I recently attended a peer group for meditation teachers and the subject up for discussion was ‘imposter syndrome’.
All of us, without fail, said we’d experienced it.
In fact, I’ve only ever met one person who said they’d never experienced it.
“Why would I?” she said. “I’m not an imposter. I’m me, I can’t be anyone else.”
While that sounds logical, in reality that’s not how most of us feel.
Imposter syndrome, or phenomenon, was first described by psychologists Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance in 1978.
According to the BetterUp website, with imposter syndrome, a person doesn’t feel confident or competent, regardless of what they achieve. They don’t experience the joy of success because they are always waiting for their inadequacy and fraudulence to come to light.
This week I came across a beautiful poem that I think really expresses what this can feel like.
It really taps into that whole feeling of ‘I’m not good enough’.
So I thought I’d share it with you:
Breathe by Becky Hemsley – Talking to the Wild
she sat at the back
and they said she was shy
she led from the front
and they hated her pride
they asked her advice
and then questioned her guidance
they branded her loud
then were shocked by her silence
when she shared no ambition
they said it was sad
so she told them her dreams
and they said she was mad
they told her they’d listen
then covered their ears
and gave her a hug
while they laughed at her fears
and she listened to all of it
thinking she should
be the girl they told her to be
best as she could
but one day she asked
what was best for herself
instead of trying
to please everyone else
so she walked to the forest
and stood with the trees
she heard the wind whisper
and dance with the leaves
she spoke to the willow,
the elm and the pine
and she told them what she’d been told
time after time
she told them she never
felt nearly enough
she was either too little
or far, far too much
too loud or too quiet
too fierce or too weak
too wise or too foolish
too bold or too meek
then she found a small clearing
surrounded by firs
and she stopped and she heard
what the trees said to her
and she sat there for hours
not wanting to leave
for the forest said nothing…
it just let her breathe
Another reason why sitting in nature is such a good thing to do!
Escape the noise and all the negative chatter… and just breathe.
Oh, and you ARE good enough 😉
Ann 🙏