I wish I was an expert of something.
I was watching a show the other day on football (or soccer if you prefer). It was one of those shows where a panel of experts sit around a table lead by a moderator and talk for an hour on a common subject. Everyone has their own opinion and they either all agree or don't but the common denominator is they all know what they're talking about. They can belt out dates, names, scores, games, anecdotes, etc.
It made me wish I was an expert at something. I wish I could sit at a table with a round of panelists and be able to hold my own on a subject that I knew by heart. That I could spit out opinions and comments with assurance and confidence and know that I wasn't saying anything stupid. It would be so cool if I could challenge another fellow expert and have the other people around the table nod in silent agreement as I spoke.
It made me ask myself what could be my field of expertise:
fashion? nah... I may know the names of some of the major fashion designers and have read Ana Wintour's autobiography but I doubt very much I could hold the fort when talking about collections and fashion shows.
entertainment then? Movies, music, tv shows... I do have a rather extensive knowledge in the domain being the couch potato that I am but I could never be called an expert. There are hundreds of classic movies I have never seen and I am more interested in a particular type of movie than in the genre itself so I doubt I could ever become the next Dawson. It's pretty much the same with music.
Then what then? Travels: not by a long shot... most of the time I have to go back to the travelers guide of the places we've been to in order to remember the names of towns or places when uploading pictures to the blog.
I do enjoy reading celebrity gossip and could probably put up a decent fight if confronted by a panel of experts, but who wants to be proud of that?
How about what I work at? Shareholding Issuer and Corporate Trust Services??? Are you kidding me?!
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....................
Okay, I just realized something. I'm 30 years old and I'm an expert at moping.
Fned.
12 comments:
heheeh at least you can mop! My moping was awful according to my grandma ;) mmmm what about a hobby? you can become and expert on that, like all what it takes to get fit and ready for a marathon! or be an expert in paintings, mmm wines, books etc. you might not remember the name of that tiny little town you visited once and have to google but hey I do think you are an expert traveling! I would ask you, hey Fned, would you give me some tips on what to do, what not to do and all that stuff now that I am traveling to X destination? or how to learn a new language and adapt to a whole new country. how to be brave and do it all at once!
hey Fned, you are an expert indeed! really!
now let me go and sit in my corner and think if there is anything I could be an expert on... :S
Oh I feel you Fned. I constantly feel that way. I've met people who seem to know the history of one thing or another (sometimes they're expert of multiple thing's!) and it always annoys me that I am not like that lol. I'm just not the kind of person that will memorize a billion facts and tell you the exact date of such and such and this obscure article, that backs up my opinion of ____________. I am left in awe of people who can do that!
I've just accepted I'm no real expert and am going to enjoy my life as the non-know-it-all that I am :P
you're an expert at being Fned. Nobody can be Fned like you! Loving your fnedness and the fned touch you bring to everything you do...
Aw Alex, thank you so much your comment. I's like I feel that at my age I should be more knowledgeable at least in something, but you're right... I could definitely give you tips on what to do and not to do in Paris, which is a polite way of saying: WHEN ARE YOU COMING????!!!! ;D
Nez: My FIL is a walking encyclopedia and I always feel so ignorant when talking to him... but at the same time I'm too lazy to pour over books and dictionaries and memorize facts by heart the way he does.. ;)
Minshap: Thanks mom. I love ya.
Fned.
Fned, I feel like you are an expert on being on expat. I feel that way when I read your blog!
Thanks Kyle: Look who's talking though... you're an inspiration to hundreds of gringas living in Chile (or thinking of moving there) yourself!!! :D
Don't worry about the walking encyclopedia FIL, anyone can spew facts. As a journalist, I was never an expert at anything, but I knew where to go to get the information I needed. I figured that was good enough. Maybe you could be a blog expert. Go on a panel about blog trends. Should blogs be more specialized? Should only experts write blogs?
Paulita: Hey, that's a neat idea, to become a blogger expert. God knows how much time I spend on the internet lurking OPB's (Other People's Blogs)... I probably am already a semi expert!!! ;) - That's so neat you were a journalist!!
I like this a lot a lot. This is an issue I have long contemplated. With a liberal arts education and a passion for reading I can chat with most anyone at a party and have some factoid or opinion to contribute, but I am not an authority on any subject and I wonder if I ever will be. I know so many blow hards who act as experts with next to no knowledge and yet I don't claim or cultivate my own areas of expertise. Forever a dilettante, I suppose.
Jillian: that is exactly how I feel! I don't consider myself an ignorant or anything... if a subject interests me I'll read up about it and try to learn as much about it as possible. But that's as far as my curiosity will take me. I rarely go beyond that (as in doing extensive research or learning facts and figures by heart...) I guess that is why I'll never become an expert at anything: 'cuz I'm just too freaking lazy to go beyond learning enough to quench my curiosity.
Eres una experta en ser inexperta. Y eso no es facil. Pero si quieres ser una experta en algo inventate algo que nadie sepa y todos te van a creer que sabes mucho de ese tema pues nadie mas sabe de el porque no existe, por ejemplo la literatura Zacanapata (inexistente) del siglo XIII.
Anonymous: jajajajaja!! ME ENCANTO TU RESPUESTA! De hecho, creo que tienes toda la razon! Me acabo de autoproclamar la experta mundial del equipo de futbol de Zacanapata, o como les llamamos en el pueblo, Los Tabanos! 8 veces campeones de la liga y gran rivales de los Cuervos, el equipo de Tuerpe, el pueblo de al lado. Haz de ver como se pone el Clasico!!!!!! Gracias!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
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