves. And being an artist, a creative being, our expressions are the greatest gift to offer ourselves and the world – we need to get out of our own way.
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And remember, express yourself in any way that brings you joy and relief and share it with the world. You don’t owe it to anyone but yourself. Happy graphics, my friend.
Graphic Design (verb): the ultimate trust enhancers, content simplifiers and organizers, efficient and effective information communicators, emotion evokers, and cognition captivators.
Nancy Mues 