I would say that somewhere between a quarter and a half of the articles I write for Odyssey are some kind of advice. Last week, I offered some strategies for auditioning with a cold, and I've also written in the past about things to do on a long bus trip, activities that will keep your brain active over the summer, and some reasons why it might be good or bad to see ten shows in one weekend. But I struggle every time I write an article like that, because the thought that lingers in the back of my mind is: Who am I to give you advice?
Who am I to suggest what you should do?
Who am I to sit behind my computer and publish something that implies that I have it all together, when really, that couldn't be further from the truth?
I don't feel comfortable offering advice through a medium where not everyone will be able to gauge my tone accurately and where my words could easily be misconstrued or misunderstood. Because there's always going to be someone out there who's more experienced or well-versed on a subject than I am, and if they read my article and I've given some wrong suggestion, they'll know, and maybe they'll find it offensive that someone who isn't knowledgeable enough is trying to sound like an expert. Even when maybe that's not what I was trying to do at all.
One of my greatest fears is easily that I won't be understood. And so I over-explain and I backtrack in my advice, so that in case I'm wrong, hopefully people will know I didn't mean to be. Even when I'm writing plays, an area in which I feel somewhat (but not always) more comfortable, I worry that outsiders won't be able to find their way smoothly into a world that before only existed inside my head.
Who am I to advise you, to make an assertion about morality, to tell a story?
Free advice is worth as much as you paid for it--so take it for what it is, and leave what isn't productive for you.
But who am I to do all of that? I'm just myself, and maybe my limited life experiences thus far will help you in some way. And if they don't, I'm sorry, and I hope I haven't offended you.
