The Weight of Imposter Syndrome

In anything one strives to succeed at, the biggest obstacle standing before accepting progress and accolades will always be… oneself.

Imposter Syndrome is a silent dampener which constricts our belief that we’re achieving, making progress, and creating great things. Invasive thoughts like thorns attack our minds. Is this really great? Am I doing enough to become better? Do people really think I’m good enough when there are so many others doing better?

Imposter Syndrome can limit our ability to believe we excel at a craft. For Aaron, this affects his career as an opera performer. No matter how many people tell him he’s great, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s fooled them into believing so. That he really is all but an amateur.

These self-limiting chains are hard to shake, and even at the height of confidence, their ghosts can still weigh us down. But the reality is, like Aaron, you are as gifted as people say. And then some.

This piece is meant to showcase the mental barrier between Aaron’s true, talented self and the self staring from the outside in, forever convinced who they’re seeing can’t possibly be them.