"I have been invited to..."

I have been invited, by the University of Auckland, to work alongside an Associate Professor of Philosophy, in delivering a thesis concerning distantiality. The project is to be finished before the end of 2024, after which, the Faculty of Arts will consider the award of Master of Literature for my contribution. It is expected that I will produce an original thesis with the guidance of Matheson Russell PhD, situated in its analysis, within 20th Century Continental Philosophy. A Gadamerian hermeneutic method and methodology will be used in the production of said thesis.

Now… how do I write that funny scratchy noise like the needle (stylus…) on a record has just slipped, to indicate a ‘hang on a minute/ jump back to reality’ thing? Like they have on TV.

Well, that…

No, I haven’t. No one “invited” me to do anything. “I have been invited to” or any combination of words that are intended to portray the aloof acceptance of something which prestigious persons have pursued one to accept. This “invited” business that I hear SO much here on Inked Lin is probably in the top 10, maybe 5, things that make me cringe at the codswallop people try to spin.

In fact, I first met Matheson more than three years ago, and because he has the very rare philosophical interest, knowledge, and expertise that I’m interested (putting it mildly) in; and he’s able to supervise both master’s degrees, and PhD, I’ve stuck to him like a limpet. Actually, not in a stalkery way, but kept in touch, ‘made sure he didn’t forget me. I met him before I started my MSc psychology but didn’t have the right qualifications to work with him then. After enduring the ordeal that was using a philosophically based methodology to get outside of psychological dogma, and having spent years in private study, now I do.

I hustled gentle reader. I didn’t give up, but keen followers will note that I very nearly did, recently. More of that later. I had to find a “goldilocks” proposition before Matheson would agree to take me on. That took about a year. Then admissions took three months to do what they said they’d do in 10 days. It’s been a 4 year plus exercise to get onto a paper that supports my area of intellectual and academic interest, but here I am.

I am, still, officially ‘over’ academia. So why continue? Compulsion and bloody mindedness are a big part of that. I’m not temperamentally suited to being told I can’t do something. Also, and this is what tipped the balance – I will have degrees in three disciplines – Chemistry, Psychology, and Philosophy, two of which will be master’s degrees. A recent period of therapy (for me, therapists have therapy; everyone should if they can) led me to solidify the idea of my writing books; short books, like Byung-Chul Han does. It's a legacy thing, as well as being fulfilling while I'm still here.

I may not get a baggy hat now, so I’m thinking this combination of badges will give me the confidence to put my ideas out there in book form. I exist somewhere between psychology and philosophy – I’m about to start using my chemistry degree too, to make pottery glazes!

My point here, is that no one “invited” me to do anything. I don’t think anyone ever has. It’s always taken grit, application, hustle, selling, marketing; what my old former band-mate John Cahillane used to call “puttin’ ‘meself abaht”.

Seriously lads (it’s an Irish expression meaning any bunch of people, of all types and genders...), this “I was invited to…” nonsense. Leadership trainers, consultants, speakers, etc… stop it. It’s embarrassing. Don’t be telling people to be honest, vulnerable, ‘authentic and all that malarky if you can’t do it yourselves. Tell me what it’s taken to get the gig. I’ll respect that.

Dear readers, don’t be feeling like other people get invited places, and wondering why you don’t. They don’t. They have to hustle, duck, and dive like the rest of us. It’s a put-down to their imagined competition, deliberately intended to make us all feel inferior. Don’t fall for it ??.