I was complaining to Jen, one of my key advisors, about my reluctance to train music teachers.

"I just don't want to insult them by teaching them about something so basic," I said.

"I'm going to say something that might sound strange," she said. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe this stuff isn't actually basic?"

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"It's a great gig," said the freelancer. "I mean, I have a master's in social work, not management. So I wonder if he'd be better off with someone else. But I'm happy to run this guy's office."

This social-worker-turned-office-manager was expressing a common belief: "I'm a stand-in for someone who could do the job better." It's one of the hallmarks of so-called imposter syndrome.

Here's the thing, though: That hypothetical person they could have hired who is better than you does not exist. If that person did exist, they would have the job. Instead, you have the job. Your boss, client, or partner picked you: the right person at the right time.

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Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it would take to write a book.

I am fascinated by the challenge of writing a book and how far away I feel from actually being able to do it. In particular, I can’t imagine ever being able to write a novel, which makes me want to challenge myself to figure out how to do it.

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My little cousin and her family released their Painted Lady butterflies from their butterfly garden recently.

One of the butterflies alit on the three-year-old’s wrist and contentedly remained there for a few minutes, to the child’s fascination and delight.

“I’m being very gentle with him,” she said, because it was true.

She wasn’t reassuring her parents. She wasn’t being defensive. She wasn’t even boasting. She was affirming herself, saying the words her mother might have said.

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I thought that I had gotten over so-called “imposter syndrome,” in which a person feels like a fraud, poorly qualified to do the things they’re doing (or want to do).

I remember when I could not — could not — create a website for my music. It felt totally phony to write a third-person bio (“Casey is a singer-songwriter who labors in obscurity…”) and when I went to write a first-person bio instead, I shut down completely. Years later, I felt grateful not to be there anymore. I could now start things and follow through on them. I could do the work that needed to be done (including writing bios) easily and without angst.

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