I get why it’s scary. I get why we lock it in a dark room.

I get why it’s scary. I get why we leave it out of our stories and feeds and lock it in a dark room. I get why there’s no perfect photo to post when you’re talking about mistakes, rejection and shame (trust me I looked - it’s all smiles). Because there probably isn’t one. Not one that captures the emotions ranging from “oops” to “oh shit” to wanting to curl into a ball after getting feedback that includes the word “disappointed”.

The fallouts and discomforts that come along with them range and so the remedies to soothe them need to vary too. Sometimes a laugh, cry, scream or combination of all three soothes the sting. Other times it needs a cup of tea and calling that friend. And sometimes it needs time, patience and lots of loving reminders to heal.

What I know for sure is...this is not the time to abandon ourselves. We can’t use the mistake or rejection (or multiples of them - because yes some days it pours) as proof that you’re a fake, fraud or failure. You can’t hang onto it and use it as blackmail against yourself..whispering the next time you go to write, reach out to a client, launch a new program and think “I know what you’ve done and who you really are” or “I know how you messed this up last time”.

I paused before sharing this, questioning is it worth it and am I being too dramatic. Wondering if I should just eat the rest of the chips and guacamole that’s in front of me and move on. But I know this is part of the process too and I can’t talk about creativity, making messes and experiments if this isn’t part of the conversation too.