Always Interested

The last test I took in a classroom was for my Sommelier Certification. I had been working as a wine steward for a few years already, but the higher ups in the company decided they wanted all their stewards certified. I liked wine, and I enjoyed talking to the customers about what paired best with their lamb or halibut, but I wasn’t sure I knew enough about the Bordeaux region of France or German Rieslings to pass the test. Jim, the lead steward in the restaurant who’d already been certified, told me not to worry. “Just go to the class and take notes on what these wine nerds tell you and you’ll be fine.”

I was surprised that he referred to the Master Sommeliers who taught the class as “nerds.” Wasn’t wine cool, and weren’t the Master Sommeliers by extension the coolest? No. These were guys (and they were all guys) who were so interested in the minutia of where grapes were grown and the difference between steel and oak barrels and the effects of coastal weather patterns on California Syrah that it would be hard for them to talk to anyone who wasn’t another M. S. without boring them out of their head. They actually started boring me, though I did manage to somehow pass their test.

I was reminded of the first writers conference I attended. I thought writers had to be the coolest people in the world. This was because I didn’t know any of them. One of my first thoughts, upon talking to all the writers I was meeting, was, “What a bunch of nerds.” I also fit right in. Though I most definitely wanted to be cool. To be cool was to not care so much, and I did care. I cared about finding an agent, and I cared about what made a good sentence, and why stories worked, and all the crunchy minutia of what it took to translate life into words.

I’ve had to make peace with my nerdy proclivities. Life is more interesting when I’m interested, and the more I learn about anything, the deeper into its weeds must I go to stay interested. Though I still find it useful to remember why I appreciated a cool approach to life. It meant that I was always okay, whether I was certified or not, writing or not, and even interested or not. Being okay is my natural state of being that requires absolutely nothing of me other than allowance.

Which, I have to admit, is pretty interesting.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence.
You can find William at: williamkenower.com