I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging for a couple of years. I’m “in the thick of it” with school age children, building a practice, and just the busyness of life. It’s been easy for me to put it off. “I’m too busy.” If I’m honest, though, there’s more. I envisioned meticulously researched blog posts with references and footnotes, thoroughly edited for grammar and punctuation… probably something that would have ended up looking more graduate school paper than thoughtful reflections on the human experience. I’ve come to realize- I was aspiring to write something perfect. Iron clad. Immune to criticism. Not a human therapist’s reflections on life, sometimes relevant to my own (because… even therapists have their own messy lives, we’re just trained in a certain set of skills and tools that we work to apply to ourselves as well). Perfect was the enemy of good.
So, hopped up on Brene’ Brown* and budding self-compassion, my new aim is to, when inspiration strikes, provide for those who care to read my thoughtful reflections, sometimes brief, on topics professionally relevant to those I serve, life in general, and occasionally my own journey if I believe it to be professionally relevant. See that run-on sentence and those excessive commas? Yup, that’s me. It’s how I think and talk. Hello, there.
*Brene’ Brown, I call her the social worker’s social worker, talks a lot about the power of vulnerability and authenticity. “Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we are,” she says. I could write formal papers on “Twenty strategies for….”, but there’s already plenty of that out there. (Not saying I won’t ever do it, insert wink emoji here). I’m going to strive instead to make a space to reflect and connect as an authentic human, mom, partner, and therapist.
I would challenge you to ask yourself if there are any areas of you life and relationships where perfection has been the enemy of good, or even great, and join me as I travel the road of the authentic, imperfect, good.
-Kelly