Knit It ‘Til You Fit It
Until recently, whenever I heard the phrase ‘fake it until you make it’, it sounded like one thing: lying. My attempts to figure out why people would lie about themselves didn’t produce any pleasing answers. And when I noticed that faking it is something I do with regularity, the image of myself as a bold remorseless liar saddened me. Maybe the phrase could mean something else.
Many times I’ve told the story about how I got my last job—a good example of faking it to make it. I had been spending time at the local yarn shop, taking classes and renting loom space. I noticed I enjoyed the people and the shop; it seemed like it would be a good place to work. When I heard that they were looking for new employees, I learned that the absolute minimum required to work there was that you have to know how to knit. Well, I knew how to crochet and weave, so I thought I could quickly teach myself to knit. And I did, with the occasional tutelage of a patient partner who had also taught himself to knit. I learned the basics and played around with it enough in two months to have an intermediate understanding.
During the job interview they asked a few specific technical questions; but I’ve found with most interviews it’s more about personality than expertise. Let’s just say I came across with confidence and a pleasing manner. Over the next year, after I got the position, my skill level soared from intermediate/beginner to expert. When your job is to help people with knitting problems, you become adept quickly. It’s true, you learn the most when you have to instruct.
It was years later, over dinner with a visiting knitting celebrity and some coworkers, that I first told this story. My coworkers were all aghast; they had never known. Clearly I had faked it until I made it. But it had never once felt like lying. I think the difference is based on intention. If I had merely intended to deceive when I was trying to get the job, it would have been lying. But I was making a statement of belief in myself. I knew that I could be an expert knitter and ably assist others with their knitting. I was intending to improve myself and help others.
When I stated my goal—in this case: ‘I am a knitter capable of helping other knitters’—it was already a part of me. Making the statement opened me up to all the possibilities of letting it happen. Faking it gives you the freedom to let it happen. Now when I hear ‘fake it until you make it’ it sounds more like a doorway. And I still knit almost every day.
© 2004 Khris Fruits
First published in The Polishing Stone, Issue #3, September 2004.
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