Clarity On Fire

Do you remember that scene in E.T. when he (E.T., that is) shuffles out of a closet wearing a dress, high heels, a blonde wig, and a little bowler hat? Yeah, I didn’t really remember it either, until Rachel brought it up. She was using that very vivid mental picture (you should really Google “E.T. in a wig” if you want a good laugh) to describe how she’s always felt about dating—she’s E.T. in a wig, and everyone else is a tan, gleaming contestant on the Bachelor. Obviously this made me LOL. Not only because it’s a hilarious analogy, but because from the outside, it’s patently ridiculous. Of course she’s not a weird alien, trying and failing miserably to perform a common human ritual (dating). But as dubious as it sounds to me, it feels true to HER, and that’s what impostor syndrome is all about—You’re constantly afraid that you’re going to be “found out” as the fraud you fear you “truly” are, regardless of how silly or illogical it seems on the outside. In this Magic 8-Ball episode from July 2018, we dived in