HOT TOPIC: GETTING REAL
Girlfriends,
One of my dear girlfriends and I were having a chat today as she was checking in on me about my procedure the other day. The conversation morphed and turned (as it does with good girlfriends.) We ended up chatting about my picture of me in the hospital gown and no make-up on that I took after the Propofol wore off.
Hospital gown and no make-up. Winning.
I told her, even though it wasn’t my most flattering look, it was important to me to post it. People think I live some idealized life:
“You’re an author, so you’re famous.”
“You live by the beach, so you’re rich.”
“You have a supportive husband, so you have a perfect marriage.”
“You have great kids who say hilarious things, so you’ve got it all together.”
Yeah.
No.
In my book, “You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone.” I talk about my cellulite and saggy boobs. I talk about our bumpy financial times and that I struggle with being what I call a “Messy Perfectionist” — (standards of perfection on the inside, a messy house on the outside). And on and on.
I value de-stabilizing the illusions of life and allowing people to see that the Divinity is in our humanity and not our perfection.
No one’s perfect.
And that is perfect.
When I finished the endoscopy, I felt brave and grateful. And that made me feel beautiful. So, I took a picture of when I felt beautiful — which didn’t necessarily look beautiful.
I had 18 biopsies and he needed a nap.
And even after the anesthesia wore off, I still kept the picture up on Facebook. Because it’s good practice.
To let me be me in a world that will be impacted by who I am and not the perception I send.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t care about putting my best foot forward,
because I do.
It doesn’t mean I don’t have vain moments,
because I do.
It means that I’m more willing to share my real self if that will make a difference in the world than to hide myself and protect some illusion.
I don’t have it all together. But I’m not falling apart.
It’s just life.
Ups and downs.
Ins and outs.
Health and challenges to health.
Love
and the
ongoing
never-ending
always-present
opportunity
to love
and
be loved.
Please, be you, girlfriends. When you are who you are, that’s when someone’s love can reach in and your true love can reach out.
And that is what makes a difference in the world
because it’s you.
You make a difference in the world.
Sending you love and sloppy-wet kisses.
xoxo
Stacey
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Love this. And thank you! From a fellow “messy perfectionist” struggling to stay true to herself in a world that too often seems to “require” perfection.