Sometime during my freshman year of college, (most likely after numerous late night crying phone calls), I received a card in the mail from my mom. It had a simple message and was signed with love.
I’m a fan of authenticity (breasts, purses, free range meat…) but she made a very good point. I could ‘fake’ it if it was in the name of progress! I don’t think I would have moved to Spain after college or pursued other adventures without harnessing the belief that fake courage almost always results in real confidence later down the road. Even today it’d be much easier for me to say, “I’m not a writer…” than for me to create a blog, throw some cat photos up and all the while channel my inner Barbara Kingsolver.
Los Angeles is the birthplace of “faking it til you make it” and it is evident almost everywhere you go. Now that I’m a grown up career gal (or something close to that) I feel like Bridget Jones at least once a week. Please view the following as reference:
In an attempt to save face and someday rule the world I did some ‘faking it’ research. I came across this book…
Because I’m the opposite of selfish I will share with you some of their advice;
-On how to change the subject from something you know nothing about while appearing to be intelligent.
This is the dismissive method.
“In the arts, it’s always safe to call things “reactionary”; it’s pretty much a conversation stopper because art is almost by definition reactionary to something. When it comes to sports, just say that an athlete or a team has been “coached up” and isn’t as good as everyone thinks. So-and-so is “just a system player.” And in literature, books can be “too precious for their own good” or have characters who are “woefully flat and under-developed.”
I shall be well prepared and versed, ready to join any circle of intimidating commentators. They’ll say, “Whoa! Who is that smart, professional, confident, cat loving woman?!”
(remember, faking it and lying aren’t exactly the same thing… don’t tell your hiring manager you can speak Chinese if you can’t, it backfires, trust me.)
