The Mindful Nepali

I laugh off suggestions from cynics who suggest I may be an ‘expert’ of emotional intelligence. Of course, I’m not!

Because it is a relatively new and emerging topic for my surrounding, I have to mention the term more often than not: often with the aim of starting conversations about the topic so as to spread awareness. And given the esoteric nature of the term, it isn’t unusual to have a few raised eyebrows in the process.

I’m not an expert. But given my year-and-half experience working in the same domain, I do know more than an amateur who has only just heard of what emotional intelligence is. So that in a way makes me a semi-expert; someone who knows more than an amateur but less than someone deemed an ‘expert’. This distinction is, in my eyes, the balance between righteousness and humility. It gives me the confidence to talk about the domain and do more of what I’m doing, yet know deep down that I still have much to learn and hence, the need to cultivate a beginner’s mind.

I’m not an expert. But I’m not a beginner either. I’m a semi-expert of the domain I love so much: emotional intelligence.

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