I call myself "Cassandra" because I feel like people don't really listen or believe what I have to say. When I am speaking in person to people, they do listen and believe me but when I write the same words on a screen or in a post, I am immediately questioned; people ask me to cite my sources. I see other people writing on comments, posts, forums, blogs and such and they are believed when they assert something but I am not. Part of it is because I haven't the all-important college degree that seems to magically confer respectability and importance to what I write.
A huge part of what I write or assert is from things I have read over the years and remembered. The problem is, I don't keep every source reference in my head or somewhere because I am not teaching a class or trying to be a journalist. Instead, I impart what I have read or learned or experienced. I am a knowledge-sharer who likes helping others by sharing what I have learned or picked up along the way. I even use disclaimers but people still call me on it and demand references. Hence my moniker: Cassandra.
Cassandra of Troy was given the gift of prophecy but also the curse of never having anyone believe her prophetic musings. Not that I am a prophet; it is the "not being believed" part that applies to me. So I am getting my college degree; I will receive it this December. I wonder if it will change how people react to what I write?
My real-life friends and acquaintances tell me all the time that I am a storehouse of knowledge; they fondly refer to me as "the one who knows a lot about everything." They keep encouraging me to write all the stuff I know into a book but I think I will do better by speaking it in small group settings. That is a lot scarier to me but it might be the only way to get people to know what I know or to pass on what I know. Writing it seems to mean I have to back it up but speaking it doesn't. How odd that is; there are so many self-help books written by people who don't cite their sources and the millions of people who buy and read them don't seem to question where the sources are. I don't know why my writing seems to incite questioning of sources; I cannot understand that and it seems unfair when others assert claims and are not called on them.
I just want to pass on information that may be helpful to people; they can choose not to believe it. If I know something that may be helpful to someone, I want to put it out there so that someone can be helped by it. Is that not a good thing?
A huge part of what I write or assert is from things I have read over the years and remembered. The problem is, I don't keep every source reference in my head or somewhere because I am not teaching a class or trying to be a journalist. Instead, I impart what I have read or learned or experienced. I am a knowledge-sharer who likes helping others by sharing what I have learned or picked up along the way. I even use disclaimers but people still call me on it and demand references. Hence my moniker: Cassandra.
Cassandra of Troy was given the gift of prophecy but also the curse of never having anyone believe her prophetic musings. Not that I am a prophet; it is the "not being believed" part that applies to me. So I am getting my college degree; I will receive it this December. I wonder if it will change how people react to what I write?
My real-life friends and acquaintances tell me all the time that I am a storehouse of knowledge; they fondly refer to me as "the one who knows a lot about everything." They keep encouraging me to write all the stuff I know into a book but I think I will do better by speaking it in small group settings. That is a lot scarier to me but it might be the only way to get people to know what I know or to pass on what I know. Writing it seems to mean I have to back it up but speaking it doesn't. How odd that is; there are so many self-help books written by people who don't cite their sources and the millions of people who buy and read them don't seem to question where the sources are. I don't know why my writing seems to incite questioning of sources; I cannot understand that and it seems unfair when others assert claims and are not called on them.
I just want to pass on information that may be helpful to people; they can choose not to believe it. If I know something that may be helpful to someone, I want to put it out there so that someone can be helped by it. Is that not a good thing?
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