Being an "Expert"
Most of you know that I run a website on baking. It's been a hobby for years, but I've never been to culinary school, or even taken a baking class! I watched my mom, and then I just started doing it. I've collected baking cookbooks, read a lot of articles, watched a lot of TV shows. I even purchased one of those "Great Courses" lecture series' on Baking and Pastries. But the fact is, there are lots of times I don't really feel like an "expert."
I could let that stop me. I could get intimidated when someone challenges something I've written or a recipe technique I used. But I don't. Instead, I learn more. I study more issues and recipes and techniques. And if I'm wrong, I make changes. I update posts to fix what might be a problem. But what I realize is that, though there are a few people out there much more "expert" than me, I really do know more than most people. And I approach the whole thing from a position of fortunate humility.
What I mean is, I just recognize that I've been lucky enough in life to have been able to devote time to learning and practicing. So many others just don't have that opportunity. And now I get to share what I've learned - knowing all the while that I still have a lot more to learn. Nothing wrong or shameful about that!
Being an "expert" doesn't mean you always have all the answers, or that you are never flat-out wrong. It means you have a solid foundation and experience beyond most people. And it must always mean that you are continuously learning and adding to that knowledge. You seek out other experts - you don't run from them! You don't reject criticism out-of-hand, but you investigate and find out if it's valid or not. But don't stop sharing your knowledge. Heck, if people never shared anything until they were confident they could never be wrong - we'd still be living in caves!
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You always have something to offer that someone else might not know. even if that person doest agree and you present them with a new technique, they still learned something.
I think that being an expert is as much about knowing where to get the answers as it as about already having them.
Yes. With so much info out there, it's a maze of conflicting info if you don't know where to look.
And I've found, too, that with everything, there are schools of thought - and they often opposed each other. But at some point you just figure out which school you ascribe too, and you go on your way. There will be people who disagree. Meh. As long as you know WHY you disagree, I don't see a problem.
I would agree with that...and also a way to present your ideas/answers in a way that is organized and that will actually make sense to your audience.
There is a big difference between being able to help someone with a response and being able to help them with a response that they understand and want to engage in. Your goal is to move more towards the latter.
Everyone should have the confidence that they can become an expert in anything because no "expert" ever started off with any expertise. They were once complete newbies at their craft and worked towards their expertise. :)
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What an excellent blog! These are really great words of wisdom and great words of encouragement! Words we all need to remember!