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As I put my pen to paper – or rather my finger to keyboard – to draft this editor’s letter for GRAZIA’s Idealism issue, I’m met with the impending self-doubt that plagues me on a semi-regular basis. Will this be up to par? How does it compare to others? Will it be perceived well?
Admittedly, it’s an era of imposter syndrome.
The term was coined some 46 years ago by US psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes in an article titled The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention. Specifically, it was defined by the pair as “an internal experience of intellectual phoniness”.
It’s a ubiquitous feeling, that even before the term came about in 1978, that has afflicted even some of the greatest minds of the last century. Take, Albert Einstein, for example, before his death in 1955 he described himself as a “involuntary swindler”, despite being a Nobel Prize winner and a key figure in the development of modern science as we know it. Literary legend Maya Angelou and civil rights activist also openly spoke about feeling like fraud in her own work. She even once said, “I have written 11 books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.’”
Prominent pop culture figures including Michelle Obama, Bella Hadid and more, have also discussed their past struggles with imposter syndrome which “never goes away”.
It seems I am not alone in this feeling. Despite the outward successes of many, there’s a common thread: a pervasive, lingering sense of not quite belonging, of feeling like a fraud in our own lives. Essentially, are we all just faking it ’til we make it?
Could it be this consistent idea that we always need to strive for more? That we always need to better ourselves to reach “the ideal”.
But what exactly are we searching for?
In the day and age of constant connection and social media, where the highlights of life are shared, it’s only natural an element of comparison emerges, all the while knowing such platforms also create a skewed perception of reality. It’s an idea that’s broken down on page 22 in The Pursuit of Imperfection, questioning the fact if the perfection side of social media has, in fact, ended. No longer are we given the high-gloss, polished versions of our peers online, but rather a more relatable palate. But, nonetheless, it’s all a curation – an age of pseudo-authenticity, if you will.
Regardless, rates of perfectionism continue to rise, as GRAZIA explores. Research conducted by Thomas Curran, an associate professor of psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has shown such pursuits for the supposed ideal catapulted during a 16-year period between 2006 and 2022. This, according to Curran, has resulted in an “unrelenting treadmill” where “there is no joy in success, and lots of self-criticism”, he highlighted in an interview with The New York Times.
But does the journey to better oneself to reach an ideal need to be seen as a negative? Arguably, it can be viewed as a roadmap to success and aiding in personal growth.
Perhaps, at the end of the day, it’s just not that deep, and we can all strive for our own version of idealism. In the famous words of momager, Kris Jenner: “You’re doing great, sweetie.” No matter where you’re at in life.
