Last night, I was deeply touched by an incident, the very fact of which makes a total hypocrite of me.
A friend told me that I am good at what I do - and she meant, professionally. She spoke with certainty, although she has never seen any of my work. In fact, she isn't 100% certain what it is exactly that I do. Although this friend is in many other ways vastly more gifted than I am, please don't think me arrogant for saying that I am 'cleverer' (for want of a better word) than she is. I don't think she'd dispute it.
She often asks me what it is that I do, and I explain it as best I can, while she stares attentively at me. You can all but hear the wheels turning as she wills herself to grasp this alien concept. But she is forced to admit defeat every time. Last night she related how she recently told her husband, "You know, I still don't know what it is that Karyn does, but I know she does it very well." I asked what she had to go on. She lifted her chin and said, "I just know."
Now, if Mark Berthelemy tells me I'm good at what I do, I take that as an enormous compliment. Mark knows exactly what I do... and he's seen my work. In fact we've worked together.
But there's just something deeply touching about the totally unfounded, deeply seated loyalty of a friend.
How wonderfully illogical we humans are!
Friday, November 20, 2009
On being a hypocrite
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3 comments:
Hi Karyn,
I stand by what I wrote on your LinkedIn profile a while back:
"Karyn is passionate about learning and about learners. She develops highly creative solutions that fit the needs and the contexts of her learners. She is actively engaged in the wider learning & development community, and brings what she learns there to her personal practice."
Yes, you're good at what you do!
@Mark Thank you very much! I deeply value your good opinion.
Have you heard what the Buddhist monk said to the hot dog vendor? he said, "Make me one with everything."
We all like praise, even from the ignorant... but of course there's nothing quite as satisfying as being 'the critic's choice', while at the same time being the people's princes must have it's own attraction (don;t ask me what it is).
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