I remember the Sunday before the first Gulf War began. Much of the world–the portion I want to be part of–was hoping and praying that bloodshed would somehow be avoided.
I was not only hoping and praying, I was also preaching in a tiny church in Tennessee.
In a time when there was really nothing to say, I put it all out there. Everything I had. It was terrifying.
The parts of my internal process that my friend, the fabulous artist and author, Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, refers to as inner critics were having a field day.
Who are you to think you have something to say?
What difference could it possibly make to hope and pray in the face of war?
What if you piss somebody off?
My inner critics clearly did not realize that when 11:00 Sunday morning (or in that case, 10:00) rolls around, the one in the long black robe has to have something to say.
To be fair, the inner critics mean well.
In many ways, they’re either mimicking the things they heard and believed when we were growing up, or they’re trying to keep us safe.
Though often safe in the sense of overprotected and voiceless which isn’t really safe at all.
My inner critics have been jumping up and down again in these days, perhaps urged on by the many requests for prayers on Facebook countered by folks raising questions about whether hope and prayer actually help people facing wildfires and hurricanes and earthquakes and poverty and violence and threats to civil rights.
Who are you to think you have something to say?
What difference could it possibly make to hope and pray in the face of all the overwhelming news in our world?
What if you piss somebody off?
It seems that the inner critics haven’t learned a lot of new stuff recently!
And, those are not totally unreasonable questions.
They are, however, the questions of comparers and perfectionists and they are not our most resourceful questions.
For now, I’m sticking with SARK:
Good enough is the new perfect!
You, and I, and all of us have something to say about the needs of our world.
Spelling doesn’t count.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the Oxford comma or not. (Well, it might, but not in this moment!)
And, as somebody once printed on a T-shirt, speak your mind even if your voice shakes.
That’s how we teach our kids. Yours. Mine. All of them.
And whether you believe in hope or prayer or positive energy, I’m counting on the notion that enough of us doing it together does make a difference.
As for pissing people off, if you speak your truth, you probably will. But a whole lot more folks will stop and wonder if they might just be able to speak their truth, too, since, afterall, you did.
Words work. Art works. Soup works. Running a post on Facebook to see if anybody knows anybody who has a horse trailer available to help rescue horses near Sonoma and Napa works too.
Listening also works. Sitting with the pain. Staying in the room.
Hugs work.
Money certainly doesn’t hurt, sent carefully to the people who really need it.
The counselor and coach who live inside me, wrestling with the inner critics, have taught me many things.
One of those things is that it’s entirely likely that the words I’m writing in this moment are the words I need to hear.
When you remember, though, that many of the things I need are things we all need, it’s not such a bad way to go.
So, for this moment, I’m sticking with Susan.
Good enough is the new perfect.
Welcome to the club! Let’s go make a difference!!!
