I’m taking a journalism class this year. I’m not very good at journalism. It’s really cool, though, because I like learning how to do things that I’m not good at. Also, I’ve found out that I can extract lessons from most things, even if they are seemingly unrelated to my mission.
So, we had to interview each other in class the other day. Not only that, we each had to pretend to be an expert on something. Then, we would be interviewed on our ‘expertise’,
I scrambled for something, because I didn’t think I was an expert on anything.
I couldn’t think of anything. Maybe I could be an expert on Mad Men. I watch that quite a bit. I feel like I’m pretty in tune with the themes and the historical back drops of the show. Or maybe ski racing. Yeah, actually that’s a good one. I definitely ski raced when I was a kid.
But that’s bullshit. I’m not an expert. I quit racing when I was 13. There are 13 year old kids out there right now that are better than I am and that know more than I do about the sport.
So, what the hell do I talk about?
Beer.
It was my resignation. I figured that if I wasn’t really an expert on anything, I could be a smart ass and just ramble on about beer for a few minutes.
Then I started talking about it, and I realized I had something to say.
I started talking about what I learned from trying new craft beers, and how that was like a micro lens of my overall attitude toward life: trying, risking, experimenting, learning, loving.
I realized that I was teaching my reporter something about beer, too, on a very basic level. Take note: not everybody knows the difference between an IPA and an APA, let alone the difference between a pilsner and a porter.
While I may not have been an expert, I had something to say. Something unique and something important.
Then I realized that I could talk about many things in this way. I’m sure I could talk about 1990s punk rock, cooking, skateboarding culture, gangsta rap, online marketing, dystopian fiction, and yes, ski racing. And I’m sure I could say something of value about each of those things and more.
So, since I’ve started writing on here, I’ve had a couple people express their desire to write as well. But they all have the same concern: that they have nothing to say.
I do believe there are some terrible boring people out there that have nothing to say. They don’t live interesting lives. But my friends are interesting. And apparently, they are humble.
Maybe part of becoming an expert on a subject is being brave enough to talk about it enough to learn more than everyone else has. Maybe you already know more than you think you do. Of course you can always learn more. But maybe you just have to take that leap.
