This past week I accompanied my wife to a friend’s house for a party. The friend is a college professor who was celebrating getting tenure at their college. Their house was filled with people I don’t know, and almost everyone there was an academic.
Talk about being out of my element. Listening to conversations about university, PHD dissertations, academic fraud, and other topics I know absolutely zero about.
I did my usual in a situation like that – stood quiet and politely listened. I had nothing to say or offer. Or at least I felt like that and had zero comfort doing so.
I’ve been in these types of situations in the past. I feel like I live in a different world some times. I can think of another time being surrounded by people who work together and listening to their office politics stories and thinking the same thing. They might as well have been speaking a different language, I had so little to connect with.
This blog is my outlet to share my experiences as I try to connect with people like me. It can be difficult. It seems sometimes I am so unorthodox and unconventional there are few like me.
But then I realize that makes it even more important to share my narrative and my stories. I am living proof that you don’t have to fall into those standard conventions and paths. There are other ways to succeed.
It’s a difficult path, when you have to create the path. It can also be lonely. But something about this works for me and I can’t imagine doing it any other way at this point.
I’m curious to hear from others. What brought you here? What about my story resonates?
