This is journalist Ever Meister “In Focus.” In the first part, we talked about writing and the value of creativity. This is bonus material that I couldn’t fit in, but I still wanted to share.

On compliments and anxiety

This conversation began when I asked Ever if they’ve ever dealt with imposter syndrome. After an affirmative answer, they added, “It had gotten a lot better in coffee. I was coming to really trust the degree of knowledge that I had built over time.”

“When's the last time you regularly got positive feedback from the people you work with or worked for—like unsolicited just, wow. I really, I see that you did this and that was really meaningful,” Ever asked me. Peer-to-peer compliments happen often enough, but the compliments from management are ones that definitely feel different.