one of our (my) biggest fears...

We’ve all seen the girl on American Idol who thinks she can sing but, very obviously, can’t. Even those of us who can’t sing, know she can’t, those who do sing, certainly know she can’t, and, in fact, the vast majority of humans would say she can not sing… yet she is utterly convinced that she can.

That is probably my biggest fear. I would say it’s many peoples. And not because it’s embarrassing - although it sure as hell is - but because it means that the way we see the world, is, pretty much without a doubt, wrong.

This is the fear of releasing any kind of art. (Like a book for example. :) We think this thing is good enough to release into the world. Will anyone else? Will everyone know something that we don’t know - we can’t actually paint, we can’t actually write, we can’t actually sing…

Again, this is way deeper and thicker than embarrassment. This is “I’m wrong”. We don’t like to be wrong. And so, even in politics, religion, perspectives, biases, etc… we surround ourselves with people who will be sure to tell us that we can sing. We’re repelled by people who tell us we can’t - because if we really can’t, then hell, can we trust anything we think?

So, it explains the vulnerability with art. And it explains the mental gymnastics on full display with the Christian Right, along with much more.

We can barely stand the thought that we are ever that wrong.

I don’t know the solution. But, if we have someone in our life that we can trust to be honest with us, even when it hurts, to disagree with us and present another side, even when it’s frustrating to do so, that’s pretty valuable stuff.