Day 25: Most Ordinary
Most Ordinary by Patti Digh
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.
I generally have ridiculously high expectations of myself. If I'm not perfect, I'm not doing it right. This isn't universal across all areas of my life, but most of them. I'm just silly that way. When I'm not doing something well, I of course then have to compare myself to those around me who can do it better. For example, if I felt that someone was able to teach something better than I could at work, I would then need to learn to do it as well as they do. In that sense, it can kind of work in my favor because I challenge myself and encourage myself to succeed. I suppose my goal should be to always take that kind of attitude and not allow myself to feel frustrated. I'll try that, then.
Nette away.
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.
I generally have ridiculously high expectations of myself. If I'm not perfect, I'm not doing it right. This isn't universal across all areas of my life, but most of them. I'm just silly that way. When I'm not doing something well, I of course then have to compare myself to those around me who can do it better. For example, if I felt that someone was able to teach something better than I could at work, I would then need to learn to do it as well as they do. In that sense, it can kind of work in my favor because I challenge myself and encourage myself to succeed. I suppose my goal should be to always take that kind of attitude and not allow myself to feel frustrated. I'll try that, then.
Nette away.