In this episode 7 of SpeakOnIt!, Jason mentions that in college, there will always be someone who is better than you at something. This phenomenon can lead to feeling less-than, out of place, or even Imposter Syndrome. In response, Jon describes a healthy approach with a metaphor.
Imagine we are all crystals. Since we are all unique individuals, each of us shines our own kind of light. Some are shimmery; some are glowy. Some are red, some are blue, and some are purple. At first glance, some appear to be brighter than others.
But, “If you’re busy looking at someone else’s crystal and the light that they shine, then a lot of that just becomes distracting,” Jon says in the episode. No one is going to do all the same things as you, or be the same person as you. Sometimes, they may be better than you at something.
Something I like to remind myself is that the crystal doesn’t produce the light, they reflect it. It’s kind of channeling the light that’s shining on it. For example, when the sun rises some crystals might shine, but by sunset other’s may have the spotlight -depending on the angle and intensity of the light. It’s important to remember that even while other people may seem to be exceptional, you shine bright in other beautiful ways.
While containing minerals that are essential to this Earth, crystals are nonetheless a shiny thing, and shiny things can be distracting. The light that a crystal is shining is not the essence of the crystal itself. It’s not part of its chemical makeup. Similarly, you can gain the impression from afar that certain people have everything together; they’re just shining.
But you don’t really know their complete story or, what’s going on in their lives and circumstances. So until you know what they stand for or what they would fall for, focus on your own crystal because you have the chance to reflect light onto others.
