In my writing and activism, I strongly value accepting soft changes in minds and hearts to debunk our fear of imperfection. Mistakes are a fundamental part of my writing process, frustration and anger too.
Today I was struggling with the idea of surrender as I find resistance to new beginnings, no matter their weight. It was not so long ago that I shared my process of finding surrender’s meaning, and talking about it like I owned it. Some would say I am incoherent. But it is a truth that my knowledge and words are sometimes more evolved than my mind, which is still conditioned. I am ok with that. Whilst there is more alignment moving forward, there are temporary incoherences, repeated mistakes. Around me, I see too many people (including myself often) refusing to move forward for fear of making mistakes, not speaking up for fear of being judged as erroneous. Fear of error can be paralysing. Unlearning is key, especially when it comes to feminism and social justice, we see this word a lot now. But many don’t like it. For example, a friend once told me not to use that word because most don’t like the idea of “unlearning” - I am often told how to rebrand my cause to be more liked- because it implied that they had been doing it wrong all the time. And so what? I thought. Allowing mistakes, rooted in respect for the other, honesty, curiosity and humility is a fundamental part of changing this society. Too much silencing comes from a place of rejection of error, of unawareness of our limitations, we want to be blind in front of our own imperfections.
Unromanticised, real, honest momentary truths are also mistakes then, and I will continue making them and hope you do too. ACCESS FULL ARTICLE HERE
